‘Psych’ Season Premiere Ratings Up From Last Year

The long-awaited seventh season of Psych premiered Wednesday night, with 2.9 million “Psych-Os” tuning in for Shawn and Gus’s return.

The premiere was up all in key demographics compared to the season 6 finale, “Santabarbaratown,” which pulled in 2.71 million total viewers. The USA comedy about a fake psychic (James Roday) and his best friend (Dule Hill) who start their own detective agency also pulled in more 18-34 viewers than any Psych telecast in 2012.

According to TV by the Numbers, the Psych season premiere garnered 1.3 million viewers in the 18-49 demographic, 1.2 million in the 25-54 demo, and 723,000 in the 18-34 demo. There was a strong social media push leading up the premiere, with a Twitter Prize-A-Thon as well as a virtual “slumber party” last week. Because of the series’ social engagement, it was the No. 1 scripted show socially Wednesday night.

The season 7 premiere was most likely the second-to-last for USA’s longest-running series. Last December, Psych was renewed for an abbreviated eighth season, which will consist of eight episodes. The current season will be 16 episodes, including the comedy’s 100th episode, as well as a two-hour musical.

The long wait between the season 6 finale and the season 7 premiere isn’t the only anomaly for the series this year.Fans were invited to write the tagline for season 7 in November, and entries could be submitted through the Psych Tag Iiiit app on USA’s website, as well as the show’s Facebook page. Fans could then vote on their favorite submissions. The tagline that won was: “Real. Fake. I’ve heard it both ways,” which refers to Shawn’s tendency to say he has heard something two ways when, clearly, one of them is wrong.

Did you watch the Psych season premiere? What did you think?