page_title: Pilot (Psych)
section_title: Writing
hierarchical_section_title: Pilot (Psych) / Production / Writing
caption_attribution_description: A ripe pineapple (Ananas comosus)
context_page_description: "Pilot" is the first episode of the TV series, Psych. It originally aired on USA Network on July 7, 2006.
context_section_description: The episode was written by Steve Franks, who reused much material from the original pitch to USA Network. The pitch focused on a man who would call in crime-solving tips to the Santa Barbara Police Department through his photographic memory and uncanny ability to notice details. It followed him as he was arrested by the police, talked his way out of jail, and solved a crime for the police department. The plot of the show was later changed to Shawn's fake psychic ability by the producers. The show's introductory flashback to young Shawn was adapted from the pitch, in which it was located in the middle of the installment. The use of an introductory flashback has been used in almost all following episodes. Among other scenes added to the episode was a confrontation between Shawn and Henry at a barbecue restaurant, which was added by Corbin Bernsen, and the episode's conclusion, again a confrontation between Shawn and Henry. In addition, much time was spent revising the scene of the arrest of Mr. McCallum.
  Large portions of the installment's dialogue were improvisations made by James Roday. Creator Steve Franks stated that "everything funny that you heard is something I wrote. I wrote everything that gets a laugh, and everything that fills the time until the next scene is all James". Several of Roday's improvisations have become reoccurring themes on the show; Shawn's unusual and spastic "psychic episodes" were added by Roday, and was kept by the producers, who loved the idea. Another major theme that was created through Roday's improvising was the inclusion of food in every episode. This was established when Roday ate pretzels while talking to Gus for the first time in the episode. Also, the inclusion of a pineapple in nearly every episode was established through an improvised scene during the pilot. In addition, large amounts of dialogue were removed in favor of using visual elements and facial expressions.
  Several scenes were deleted from the episode, generally because the producers felt they were not necessary. A short scene about Chief Vick's pregnancy was removed from the installment because it was deemed to be irrelevant to the episode's plot. Mention of the chief's pregnancy was not made until it was time for her to give birth. A scene about Shawn hooking up with Katarina and then gathering evidence from her was removed from the episode, as well as several smaller scenes.
caption: The inclusion of a pineapple in nearly every episode of the series began with an improvisation by James Roday
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