A new quick-witted drama, Psych stars James Roday as young police consultant Shawn Spencer who solves crimes with powers of observation so acute the precinct detectives think he's psychic -- at least that's what he lets them believe.

Psych also stars Dule Hill as Shawn's best friend and reluctant sidekick, Gus, and Corbin Bernsen as Shawn's disapproving father, Henry, who ironically was the one who honed his son's "observation" skills as a child. Also featured are Timothy Omundson and Kirsten Nelson.

Psych will premiere with a 90-minute episode on Friday, July 7 at 10/9C followed by one-hour episodes for the remainder of the season.

Psych is executive produced by Steve Franks ("Big Daddy"), in association with Tagline Pictures' Kelly Kulchack and Chris Henze and NBC Universal Television Studios. Jack Sakmar & Kerry Lenhart ("Boston Public," "Ed") and Mel Damski ("Pickett Fences") are co-executive producers, Douglas Steinberg ("Boston Public") is consulting producer. Story editor is Anupam Nigam and Andy Berman serves as staff writer. Michael Engler directed the 90-minute pilot.

Created and written by Franks, Psych continues USA's tradition of original scripted programming centering on quirky, intelligent characters. As with Monk, Psych mixes comedy with its crime and features a somewhat eccentric lead character -- Shawn, a police Psychic with absolutely no psychic abilities.

Raised in Santa Barbara by a family of cops, Shawn possesses uncanny powers of observation honed by his police officer father, Henry, who drilled young Shawn to note even the smallest of details from his surroundings as a way of grooming him for his inevitable career in the family business. Unfortunately, when a rift develops between father and son, Shawn finds himself taking a series of random jobs instead of becoming the detective he was groomed to be.

However, for the fun of it, Shawn makes a habit of calling in tips to the police about cases he reads about or sees on television, and when one of his tips appears too close to the truth, the police are convinced that Shawn is an accomplice and arrest him.

Using his charm and well-tuned talent, Shawn convinces the cops that he's actually a Psychic, and although highly skeptical of his explanation, they hire him to help solve tough cases. With the reluctant assistance of his best friend Gus, Shawn uses his skills of observation and charismatic personality to become the detective he was trained to be, opening his own PI agency -- Psych -- and solving cases for an ever-suspicious, but grudgingly impressed, police force.