ZONKING IN SANTA BARBARA

Another episode of 'Psyche' broadcast, and another batch of Zonks to be splained away.....

At least one of those Zonks can be dismissed pretty easily - Back in 1987, Shaun told his father that he named one of his chess pieces "Dwight" and the other "B.A. Baracus". Baracus was Mr. T's character on 'The A-Team', and Dwight could be a tribute to Dwight Schultz, who played Howling Mad Murdoch on the show.

But that's not a Zonk because within the context of the show, Shaun wasn't making reference to the 'A-Team' TV series, but instead to the real-life team of action-adventurers (which was making headlines at the time).

As for "Dwight", Shaun's talent for conjuring fanciful non-sequiters didn't spring out of nowhere; he started young with that snarky skill.

At the school for gifted students, Shaun called one of his clients "Doogie Howser". This nickname doesn't Zonk either, and for the same reason as B.A. Baracus. Being a medical wunderkind, Dr. Howser was well-documented in the press which is how Shaun would have heard of him. (Although - considering it's Shaun - more likely he learned about Dr. Howser from some made-for-TV movie about the Doogster.)

The toughest Zonk was an extended reference to '21 Jump Street'. This was the type of Zonk most common to 'Psych': it's not enough that Shaun and Gus cite the TV show, but then they go into detailed conversations about the cast members. In this case, Shaun claimed the Johnny Depp role for himself, but disagreed over what role best suited Gus. He saw himself as Richard Grieco, but Shaun thought he was the Holly Robinson Peete type.

As funny as the sequence was, it was a cringer for Toobworld. I can only cover by claiming that they were referring to a movie based on the exploits of those "true life" cops.

There was also a reference made to 'Jake And The Fatman', and it was one that feels as though it has to be an out-and-out Zonk, but unfortunately I've forgotten the circumstances and I've already deleted the episode from my DVR queue in a fit of pique. (The cable system futzed up at about 10:50 pm and lost the rest of the episode. Now I have to wait until that stupid US Open is over until it repeats. Damn you, tennis lovers!)

Because the episode was cut short, I don't know if there were any pineapple references this week. But "If You're So Smart, How Come You're Dead" did coin a new word for the Toobworld lexicon: "teenius", as in "teen genius". It might not be as good as "newpeat" or "sanjayed", but you'll see it used more often here at Inner Toob!

BCnU!
Toby OB