Numerous episodes of Psych are basically one extended love-letter or lighthearted Homage to a particular genre or franchise that the cast and crew really like.
- Notably, the series has three episodes (each multiple seasons apart) that are each parodies of different Slasher Movies/franchises.
- "Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast" is one for slashers about sororities, like Black Christmas (1974) and Sorority Row.
- "Tuesday the 17th" is one to the slasher films of The '80s, with the Friday the 13th franchise being given special attention.
- Finally, the series' penultimate episode "A Nightmare on State Street" is one long Homage to the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The episode does a pretty good job as encapsulating the Mind Screwy Dream Sequences and Mood Whiplash-laden Black Comedy of the latter, particularly through the constant shuffling around of what's actually reality and what's actually a nightmare.
- "American Duos" is one for American Idol, complete with an Expy of Simon Cowell being constantly under threat by the episode's main antagonist and Shawn & Gus having to compete on the show to further their investigation.
- "Lights, Camera... Homicidio" is one for Spanish-language telenovelas, complete with the show's title being redone in Spanish to open the episode.
- Both "The Greatest Adventure in the History of Basic Cable" and "Indiana Shawn and the Temple of the Kinda Crappy, Rusty Old Dagger" are this for the Indiana Jones films and Two-Fisted Tales genre in general, with both episodes prominently featuring adventurous treasure hunters (Jack Spencer in the former and Desperaux in the latter) who wouldn't be out of place in the slightest in an actual Indiana Jones film.
- "Disco Didn’t Die, It Was Murdered!" is one long homage to the crime dramas of The '70s, complete with Shawn, Gus, and Henry all dressing in the style of the decade as they try to investigate a re-opened case from that decade.
- "High Noon-ish" is one for the Western genre, with Shawn and Gus being enlisted by Lassiter to help save an old tourist trap that intentionally stylizes itself after The Wild West.
- "The Devil's in the Details... and the Upstairs Bedroom" is one for the Religious Horror films of The '80s. The first two acts of the film are a loose Whole-Plot Reference to The Exorcist, and in an interesting twist, Shawn actually realizes that this trope is actually being invoked In-Universe by the killer as part of her trying to cover her tracks regarding the Accidental Murder of the Victim of the Week.
- "Bollywood Homicide" is one for Bollywood cinema, with the opening credits and theme song both being rewritten/sung in Hindi.
- "Let's Get Hairy" is one for werewolf films, with Teen Wolf and An American Werewolf in London both being spoofed in particular.
- "You Can't Handle This Episode" is one to military-focused thrillers, with the title even coming from the most famous scene in A Few Good Men.
- "Mr. Yin Presents..." is one long Homage to the filmography of Alfred Hitchcock, and appropriately enough is among the darkest and bleakest episodes in the whole show.
- "One, Maybe Two, Ways Out" is one for Spy Drama series like Burn Notice. Notably, the episode even features a Call-Back to the similarly-themed "You Can't Handle This Episode".
- Easily the most obvious example in the show is "Dual Spires", perfectly parodying the quirky & bizarre characters and melodrama of Twin Peaks. In particular, the last scene in the episode is basically an attempt to fit as many Twin Peaks references as the show can manage under three minutes.
- "We'd Like to Thank the Academy" is one to the Police Academy franchise (primarily the first film in terms of the shenanigans that Shawn and Gus run into during their time at the SBPD academy).
- "Last Night Gus" is a Whole-Plot Reference to The Hangover, with Shawn, Gus, Lassiter, Woody, and Henry all waking up with virtually no memory of what happened the previous night thanks to a rowdy retirement party and having to solve a murder they're somehow involved in.
- "This Episode Sucks", in a similar vein to "Let's Get Hairy" above, is one for vampire movies, complete with both Kristy Swanson (a.k.a. the original Buffy Summers) and Corey Feldman (of The Lost Boys fame) guest starring.
- "The Amazing Psych-Man & Tap Man, Issue #2" is one for Comic Book Superheroes, with the vigilante known as "The Mantis" being an obvious Expy of Batman.
- "Heeeeere's Lassie!" is one for The Shining, coming complete with an Ax-Crazy Lassiter chasing Gus through a maze-like basement with his cavalry saber and breaking down a door to get at him.
- "Shawn and the Real Girl" is one for The Bachelor, with Shawn and Gus both participating in an In-Universe Expy of the show while trying to investigate the acts of sabotage against the show's cast and crew.
- "Santabarbaratown" is one for Chinatown, with both being decidedly grim crime dramas revolving around Dirty Cops, a criminal conspiracy, a hidden case of incest (though at least in Psych, the act in and of itself hasn't actually been fully followed through with on), and end on an exceptionally depressing Downer Ending. In fact, at one point Gus tells Shawn "Forget it, Shawn, it's Santa Barbara."
- "Lassie Jerky" parodies found-footage films set in scary forests such as The Blair Witch Project. There's even a scene of Lassiter making a tearful apology speech just like Heather's in the movie.
- "100 Clues" is a parody of classic murder mysteries—specifically Clue, going so far as to open the episode with the characters on Psych playing cards and cast most of the surviving cast members of Clue in the episode.
- Both of the Alternate Timelines in "Right Turn or Left for Dead" are an extended homage to The Millennium Trilogy as Shawn finds himself getting wrapped up in a Darker and Edgier Swedish murder mystery involving him chasing after a young woman with serious father issues.
