Season 2, Episode 1
American Duos
"Jam a cork in it, Lester, we're moving on!"
Directed by John Landis
Written by Steve Franks and James Roday Rodriguez
The dour, sarcastic British judge on an "American Idol"-esque talent show (played by Tim Curry) finds himself in a panic as a series of near-miss attempts on his life and hires the Psych Agency to protect him from harm, but the duo can't stand his snarky remarks or ungrateful attitude.
Tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: When Emilina, an Addled Addict several years his senior, hits on Lassiter, he is visibly disgusted.
- Accidental Pun: "You Daft Punk!"
- Addled Addict: Emilina is a drug user who sees things that aren't there, has memory problems, and has bad withdrawal syndromes while being held for questioning.
- Asshole Victim: Nigel St. Nigel is a snobbish talent show judge who is antagonistic to almost everyone he meets. Although he doesn't die, several attempts are made on his life by a mysterious stalker.
- Becoming the Mask: Once again, Jules. She gets a little too into training Shawn and Gus to dance.
- Bilingual Bonus: "Zapato Dulce" means "Sweet Shoe" in Spanish.
- Career Resurrection: "American Duos" was meant to be one In Universe for Zapato Dulce. Unfortunately, he got overshadowed by Nigel.
- Cover Song: The episode ends with Shawn and Gus doing a mash-up of "Shout" by Tears for Fears with elements of Michael Jackson.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Shawn and Gus during Juliet's dance lesson.
- Epic Fail: Shawn and Gus' rendition of "Take On Me," which serves as their tryout for American Duos. It's hysterically awful, and only Nigel's desperate attempts to Polish the Turd have them move on to the next round. Averted with their next number at the end of the episode, with Shawn and Gus actually proving themselves to be surprisingly good dancers and singers in their performance of "Shout" by Tears for Fears.
- Establishing Character Moment: Nigel St. Nigel lists off a series of put-downs on a pair of contestants... before they even sing anything. When they point this out, he dismissively remarks "apples and oranges".
- Expy: Harsh Talent Show Judge Nigel St. Nigel is an expy of Simon Cowell.
- The Gadfly: When he's not being a Caustic Critic on his show, Nigel tends to push people's buttons both due to his own high standards and because it amuses him.
- Going Commando: When Nigel borrows Henry's robe and Henry demands it back, Shawn advises against this, saying Nigel is naked underneath.
- Hate Sink: Nigel St. Nigel. He takes pleasure in tearing down potential contestants and berating his co-hosts. When his life is in danger, he keeps nit picking and complaining about everything, from his accommodations to the food he's given, to Shawn and Gus who are on guard detail. When Zapato Dulce is revealed to be the attempted murderer, because his planned comeback was overshadowed by Nigel, as well as Nigel's general Jerkass attitude, Nigel can't help but insult Zapato as an inept wannabe killer while Zapato's being dragged away kicking and screaming threats and curses at Nigel. At the very end, when Shawn and Gus, who were only advanced in the show to keep tab on Nigel's wellbeing, give a genuinely terrific performance, thanks to Juliet's choreography, and receive a standing ovation from the audience. Nigel immediately shuts down the crowd's enthusiasm, and as the audience sits back down in silence, Nigel eliminates Shawn and Gus from the competition by insulting their act as being the result of not having any talent whatsoever and rudely dismisses them from the stage.
- Harsh Talent Show Judge: Sean and Gus are assigned the case of who's trying to kill Nigel Saint Nigel, notoriously nasty judge in charge of the eponymous talent show. Nigel takes pleasure in putting down contestants and belittling his costars. Sean and Gus are entered in the competition to keep a close eye on him despite their lack of talent and his constant criticisms and whining. At the end, after one the costars overdoses, the other is arrested for causing her to overdose and admits to wanting to kill Nigel because his planned comeback was ruined by being overshadowed by Nigel judging the competition. As the guilty costar is dragged away kicking and screaming in handcuffs, Nigel just can't resist calling him a failure both as a musician and murderer. At the very end, when Sean and Gus give a genuinely good performance that earns them a standing ovation, Nigel shuts down the crowds adulation, eliminates them from the competition by telling them they have no talent whatsoever, and rudely dismisses them by suggesting they kill themselves for being such failures.
- Jerkass: Nigel St. Nigel. Which is what leads to Zapato trying to kill him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Even Shawn and Gus saving his life doesn't makes Nigel St. Nigel show them anything resembling respect or gratitude.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: As Zapato is being dragged away by the police, Nigel mocks him for his failed murder attempts.
- Lotsa People Try to Dun It: Nigel St. Nigel hires Psych to investigate a series of attempts on his life. They soon join the list of people (including SBPD personnel) that wouldn't mind if the killer succeeded.
- Running Gag:Shawn: I'm Shawn Spen-star, and this is my partner, Gus T.T. Showbiz!Gus: The extra 'T' is for extra talent!
- Shout-Out: To American Idol, obviously.
- "You daft punk!"
- During Shawn and Gus' rendition of "Shout" at the end of the episode, Gus is clearly dressed to resemble an early Michael Jackson while Shawn looks like Daryl Hall.
- Doubling as Actor Allusion - Tim Curry is playing a character named "Nigel St. Nigel."
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: In-Universe, as American Duos was originally meant to be a comeback vehicle for Zapato Dulce (the third judge who was often steamrolled over and ignored by Nigel) - Dulce was even the first judge hired for the show. Unfortunately for him, Nigel St. Nigel was then hired and Nigel proceeded to steal the spotlight away from him, ultimately culminating in Dulce trying to murder him multiple times.
- Token Trio: The judges of American Duos are a Caucasian man, a Caucasian woman, and a Hispanic man, with Gus even commenting about the tokenism of the arrangement. The Caucasian male member of the group is the undisputed leader and frequently ignores or interrupts the other two when they try to disagree with his judgments.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Despite them saving his life multiple times and putting on a legitimately impressive performance, Nigel St. Nigel insults Shawn and Gus' attempt to move up to the next level and makes them leave the competition.
- Waxing Lyrical:Lassiter: Spencer! You missed something, we found prints.
- Why Won't You Die?: Zapato says this to Nigel after it's revealed that he's been trying to off Nigel.
