Last night’s mid-season premiere episodes of Monk and Psych, both on the USA Network, were very entertaining and inspire optimism that both series are going to have a good year.

The Monk episode had a strong story, a relatively uninspired but workable mystery, some very funny scenes, a good subject area (a religious cult), and several superb character points.

Monk’s assistant, Natalie (Traylor Howard), was not used very promenently, as Monk spends much of the episode separated from her, and Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) does not get to do much, either, but Jason Gray-Stanford has a couple of very funny moments as Lt. Randall Disher, and the guest actors, particularly Howie Mandel as the cult leader, were very good. And Tony Shaloub was in top form as Adrian Monk.

The mystery, as I say, was somewhat perfunctory, and the motive for the killing at the center of the story was very weak and implausible, but the story line was eventful and included some amusing twists, which more than compensated for the lack of a compelling puzzle. The humor was particularly strong in this episode, and I think that the success was in great part because it flowed naturally from the investigation situations.

Particularly important was the fact that although the mystery was not overly puzzling, the story stayed focused mainly on the crime investigation, and the character humor flowed from it instead of interrupting it as too often happened on the show in the last couple of years.

The concentration on the crime was a welcome return to form for the show, and I think the episode overall was about as good as the first season’s shows, which is saying a heck of a lot. Let’s hope it’s a harbinger of what’s to come, and not an anomaly.

I’d give it a 4.5 out of 5.

Psych likewise had several very funny scenes, and it benefited from a good setting (California wine country, which every TV detective must visit eventually; I hope the killings eventually slow down there, as it seems rather more dangerous than Baghdad or Moscow these days).

In addition, guest star Kerry Washington gives a hilarious peformance as co-lead amateur detective Gus’s previously unknown ex-wife, Mira. An amusingly spoiled rich girl, Mira is a classic character, jumping from one intense enthusiasm to another with delightfully comic energy and alacrity.

As with last night’s Monk episode, the Psych mid-season premiere adhered pretty well to the crime investigation story line, which kept the narrative going nicely.

One would almost suspect that the producers of the two shows had been reading my writings about their need to do that. 

Last night’s Psych episode played down Shawn’s antics in pretending to be psychic, which actually made it more effective, as that is something of a convention for the show at this point and doesn’t add much to the festivities. Instead, the byplay between Shawn and Gus is a strength of the episode, as it is of the series. All in all, a very funny episode, with a serviceable mystery, a terrific guest character in Kerry Washington’s Mira, and a good moral center.

Overall, a very good episode indeed. I’d give it a 4 out of 5.

During the commercial breaks in the Psych showing, USA presented some amusing animated adventures of Shawn and Gus as children. You can see them here.