Psych is back, and Lassie's coming home.
We're less than a week away from the launch of Peacock and the premiere of Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, the latest movie version of everybody's favorite (fake) psychic detective series. This time, Carlton Lassiter (Tim Omundson) is in trouble, and Shawn (James Roday), Gus (Dule Hill), Juliet (Maggie Lawson), and Chief Vick (Kirsten Nelson) all do their best to help him, even if it means getting themselves into some serious trouble.
The movie is not only about Lassiter, but it also serves as the show's sort of "welcome back" to Timothy Omundson, who suffered a stroke right before filming on the first movie began, meaning the entire first movie had to be rewritten last minute.
In Psych 2, Lassie also had a stroke and is now in recovery, allowing Omundson to participate and for the show to go on.
E! News chatted with three of the movie's stars, James Roday, Dulé Hill, and Maggie Lawson, and Roday opened up about what it meant to have Lassiter back in the fray.
"It was key for us. It was the driving force behind making the second movie, was being able to deliver Lassiter back to Psychos," he says. "Having Tim back on set, having him back with the family and the crew and getting back into that zone was imperative and I think it warmed all of us. It was an emotional experience, and it was the reason we made the movie. If we hadn't had that element, I don't think...we probably would have waited until we did."
Along with paying tribute to Detective Lassiter, Psych 2 features an unexpected amount of growing up—or attempts at growing up—that the cast say will hopefully allow the movies to keep coming.
"It says so much about the writers that over time we can still stay Psych...We're all still growing together very much, our characters are still growing together, and I think we play that," Lawson says. "I think there's a lot of life stuff happening, especially in this movie with Tim, and not shying away from the emotion of that, but still also all of us being, you know, Shawn, Gus, Juliet. We have a long way to go still, which is why we hope we have more movies. But I love that we're following that and playing into that while still staying true to our characters."
"I don't know if this would able to go on for this long if there wasn't some evolving happening," adds Hill. "If we still were doing the same thing from the first eight episodes of Psych, I don't know if we'd have gone through eight seasons, and I definitely don't think we'd have gone through two Psych movies. I think that's part of the joy, seeing where these people grow too, while our audience grows and expands.
Don't worry though—there's plenty of immaturity headed your way. Case in point: the movie's most outrageous and possibly funniest scene. It involves Dulé Hill and a pair of feet belonging to Kadeem Hardison.
"The work that Kadeem and I did is going to be something to behold," Hill teases.
You'll have to wait until Wednesday to see it, but it truly is something.
Hit play above for more from the trio, including why Jazmyn Simon (who is Hill's real-life wife) might just be the movie's MVP, and what it takes to get back into character.
Psych 2 debuts on Peacock on July 15.
E! and Peacock are both part of the same parent company, NBC Universal.