We all know have thought the same thing; the summer is upon us and there is nothing new on television. We are in the hot sticky months of reruns and would live to see something original. Once again the USA cable network comes to save the day, or evening as it were. New seasons are starting up for two of the best comedy mysteries on TV; ‘Monk’ and ‘Psych’. They will turn your Friday nights into something you will look forward to coming around. On July 18th both are starting brand new seasons. If you have never seen these series do yourself a big favor and tune it and have a lot of laughs.

In the new season of Monk some bug changes are in the works. Tony Shalhoub is back again as the defective detective Adrian Monk. His list of phobias is as hefty as a Manhattan telephone book. The phrase ‘you have nothing to fear but fear itself’ would perfectly apply to Mr. Monk. He is assisted by a single mother Natalie Teege (Traylor Howard) as he works as a consultant for the San Francisco police department. Mostly he works along side Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and his somewhat clueless assistant Lt. Randy Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford). The biggest change is due to a recent tragedy; the death of Stanley Kamel who played Monk’s put upon psychiatrist Dr. Charles Kroger. While his sudden loss was a blow to the series they have found a great actor to fill in; Hector Elizondo. This talented man has over forty years honing his craft and is a fantastic addition. The writers did show the proper respect by writing the death of Dr. Kroger into the story line. Monk is lost without his friend and doctor and has to get used to the new psychiatrist. In the first episode things are slow at the precinct and Monk is looking through closed cases. He comes across one of an elderly man who apparently died by accidentally falling down a flight of stairs. Monk decides to investigate. Once there he learns the house is up for sale. His young neighbor has been bothering him by practicing a piece of music on the piano so Monk impulsively buys the house. Of course he finds something off center and hires a handyman, played by ‘Everybody Love’s Raymond star, Brad Garrett, to fix up the place. He winds up destroying it and the mystery is on.

Once again Shalhoub nails his role here as the overly compulsive and phobic detective. While the primary focus of his character is his quirky humor Shalhoub brings a more human side to play. Monk is a man who truly loved his murdered wife Trudy and still morns for her. He lost his position with the police department and work as a consultant helps him to feel that he is doing what he was born to do. Howard is excellent as the perky and often put upon assistant Natalie. She has been honing her comic time for awhile now. If you get a chance to see her now cancelled sit-com ‘Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place’ tune in. She is a natural for quirky roles like this. Levine may have played a serial killer in ‘Silence of the Lambs’ but here he demonstrates his talent in comedy. He is great as the authority figure in a group of misfits. It looks like has hass a great time in his role and that transfers to our enjoyment.

‘Psych’ also returns with a bang and a special guest star. Shawn Spencer (James Roday) has been trained since he was a child to develop his remarkable memory and attention to the slightest detail. Providing the training is his now retired police officer father, Henry (Corbin Bernsen). Things are never smooth between the father and son resulting in near constant friction. Shawn’s best friend since childhood, Gus Guster (Dulé Hill) now works as a sale representative for a larger pharmaceutical distributor. He is always taking time off from his job to help Shawn pretend to be a psychic and solve cases beyond the police. Typically the detective unable to solve the case is Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson), an uptight, by the book man. You might remember him as one of the major bad guys in the recently cancelled series ‘Jericho’. Here he shows his comic style to a tee. Lassiter’s partner, Juliet O'Hara (Maggie Lawson) is dubious about Shawn’s paranormal abilities but is always impressed with his results. Overseeing the chaos is the chief of police Karen Vick (Kirsten Nelson). In the opening episode Gus is in trouble with his boss for taking so much time off from work for his Psych adventures. He is about to loose his job when the big boss of the division calls him in, Apparently his wife is a true believer and feels that their house is haunted. If Gus and Shawn can get to the bottom of the mysterious things that are happening he just might get to stay gainfully employed. Also going on in this episode is the return of Shawn’s mother played by guest star Cybill Shepherd. She is a little to friendly with dad for Shawn. She is a psychologist who has taken a consulting job with the police force examining the officers. She finds that when she gets Lassiter on the couch she is in for a strange time.

Roday is fantastic in his role as Shawn. He is basically a con man but a nice one working for good. His ability to catch the slightest clue does make him a natural detective but he chooses to hide behind his shame psychic abilities. He hates to admit it but all the years of training his father provided paid off. The way Roday plays his two main relationships is precise and fully human. There is resentment between him and his father but underlying it all there is love. Hill is a long way from his dramatic role on ‘The West Wing’ demonstrating the true range of his talent. He plays Gus as a life long best friend who will always be there for his friend even though it always brings a lot of trouble. Roday and Hill are the best comic pair on television today. As mentioned already Omundson is best known for drama but it is great playing the pretentious foil and butt of Shawn’s jokes. He has a hang dog look that just screams out ‘kick me’ making him someone we love to see made fun of. This series is full of dramatic actors doing comedy. Bernsen hit the scene big with his role in LA Law but shows that he has impeccable comic timing.

The bottom line here is now there are two shows not to miss on Friday nights. Make sure you catch every episode of fun and mystery. A lot of the summer series are dramatic which is good in its own way. Sometimes you just need a few laughs and which is were this pair of shows come in. They never fail to deliver the comedy in a refreshing and delightful way.