Shawn Spencer

Shawn Spencer (James Roday) hails from a family of cops, and was fully expected to carry the torch by his father, Henry, who meticulously schooled his son from a very young age in the finer points of detective work. But while Henry made him a detective, he can't make Shawn be a detective.

It soon becomes clear that Shawn's extraordinary powers of observation and deduction are still no match for his overdeveloped sense of fun, as he takes a string of random jobs strictly for enjoyment and entertains himself calling in tips to the police hotline for crimes he sees on television.

And then one night, one of Shawn's tips lead police somewhere he never imagined -- back to him. It seems detectives believe information this accurate could only have come from the inside, and Shawn is the suspect.

Desperate to avoid jail time, Shawn hastily explains that his insight is really second sight - he's a psychic. And though skeptical, the department is impressed and Shawn is hired on as a "psychic consultant".

Immediately enlisting the assistance of his reluctant best friend, Gus, Shawn opens his own agency, PSYCH, taking his talent for detective work -- and fun -- in a new direction.

Burton 'Gus' Guster

Gus (Dule Hill) has been party to the impulsive adventures of his best friend, Shawn, since they were kids, which is why he's convinced himself that the straight and narrow -- a job as a pharmaceutical sales rep, 401(k) and a regular paycheck is right where he belongs.

Still, the idea of being a private investigator intrigues him, and while he is completely horrified by Shawn's behavior most of the time, he knows that the excitement and adventure of their new enterprise might just make it all worth it.

Retired cop Henry Spencer (Corbin Bernsen) makes no bones about his contempt for Shawn's new business venture. After years spent training his son to observe and analyze like a detective, Henry can't believe that Shawn would squander his enormous talent only to take his place at the bottom of the law enforcement food chain ... as a psychic.

To Henry, it just completes the long spiral of disappointment that has left his relationship with his son strained to say the least.

Head Detective Carlton Lassiter (Tim Omundson) would sooner arrest Shawn Spencer than follow any of his psychic "visions".

A straight-shooting, 10-year veteran of the Santa Barbara Police Department, Lassiter has worked his way to the top by conducting investigations cleanly, efficiently, and always by the book. This leaves little room for Shawn to intervene, and plenty of frustration when he inevitably does.

Junior Detective Juliet O'Hara (Maggie Lawson), a recent transplant from Miami Beach, was brought up in a family of brothers and is suited for both the rigors of police work and the demands of her new partner, Roland Lassiter, with whom she shares an encyclopedic knowledge of police code.

But unlike her partner, Juliet is amused by Shawn Spencer and is open to the idea that sometimes a good lead is found outside of the Standard Operating Procedure.

Interim Police Chief Karen Vick (Kirsten Nelson) worked alongside Shawn Spencer's father, Henry, during his days on the force. And while she may not be entirely sold on Shawn's strengths as a medium, she admires his moxie, as well as the fact that, like his father, Shawn brings results.