James Roday and Dule Hill reteam for ‘Psych: The Movie’

NEW YORK (AP) — Dule Hill was searching for the right word to sum up how it felt that some original crew members from his series “Psych” turned down other jobs to work on “Psych: The Movie.”

“I think that is a…” he began.

“Testament,” interrupted his co-star, James Roday. “I knew where you were at.”

And that pretty much sums up the rapport between the two actors who played best friends and screwball crime solvers for eight years on their USA series.

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Their shorthand and chemistry was a large part of the show’s appeal, plus running gags like how a pineapple was strategically placed in each episode like a “Where’s Waldo?” game to keep fans invested. The series went off the air in 2014 but they’re back on Thursday for a two-hour TV movie.

“We didn’t want to come back so soon that we hadn’t been missed but we also didn’t want to wait too long so that we had been forgotten,” said Roday of finding the sweet spot to return.

“This was the year that seemed the most right and the planets aligned and everybody’s scheduled worked out.”

In an interview with The Associated Press, the actors recall how they first met, inside jokes and whether there will be more “Psych.”

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AP: Do you recall how you first met?

Dule Hill: I went in for a meeting… You and I read there. We read the scene together. It’s actually funny because he was hired for the job, we had the chemistry read, it was nice. Good vibe.

James Roday: So we thought it would be a good idea to get together and because I had already been cast I thought it would be a nice gesture to go to Dule, to his home. We could rehearse there. I thought that was a standup, solid guy who already has the job, thing to do. I expected him to live somewhere in the general area (of Los Angeles) but he lived way the hell out (laughs.)

Dule Hill: You’d think since he already had the job it would be like, ‘Oh, let me come to you.’ There was none of that. I was like, ‘Thank you for coming by, I appreciate it.’ (Laughter.)

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AP: Did you have that quick banter right away?

Hill: I had just come from doing ‘The West Wing’ and Aaron Sorkin is: What is written is what you say. I get into the read with this dude and he’s just all over the place.

Roday: To watch this guy come in and to think about (where he came from) and see some of the stuff that he was doing at the end of our show, talk about a journey. I watched this guy bloom into a comedic powerhouse.

AP: Did anything come from you guys just joking around that made it into the show?

Hill: Oh, man. What hasn’t?

Roday: We decided that we were huge fans of Ed Lover’s ‘C’mon, Son!’ viral videos and worked that in.

Hill: That only happened because I was in my trailer watching the video and I showed it to Roday and he was crying (laughing) and then we had to go do a scene and he goes, ‘C’mon, son.’ And I go, ‘Don’t do Ed Lover on me.’

AP: Will there be more reunions like this? Another movie, perhaps?

Hill: If I had 10 pineapples to bet, I’d probably bet all 10.

Roday: If we can keep it to two-hour specials every year or two then I feel pretty confident we’ll always be able to give fans the level of ‘Psych’ they are entitled to.

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Online: http://www.usanetwork.com/Psych?

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Follow Alicia Rancilio on Twitter at @aliciar