Many "Psych" viewers have expressed displeasure with this episode. They offer a variety of criticisms... most of which are spot on. And, intentional. That was the point. As mentioned repeatedly in the episode, remakes are never as good as the original. Characters even discuss the various mistakes remakes tend to make... and then, the episode makes them. Exaggerated emphasis of character traits, inflamed sentimentality, stunt casting, new "twists" that are nowhere near as clever as the original ones... the fun here is in watching the episode implode. My favorite bit: the tendency for remakes to inflate fan favorites is done to perfection here by (small spoiler) superfluously making Woody the Coroner a major part of the plot of the murder trial. "Psych" has always been among the most meta of TV series. And truthfully, a viewer who is not familiar with the original episode AND the show's tendency toward absurdist analysis will probably be left cold by this episode. But if you're in on the joke? The absurd becomes... sublime. 8/10 from me.
Psych (TV Series)
Remake A.K.A. Cloudy... With a Chance of Improvement (2014)
User Reviews
Review this title11 Reviews
An ironic gem.
msbraasch-2599620 June 2015
You don't have to think that this is better than the original episode, and for a lot of reasons it's not. And that's the point. I mean, Cloudy With A Chance was, in my opinion, one of the greatest episodes throughout the series. But the remake is exactly what it should be. One that couldn't possibly live up to the original, which is undoubtedly what they were going for. Comedy comes in many forms. One of which is irony. In that sense, they nailed it. The entire episode is full of it. For that reason, it is great. They blatantly say several times throughout the episode that remakes never turn out to be as good as the original. This episode was not only made for true fans of the series, but I believe also for anyone involved in making the show. To those who dislike this episode simply because it's a bad remake, I have but one thing to say: Come on, son.
People who didn't get this one didn't get the show at all
wesos11127 July 2014
From the start, this show had a unique premise that hooked me, so I stuck with it. As the show found its legs, it broke out from its modest trappings into something much, much more than its hook. This show has always been an almost formulaic procedural with a nice twist, but its heart comes not only from the chemistry between its leads, but from the fact that it was a love letter to pop culture. Oh, sure, the off the cuff references to classic entertainment were present from the start. When the show truly hit its stride is when it became a series of homages to everything from the "Friday the 13th" style slasher horror to the infamous Twin Peaks episode. This episode took that habit and turned it on its ear. Not only is it a send-up of the trope of bad remakes, its an homage to that which Psych fans hold dear; "Psych". This episode is deliciously meta. This episode transcended the old sitcom tradition of the "clip show", and brought a new face to referencing its past. Old guest stars in new roles, classic jokes reworked, and references to events that are yet to come in the timeline that we already know...this episode was amazing. What makes it truly...well..."Psych", is in the way it is done, in that it pokes fun at the modern trend of remaking classic movies and TV shows, while providing a fun and original episode of the show we have loved for 8 years. This show shall remain in one of the upper echelon of shows that passed the 100 episode mark and still went out on top, never sacrificing quality, never "jumping the shark".
...
eighmii16 October 2014
I definitely feel like the negative reviews are from casual 'psych' viewers.
True Psych-Os will LOVE this. I am obsessed with Psych and have seen EVERY SINGLE episode at least 50 times and I am no way exaggerating. So obsessed I feel as though Shawn is my best friend. And I make jokes in real life that no one understands, but Shawn would understand.
My point is not to prove that I am the worlds biggest Psych fan, but this is an amazing gift to Psych-Os. THE GUEST STARS were the best part .. Every guest star was in an old episode and it was so fun to sit there and figure out what original episode everyone was from.
The entire Psych cast and staff really cares about their true fans, and this episode, like most of Season 8, was created for the people who are going to have a major void in their life once it was all over. They said many times before it all aired, that the short season 8 was tier last chance to do the things they really wanted to while pleasing the Psych-Os, and not going out on a bad note ..
And after re-reading all I just wrote, I think I may need professional help.
True Psych-Os will LOVE this. I am obsessed with Psych and have seen EVERY SINGLE episode at least 50 times and I am no way exaggerating. So obsessed I feel as though Shawn is my best friend. And I make jokes in real life that no one understands, but Shawn would understand.
My point is not to prove that I am the worlds biggest Psych fan, but this is an amazing gift to Psych-Os. THE GUEST STARS were the best part .. Every guest star was in an old episode and it was so fun to sit there and figure out what original episode everyone was from.
The entire Psych cast and staff really cares about their true fans, and this episode, like most of Season 8, was created for the people who are going to have a major void in their life once it was all over. They said many times before it all aired, that the short season 8 was tier last chance to do the things they really wanted to while pleasing the Psych-Os, and not going out on a bad note ..
And after re-reading all I just wrote, I think I may need professional help.
A guest star-packed classic episode of an awesome show!
buta-6588919 May 2017
This episode of Psych was very similar in comedy style to many other episodes, complete with sarcasm and irony. Dramatic and clever crime- solving are also featured in this episode and typical of the series. The main thing differentiating this episode would be the abundance of guest stars, all of whom help make this episode very fun to watch. Like many other episodes of Psych, this one shouldn't be missed, it's great!
Brilliant comedy
jesusfreak-0088125 November 2020
Not good
calleguy1922 January 2014
This was one of the worse episodes of a show that I love so much. It is called "Cloudy with a Chance of Improvement" but is worse than the original. If it ain't broke don't fix it. The whole thing felt very rushed because of the way they stuck in lines from the original without the same development of the dialog. I felt like a lot of the actors, aside from the regular cast, did a poor job of saying the poorly written dialog. The worst offender was the actor that portrayed Ruben Leonard. I seriously thought during the courtroom scene that he was reading his lines off of a teleprompter. Adam Hornstock was awesome in the original but in this latest version I hardly laughed because of him. I'm not saying that this is a new low for Psych but it certainly isn't better than the original.
The worst episode of "Psych"
TheSeaLion30 January 2014
Warning: Spoilers
"Cloudy... With a Chance of Improvement" is the remake of one of the first season episodes of "Psych", "Cloudy... With a Chance of Murder". The name of the episode says everything. There was a chance of improvement, but there was none and instead it became what it was poking fun at. Within the first five minutes of the episode, both Shawn (James Roday) and Gus (Dule Hill) complain about Hollywood remakes including the 2005 movies "Bad News Bears" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". This remake lacked the laughs and actual audience investment that the original episode had.
The problem is that the show and characters have changed from the way they were in the first season, but the writers wrote the characters the way they are in the present instead of how they were in the past. Another problem is that when the story was being written, the past story and characters were thrown into overdrive. Originally, Shawn has feelings for Juliet (Maggie Lawson) and did make gestures, but it was more subtle and believable. In this remake, Shawn constantly hits on Juliet every time he sees her when that is never how he acted. Then, it makes the case bigger than it was originally, adding a second victim and more suspects. I will give the episode credit for not having it be the receptionist Priscilla (Keegan Connor Tracy (original) Katharine Isabelle (remake)) like it was in the original, but other than that it is the same story told over, placed in overdrive, yet less exciting and funny and more annoying.
When I say this is the worst episode of "Psych", I mean it. Every other episode has been decent, in my opinion, and the writers knew what they were doing. The problem is that this time around, the writers forgot that the times were different, as were the characters, so they put them all in overdrive and let it loose with no guide.
The problem is that the show and characters have changed from the way they were in the first season, but the writers wrote the characters the way they are in the present instead of how they were in the past. Another problem is that when the story was being written, the past story and characters were thrown into overdrive. Originally, Shawn has feelings for Juliet (Maggie Lawson) and did make gestures, but it was more subtle and believable. In this remake, Shawn constantly hits on Juliet every time he sees her when that is never how he acted. Then, it makes the case bigger than it was originally, adding a second victim and more suspects. I will give the episode credit for not having it be the receptionist Priscilla (Keegan Connor Tracy (original) Katharine Isabelle (remake)) like it was in the original, but other than that it is the same story told over, placed in overdrive, yet less exciting and funny and more annoying.
When I say this is the worst episode of "Psych", I mean it. Every other episode has been decent, in my opinion, and the writers knew what they were doing. The problem is that this time around, the writers forgot that the times were different, as were the characters, so they put them all in overdrive and let it loose with no guide.
Ran out of ideas
brianrw-8653618 August 2020
Just a disappointment
swm32131 January 2014
The witty, sometimes a little smug Shawn Spencer is portrayed as an asinine fool. I mean, the part where he was "hitting" on Juliet made me cringe so bad that I had to close the show. He has NEVER been so desperate, and Juliet wasn't that harsh. Some of the beautiful conversation that happened in the original is removed, for god knows what reason, making it seem a lot less fluid.
In the past few episodes they stress some jokes too much and they become so unfunny. E.G. here they CONTINUOUSLY stressed that it was 2006.
I hope the Psych creators get their game up because I used to watch psych until 4am, now I couldn't even watch it all the way through...
Huge disappointment...
In the past few episodes they stress some jokes too much and they become so unfunny. E.G. here they CONTINUOUSLY stressed that it was 2006.
I hope the Psych creators get their game up because I used to watch psych until 4am, now I couldn't even watch it all the way through...
Huge disappointment...
Not My Least Favorite Ep, but Def in there
clkeck-2832419 October 2020
For me, the most frustrating part of this episode (and this is just based on my memory from 1.5 years ago, I haven't gone back and watched it since) was how they removed so much of Henry's development. The original was the episode where it was made clear for the first time how much Henry cared for his son. This version does nothing and treats Henry like crap
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