Recently, Psych, the hit comedy-drama from the USA Network filmed scenes for its season 8 finale. Which is also believed to be the series finale (I have been told by multiple sources it is the series finale, but no official word from USA yet).

On 1 of the days, I caught the cast & crew down near English Bay filming scenes so secretive that they did the very un-Psych like action of aggressively covering up any view of the scene.

While I do know what happened in the scene, for now, I wont spoil that. Instead, here are some photos of the cast & director Steve Franks on the set. James Roday, Dule Hill, Maggie Lawson & Kirsten Nelson were all spotted on set that day.

With Maggie Lawson leaving merely days after this shoot to start her next job on her new show "Back In The Game" in Los Angeles, this very well could be the last scenes Maggie ever shot for Psych.

I will have more from this set, with some grainy, more notable photos later this summer. For now...here you go. Also, coming soon, some photos from another episode they filmed outside a lot, about a murder in a food truck festival.

Over the last couple months I caught Psych out & a around a few times where there either wasnt much to shoot, or, in the case of the photos of 1 particular cast member in a outfit we have not previously seen him in, was asked not to post them right away (since they showed him in the said outfit at Comic-Con on their promo reel...cats outta the bag now).

Here is a collection of these pics. Including guest stars Loretta Devine (Boston Public & The Client List) & Tom Arnold (Roseanne) who were in different episodes that I crossed paths with over the past couple months.

Of course, I have more photos coming soon of the final weeks of filming for the 8th & very likely final season of the USA Network hit comedy drama.

As promised in this blog http://canadagraphs.weebly.com/6/post/2013/06/usa-networks-longest-running-program-psych-films-an-episode-for-season-8-where-the-stars-go-to-london-england.html Psych-o's, here is a handful more photos from the shoot a couple weeks ago with Dule Hill & James Roday in "England".

Those of you who follow Dule on twitter know, he answered some fan questions during the filming of these scenes. The 1st couple of pics are of him doing his video response to one of them (I saw him doing this a couple times and wasnt sure what he was doing till later... I thought maybe he was chatting with someone).

Later Holmes & Watson, I mean Black & Tan moved to an alley behind the Lamplighter Pub (aka "The Bloody Bucket") to do a scene that ended with Shawn throing a temper tantrum, stomping furiously around Gus & yelling something (couldnt tell if it was No or maybe "nein" German for "no") what was clear was, he wasnt pleased with something.

Of course fans have seen a bunch of pics of this episode, as Dule has tweeted photos of him with Vinnie Jones & Pierre Despereux himself Cary Elwes.

So, here is anothersmall batch of Dule Hill & James Roday on the set of their episode that is set in England.

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR AN EPISODE FROM SEASON 8 OF "PSYCH"
Do not continue reading, or viewing photos if you want to know nothing about the season before it airs.
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last warning
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On Wednesday, the cast & crew of the longtime USA Network dramatic Comedy "PSYCH" took over part of historic Gastown in downtown Vancouver to shoot scenes for an episode of season 8 which will feature the fake psychic & his best friend a little out of their Santa Barbara comfort zone.... London, England.

They shot scenes on Water Street of the James Roday as Shawn Spencer dressed in a Smokey And The Bandit outfit, and Dule Hill as Burton "Gus" Guster as a Harry Potter character, individually. Then inside the Lamplighter Pub which was re-named the "Bloody Bucket" for the scene, and later in Blood Alley.

The scenes, as most Psych film sets often do, didnt make a lot of sense yet. First scene I saw was Gus walking the streets of London asking passer bys if they had seen someone of an approximate height. Later, Shawn did a scene where he walked down the same street, before heading into the Bloody Bucket. A scene was also shot of a cop moving along a drunk man outside on the street, unsure if it was the main part of the scene, or background, to be seen thru the windows of the pub.

Cool bonus for me this time was, Steve Franks was on set. I believe he was directing the episode, but I didnt find out for certain. The creator & writer for the show was quite pleasant when I asked him for a photo with (and ended up getting 14... after I didnt warn the photo taker it was on continuos mode) & talked with me about the unexpected shortened 7th season, which only had 14 episodes after the Musical episode was pulled & pushed to the fall/winter.

Later that afternoon, the production moved to Blood Alley. I will have another blog with a handful of photos from that scene later this week. I also have a short video of Shawn doing a scene, but I wont post that till closer to season 8.

Recurring villian Pierre Desperaux (Cary Elwes) has been in town shooting for this episode, as Dule Hill and Cary have tweeted photos of them together for this episode. Dule has used the hashtag #LockStock, so will that have something to do with the title or the theme of the episode? With Gus being in England, will he try to track down Rachel, who just dumped him in the season 7 finale? Will the rest of the gang go to England too? Cant imagine Lassie...or Woody, in England. But would love to see it too.

For now...here is your fix Psych-o's Of Shawn "Smokey And The Bandit" Spencer & Burton "Harry Potter" Gusteron the streets of "London".

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR SEASON 8 PREMIERE OF "PSYCH". Do not read on, or view photos if you do not want to know anything prior to seeing the episode.
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last warning
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The cast & crew for the current longest runnng show on the USA Network, the comedy-drama crime show "Psych" are back to work on their 8th season already.

I caught up to them filming on 2 different occasions in their opening week.

First I caught them just a block off of Sunset Beach in Vancouver filming scenes that included Lassie (Timothy Omundson) at an apartment. At the time, I thought very little of the apartment till I stumbled across the trailers & found a trailer for....MARLOWE. This got me thinking, is this where the Lassiter-Viccellio love nest is? Only time will tell.

This past week USA Network officially confirmed Marlow weould be back in season 8 for a guest role, as well as the Cary Elwes character Pierre Despereaux.

A few days later, I was told about them being in New Westminster. After a long exhaustive game of "follow the bread crumbs" I found the set in uptown New West, a quiet neighbourhood of above average value houses.

On set that day, I saw Shawn & Gus (James Roday & Dule Hill) along with Juliet (Maggie Lawson). I also saw another cast member there. Unfortunately, I have no photos of this cast member on set at this time, because the specific person in question asked me not to post photos of them there that day, as it was a plot point that hasnt come up yet (and I instantly knew this person was right, having watched the show enough). Also on set on this day was, the blueberry. The scenes were all indoors while I was there, so I didnt see any filming...but here is my 1st pics of Psych cast & crew back at work for the 8th & likely final season (if James Roday & Dule Hill were telling it like it is at the Upfronts last week)..

THIS BLOG POST CONTAINTS POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR THE MUSICAL EPISODE OF "PSYCH". Do not continue reading or viewing the photos if you dont want to know anything prior to the episode.
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Last Warning
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This week season EIGHT of the hit USA Netowrk comedy/drama "Psych" started up.

With season 7 currently airing in the U.S. I decided I should get this long overdue & almost forgotten set of photos of a guest star they had here for their large 2 part musical episode that will air later this year.

So who is the mystery returnee?

YANG!

Yes, Ally Sheedy was back in Vancouver last year to film scenes as the insanely dangerous Yang. I caught her at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre preparing for a scene, but of course didnt get to see her film the scene as it was indoors. A few days later I ran into her on her way to a get together a few of the cast members had.

Psych airs Wednesday nights on USA Network
The musical episode will be near the end of the season.

By now, if you are a fan of any of the TV programs done in Vancouver, or even just a fan of TV & movies in general. You have heard or read about the uproar in the filming community of British Columbia over the fact the current Premier of the Province, Christy Clark, has essentially washed her hands of the multi-billion dollar industry & is happily letting it die. More disturbing, she has gone as far as to have facebook comments protesting this decision deleted from her facebook page...by the 100s & maybe even now 1000s.

A website devoted to screecapping & cataloguing the deleted posts http://www.ninja12.com/cc/
is so long, I couldn't read it all in 1 sitting (and its a read worth reading)

An article early this morning by political journalist Bob Mackin http://www.biv.com/article/20130110/BIV0103/130119995
caught the eye of many, especially in the industry. The groundswell of anger & frustration from the deleted comments moved into a plan of action, as tweets, tumblr posts and of course a petition were created to demand action from Christy Clark.

Currently, the petition
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/SAVE_BC_FILM/?wgxOzcb
(yes, I generally mock online petitions...but it is still a way to make your voice heard) has garnered over 3,500 signatures in about 24 hrs. It's goal is 10000 signatures, and at its current pace, probably will get there by tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest. From the handful of times I stared at names rolling across the screen of recent signees, mostly Canadian, I saw many connected to the B.C. filming industry that I was familiar with lke Callum Keith Rennie, Crystal Lowe, Erica Cerra, Tanya Hubbard and Frank Cassini scrolled down the ticker in the time I watched. I saw a few others, who work behind the scenes, whose names I recognize also pop up. These are not millionaire actors who are griping over losing a couple thousand dollars. These are people making a barely livable wage in this province, and more specifically VANCOUVER, recently called the most expensive city in North America, angry that she wants to eliminate their jobs all together.

For every Jensen Ackles, Jennifer Morrison, Robert Carlyle or Joshua Jackson making millions annually from the B.C. film industry, theres 100s more who make not much more than you or I, put in far longer hours than you or I (I often talk to crew on set who have put in 16+ hour days...then do it again the very next day) & do not have the luxury to just fly off to Los Angeles, Toronto or New York when things dry up here. They have families, secondary jobs, small businesses (many in the industry have invested heavily into it with businesses HERE that will surely have to close up if the industry continues failing) & responsibilities HERE.

Tweets from actors & actresses on the Save B.C. Film Campaign

"Primeval New World" actress Crystal Lowe
https://twitter.com/RealCrystalLowe/status/290562419875528704
"Eureka" actress Erica Cerra (2 tweets)
https://twitter.com/AirikahChaira/status/290526320335659009
https://twitter.com/AirikahChaira/status/290615372858654720
"Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes" actress Chelah Horsdahl
https://twitter.com/chelahhorsdal/status/290537138813014017
Actor & Producer Kenji Maeda
https://twitter.com/kenjimaeda/status/290557782401376256
"Glee" actor Patrick Gallagher
https://twitter.com/PatrickGman/status/290579555683561473
"Continuum" Actress Jennifer Spence
https://twitter.com/SpenceJen/status/290581532349964289

These arent millionaires, these are all actors you have likely seen on TV or movies, who work a handful of days a month when things are going well, and might work 1 or 2 days, maybe even none, when things are not. Without a film industry in B.C. these people, who have trained to be actors & actresses, who care so much for the industry, would either be unemployed or forced to move out of the Province that they have called home & developed roots in. They are just a fraction of the industry too.

There are writers, stunt people, entire crews who build & tear down sets, make up & hair stylists, publicists, casting agencies, location scouts, CGI specialists, artists, prop makers and countless other professions directly tied to this industry....not to mention 100s of other smaller sub-sections of industries that survive because of the addition of the film industry here, such as hotels, drivers, police, medical, fire staff, reporters, and yes, even us lowly autograph hounds. The reality is, there are few large or small industries in Vancouver that arent affected directly or indirectly by filming. The loss of this industry would have a large trickledown effect throughout the entire province.

I was so annoyed, I made a tumblr blog post...something I almost never do, because I wanted the message to reach the broadest audience I had available & twitter just doesnt do it in 140 characters.... here was my statement on there...

http://canadagraphs1.tumblr.com

I have posted tweets at Christy several times over the past months of different newspaper articles, tv reports & blog posts about the struggling film industry.

NONE of them did she ever everrespond to.

Make matters worse, the Premier FOLLOWS me on twitter, and I even contacted her via DM if she wanted to discuss this privately...still no reply to that attempt either. It is blatantly clear, she HATES TV & Movies & wishes they would go to Ontario, Louisiana or California... which has happened in droves over the past couple years.

To say the industry needs a massive boost right now is a gross understatement. There is an election May 14th, but what damage will Christy have inflicted by that time? (NOTE- I edited this section.... it previously said 2 yrs till next election. Thanks to those who corrected my inaccuracy). It will consist of shows that were already here before the intentional murder of the industry started and no new, fresh shows will come to open up spots of employment for the 1000s of unemployed people in the industry this Province worked so hard to build through the 80s & 90s.

It is hard for me to believe I am saying this, but it is possible Christy Clark is a worse Premier than Gordon Campbell, a man who implemented laws so absurd it nearly financially cripled myself & many others who are in the low income backet. Christy Clark seems to have no business sense. She seems to be oblivious to the fact there is a multi-billion dollar industry in her Province that is slowly moving to places where they WILL give tax breaks. Christy Clark would rather tax it, have it leave, create 1000s of unemployed workers surviving off Unemployment Insurance & Welfare, instead of working in an industry that has made B.C. a desired place for people to visit (tourism $$), relocate to & do business in.

If you WANT shows like Supernatural, Once Upon A Time, Arrow or Psych to keep making the quality products they have been making... you need to have your voice heard. Sign the petition, blog about it, tweet about it, comment on Christy Clarks page & make her P.R. team know we wont quietly heed to her tyrranical actions. This is an industry with MONEY, POPULARITY and MANY OUTLETS to have its VOICE heard.

My recommendation to Christy Clark... BACK DOWN from your demands to kill the industry before you end up portrayed as an incompetent, addle minded, crazy person character on 1 of the shows.... afterall, they have the power to make it happen. .. and if you keep poking the bear, I am sure 1 or more of them will make it happen.

Other articles referring to this campaign that I've seen today...
http://www.timescolonist.com/film-tv-gaming-left-out-of-bc-jobs-plan-1.44327
- Victoria Times Colonist
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2013/01/save-bc-film-petition/
- Vancitybuzz
http://vancityfilming.com/save-bc-film/
- Vancity Filming
http://www.facebook.com/GlobalBC/posts/10151322419517808
- Global TV story on the noon news
http://www.globaltvbc.com/video/save+bc+film+campaign/video.html?v=2325159573#stories
- Save B.C. Film twitter account (200+ followers already)
https://www.facebook.com/savebcfilm?fref=ts
- Save B.C. Film Facebook page (already 1200+ likes)
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/savebcfilm