Character Study
A Vulture series about how our favorite TV characters evolved from script to screen.
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
He seemed like hes got life figured out more than most people.
Theres an innocence about the character, Franks says, but hes also worldly at the same time.
We were pretty sure this was going to work.
It required the whole recipe for the one ingredient to get away with being a character.
With him, I was always Shawn, and he was always Gus, Franks says.
But in my life now, Im way more Gus than Shawn.
he explains, noting thatPsychs flashbacks showed just how deep their relationship was in their preteen and teenage years.
In the spelling-bee episode, you realize the reason why Gus lost the bee.
Both Franks and Roday Rodriguez define the characters relationship as codependent.
Nobody wants to admit it because of the negative stigma thats attached to that idea, Roday Rodriguez explains.
But I think the sweet spot for these two guys was when they just stopped fighting it.
Why have Gus serve as another fundamental conflict when the police department especially Lassiter could provide that instead?
Theyre not always going to agree, and theyre always going to bicker.
They land on opposite sides on fiscal responsibility, and maybe even social issues.
Catchphrases, phase 1:Early on, I wanted Shawn and Gus in every scene.
These guys were working so hard.
When you see the suck its and the lip-smacks, they were finding ways to entertain themselves.
They all didnt land, but most of them were pretty great.
You go with what works, and you pay attention and listen.
Could we start a new catchphrase in season seven?
Cmon, son was a later addition.
We tried, with less success, with Its semantics; its not semantics.
But it wasnt a complete fail.
Mr. Yang thus became a big swing for several reasons.
It was the least funny or overtly silly comedic episode wed done, Roday Rodriguez says.
I remember, for myself, how different that felt.
He ends up making Gus sad, and attacking his dad, and lashing out, Franks says.
Thats whats so fun about his character.
Despereaux may have indeed turned up alive minutes later, but the progress was still achieved.
Our viewers didnt bat an eyelash at the ludicrous nature of that particular story line.
It was very liberating.
Short of sending him into space, we knew we could do anything after that.
Shawn becoming Shawn was born from this broken home and anger from his dad, Franks explains.
All this anger he put toward his dad, although very flawed, kind of dissipates.
Its such a great, powerful moment.
It affected the way Shawn saw Henry for the rest of the series.
The rule was: If one of us knows it, then Shawn knows it, Franks recalls.
If its a famous one, you could likely go five or six songs deep.
But James and I would always get nine songs or more.
And if something was in the Zeitgeist at the moment, the show definitely wasnt interested in it.
And Id often drop something in.
Most significantly, though, these references were never framed as jokes.
Its part of the sentence, Franks explains.
Adds Roday Rodriguez, with a laugh, Dule did have to ask about 80 percent of the jokes.
