In 2006, the USA Network began airing an unassuming mystery series called Psych. Starring James Roday as a Santa Barbara police detective that has everyone convinced that he has psychic abilities (along with Dulé Hill as his partner who knows the truth), the show quickly grew into a cult phenomenon that ran for eight seasons, producing a musical special and a movie (with an upcoming sequel slated to release on NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock). The series became a cult phenomenon, beloved for the way it blended comedy and drama that was unique for hour-long shows of the time. Since it went off the air, it’s legion of supporters (known as PsychOs) has only grown as new fans have discovered the adventures of Shawn and Gus through streaming.

One of the show’s writers, Tim Meltreger (who penned twelve episodes for seasons two through eight and began producing with season six) sat down with TV Wasteland to discuss Psych, the ongoing feud between the WGA and their agents, and the creation of the infamous three-hole punch running gag.

Meltreger originally started out with a career as a schoolteacher, doing freelance journalism on the side. “It wasn’t very lucrative, so I started writing scripts and entering scripts into contests.” After winning one of those contents, he was offered a job writing web content at the USA network. “Part of that was writing scripted two-and-a-half- or three-minute bits” for the first season of Psych, which he would go to set in Canada to shoot. Through that, he was able to get practice writing for the characters and working on set with the whole team. When it came time to build the writing staff for season two, Tim was already “a part of the family,” so they brought him on to do full episodes. In the age where every show requires a social media presence, often with extra content needed for Instagram videos or Snapchat ads, this kind of story may become more and more familiar to aspiring writers in the future. However, for Meltreger, “It was a really, really happy accident.”

Of course, it being his first time on a professional set, though, there was a little bit of a learning curve. One of the important things he took away was that “everybody [on set] has an important job, and theirs is just as important as yours is.” He felt that many of the lessons he learned on set came from not knowing what was expected of him and just forging ahead and helping out with whatever he could anyway. He had to adapt to constantly being on the ball and ready for questions. Actor Dulé Hill especially would always ask “Where was my character right before this?” and Meltreger would always need to have his answer ready to help Hill place himself in the story (as scenes and episodes were often filmed out of chronological order). Though he did admit that he thought that sometimes the actors did it just to see if they could keep the writers on their toes. This task of having to always be ready to explain the script “quickly, clearly, and lucidly” to an entire set of people waiting to get on with their work became a sort of “trial by fire” for Tim.

The most notable story involving Meltreger that fans of the show may recognize is that of the three-hole punch. In an episode that he had written, there was a joke involving a three-hole punch. However, James Roday flubbed the line, saying it as “three-hole puncher.” Meltreger insisted that Roday read the line exactly as he had written it, because “‘three-hole punch’ is way funnier than ‘three-hole puncher!’” This turned into a recurring joke on set, where whenever someone said “three-hole punch,” everyone would burst into exaggerated, over-the-top laughter.

Much like the show itself, Tim considers himself “a dramatic comedy writer,” always making it his goal to instill an emotional core in every story, no matter the genre. However, he admits his love of the absurd, citing Monty Python, Saturday Night Live, and The Blues Brothers as big influences on his style of writing. Essentially he loves the oddball and the offbeat, something that “can bring the feelings and bring the funny at the same time.”

Meltreger’s biggest advice for balancing comedy and drama is to not be afraid to write it realistically. There are many serious and plot-driven story beats that can be told comedically, but if you can tell it honestly, do so. “You can write them straight first, just so you can make sure the story tracks,” remembering that “the jokes almost always come last,” and to always remember the heart of the scene first. (Though he did joke that in a position like his on a TV show, always put what the boss wants first.)

However, he emphasizes knowing what you’re writing for and ensuring that you get influence from the predecessors in that genre as well, even if it’s not something you would normally be watching yourself. He did admit: “If you can name a schlocky romantic comedy… I’ve probably watched it (from While You Were Sleeping to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days).” He highlighted that even if you think you’re above something or too good for it, you can still always get something from the experience of watching something that may not be in your comfort zone.

While Meltreger admitted that he hasn’t been in a lot of traditional writers’ rooms, he remembered Psych’s as very well-organized and operating very smoothly. Everyone had a task for the day, whether it be breaking down story beats or editing already-written scripts. In a show like Psych, where locations often change from episode to episode, budget cutting often even stretched to the writers’ room, where Meltreger and his coworkers would edit areas that might end up costing the network too much money. Working on a comedy show, the group also spent time pitching jokes and throwing ideas around for comedic relief if an episode was leaning too hard into serious territory. “It’s not all that glamorous, but it’s usually pretty fun.”

One particular insight Meltreger had was about the credits at the end of an episode. There are seemingly dozens of titles, from story editor to staff writer to co-executive producer, all in a very specific order. “This is not an exact science,” but most of those producer titles indicate a type of writer who had some hand in the creative process behind the episode. There are a lot of exceptions, but many of the different titles mean similar things but are separated by the amount of time at the show and the amount of responsibility that you’ve been given. Meltreger himself made the jump from writing to producing, and for him that change meant now having the ability “to protect the words on the page… and collaborate with the other people on the set to make sure the story is being told” in the best (and ideally funniest) way possible.

When asked about his favorite character to write for, without hesitation Tim answered Detective Lassiter (one of Shawn’s coworkers who shares a volatile relationship with him). “The actor Timothy Omundson… can pretty much do anything, and most of the time, he’s pretty much game for anything you give him.” He found Omundson as the straight man who looked the funniest doing ridiculous things, so he knew there was a deep well of comedy to be mined there. He also made it a goal to create stories for the women on the show and put them in the spotlight a little more.

One of the biggest industry news stories of last year (that’s still continuing to today) was the Writers Guild of America’s issues with the studios, which led to thousands of writers firing their agents and starting to work independently. Essentially, if a writer has a project, they traditionally bring it into an agency to begin the process of pitching it to production companies. The agency then helps writers to attach some other writers, producers, and cast members, mostly “people with a proven track record.” The studios will be then given more incentive to buy the project because it already has a strong, proven team behind it. If it ends up being made, the agency gets residuals from this process of packaging, because they brought the team together that helped this series get on its feet. These residuals are “very lucrative for them, and oftentimes, they can go on in perpetuity forever.” Over time, it became apparent that the amount of money the agencies were getting was greater than what the writers were being paid. The WGA had an issue with this, as the agencies were beholden to the writers for coming up with the ideas that put these shows into production.

So, in April 2019, over seven thousand writers (including Meltreger) fired their agents en masse, sending writer-company relationships into a complicated entanglement that still continues today. While he admitted that he didn’t always have the best relationship with his agent, he emphasized the fact that they always had a mutual understanding and appreciation for each other’s work. Now, without someone to act as the go-between, he finds himself in direct contact with more studio people and clients than ever before. “Lots of people aren’t accustomed to selling themselves,” so he highlighted how strange it is for many writers to now be practicing many of the skills that their agents used to perform.

Meltreger is currently working on two scripts (a half-hour and an hour-long) and was recently hired to do pitch materials for a series in development. Keep an eye out for his name in any upcoming projects, because if they’re anything like his work on Psych, they’ll be well worth the watch.