In 2014, Psych became the first TV series to produce a remake of one of its own episodes. Something like this would be surprising for any show, even if it had been on the air for 20 years, but the remade episode was only seven years old at the time. That didn’t stop the writers and producers from a taking a second stab at one of its earliest episodes.
The episode in question is Psych season 1, episode 12, titled “Cloudy…with a Chance of Murder.” In the episode, Shawn (James Roday) and Gus (Dulé Hill) try to prove the innocence of a woman accused of murdering a womanizing weatherman. To do this, the two have to help her attorney, Adam Hornstock (Michael Weston) avoid a conviction and find the real murderer. At the end of the episode, Shawn watches a seemingly incriminating video of the accused with the victim, and is able to figure out the identity of the killer.
In Psych season 8, the series aired “Remake a.k.a. Cloudy…With a Chance of Improvement,” which took place in 2006 (the setting of season 1) and de-aged some of the characters. As pointed out on USA's website, it was the first time a TV show remade its own episode. It followed the same story as the original episode, but curiously recast a long list of characters with other actors who had already been on Psych. The remake kept its Adam Hornstock actor, but brought in season 5 guest star Ralph Macchio to play the prosecutor and Father Westley actor Ray Wise to fill the role of the judge. Lindsey Sloane, who played the bachelorette in “Shawn and the Real Girl” portrayed the defendant in the remake, replacing Jolie Jenkins.
Though the episode followed the same case, with the big reveal hinging once again on the incriminating video, the remake changed this scene. Originally, Shawn accused Priscilla (Tracy Armstrong), the one woman in the newsroom who the victim never took an interest in, of killing the weatherman because he never noticed her. In the original, Shawn’s theory was correct, but the remake offered a shocking twist by making a one-night stand with Woody (Kurt Fuller) her alibi. Instead, the murderer was revealed to be a new character, TV anchor Mortimer Camp (Carlos Jacott).
The remake of “Cloudy…With a Chance of Murder” featured quite a few of the same jokes and gags, but the execution was slightly different. One scene that carried over from the original to the remake was when Shawn insisted that Gus give Hornstock his tie, in order to make a better impression on the jury. It also featured a few lines of dialogue where Shawn makes an uncannily accurate prediction about his romantic future with Juliet (Maggie Lawson).
Psych has always had a reputation for unconventional, unusual, and risky moves, and the remake episode is certainly one of its most interesting endeavors. It would seem that this particular episode was chosen to be remade because the writers and producers felt that the original could have been better, hence the title. This is made clear by Shawn himself when he told Gus that the "whole point of a remake is to choose something that showed serious promise but failed to live up to expectations."