Steven Helmer Publications

My wife decided to do some work in her sewing studio yesterday evening and since a trip to Noodles & Company meant I didn't need to make dinner, I found myself watching some reruns of Psych while waiting for her to get home. The show, as always, was entertaining, even though I've seen every episode multiple times and know who the killer is ahead of time. However, as I watched, I realized there were some things that were left unanswered by the series and the three (so far) movies that followed. Here are six of those unanswered questions: Why did Shawn ( James Roday Rodriguez ) pretend to be a psychic in the first place? OK, in addition to it being the whole premise of the show, the series did sort of answer this question in the pilot. What I mean by this though is, of all the explanations he could have given to avoid being arrested by Carlton Lassiter ( Timothy Omundson ), why choose that one? It seems like explaining he had a heightened sense of observation that had been h...

Synopsis: After more than two years at the front lines of the American Civil War, Union Captain John Harling is looking forward to being discharged and allowed to go home. However, his discharge is put on hold, and he is instead ordered to track a group of Confederate soldiers that were believed to be dead but are now causing death and destruction. Harling enlists the help of the soldiers' former commander, Col. Nehemiah Strayn, now a prisoner of war and learn, with the assistance of a mute but clairvoyant runaway slave, the men they are chasing have been brought back from the dead by an evil African entity brought to the United States by a slave trader. The movie also goes by the names Ghost Brigade , The Lost Brigade and Grey Knight . Who's in it? The movie stars Corbin Bernsen , Adrian Pasdar, Ray Wise , Cynda Williams, Martin Sheen and Billy Bob Thornton. Review: The Killing Box had been in my library for some time and, after canceling previous plans to watch it, I fin...

I've been taking the time to re-watch the television series Psych in order whenever I have a few free minutes and have enjoyed the episodes the second (or is it tenth?) time around just as much as I did the first time.  As is the case with most good shows, it is more about the memorable characters than the stories themselves. The one thing I realized during this re-watch is while the show is centered around Shawn Spencer ( James Roday Rodriguez ) and his friend, Gus ( Dulé Hill ), the unsung hero in all eight seasons may also be one of television's most underrated dads, Henry Spencer ( Corbin Bernsen ). Here's why: He was, for all intents and purposes, a single dad. Shawn's parents divorced when he was young and while his mom (played in later seasons by Cybill Shepherd) left Santa Barbara, Henry raised his son while also working as a police officer. That is something that had to be a hard enough job on its own and was only amplified by young Shawn's well-documented ...

  Synopsis: After being shot multiple times and suffering a stroke during surgery, Santa Barbara Police Chief Carlton Lassiter is forced to recover in a hospital with no memory of why he was doing prior to being ambushed. When he suspects something is a bit off about the hospital, he asks Shawn and Gus to help him by secretly investigating but they don't know if Carlton, who is also seeing the "ghost" of his father, is just imagining things. Who's in it? The movie stars James Roday Rodriguez , Dule Hill , Timothy Omundson , Maggie Lawson and Kirsten Nelson . Review: Even though part of me wanted to watch this movie when it first came out a couple years ago, I wound up putting it off, mostly because I didn't enjoy the first movie as much as I was hoping to. However,  I had some free time yesterday afternoon and couldn't find much else to watch so I finally decided to put it on. After seeing the movie, I can honestly say I enjoyed it more than the first film...