Psych type TV Show network USA genre Crime

When Psych: The Movie was announced last month, the network and studio promised that the holiday special would feature some returning guest stars — and EW can exclusively reveal one of them: Ralph Macchio is set to reprise one of his two roles on the show.

In the video below, the Outsiders actor announced he will return as Nick Conforth, the police academy officer who trained Shawn (James Roday) and Gus (Dulé Hill) in season 5. Conforth will play an important role in Shawn and Gus' investigation into the Thin White Duke (Zachary Levi), a mysterious villain who targets one of their friends.

"He's actually a big catalyst to get our investigation going. He holds one of the key pieces of information," creator Steve Franks, who directed the movie, tells EW. "He actually functioned perfectly within the framework of the story and that was kind of the key [to bringing his character back]."

"I should be slightly easier to locate than the pineapple," Macchio says in the announcement video. <iframe src="http://player.theplatform.com/p/OyMl-B/FuzMKey7SGew/select/media/guid/2140458126/3538547" width="480" height="270" frameborder="0" seamless="seamless" allowfullscreen="" class="" scrolling="no" resize="0" replace_attributes="1" name=""></iframe>ã®;ëÆ›Ý¦ûu··ÓÇýñî|óvúÑ¾úÑíœ×Í¼

Franks also wanted Macchio to appear in the movie because he never got a chance to meet him when the actor guest-starred on the show since the writers' room was in California and the show shot in Vancouver.

Macchio made his first appearance as Conforth in the Police Academy spoof "We'd Like to Thank the Academy." Then in season 8, he guest-starred as a completely different character in "Remake A.K.A. Cloudy…With a Chance of Improvement," a redo of a season 1 episode.

Co-written by Franks and Roday, the two-hour movie picks up three years after the series finale and features original cast members Timothy Omundson, Maggie Lawson, Corbin Bernsen, and Kirsten Nelson. It premieres on USA Network in December.