"Ghost Whisperer" (2005) TV series 2005-????

Creator:

John Gray

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

The dead are talking...and she is listening.

Plot:

A newlywed with the ability to communicate with the earthbound spirits of the recently deceased overcomes skepticism and doubt to help send their important messages to the living and allow the dead to pass on to the other side.

Plot Keywords:

Medium | Murder Investigation | Psychic Power | Vision | Husband Wife Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 wins & 11 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Dec. 4

8:00 PM

CBS

Excessive Forces

#5.10

Cast

Jennifer Love Hewitt	...	Melinda Gordon (95 episodes, 2005-2009)
David Conrad	...	Jim Clancy / ... (95 episodes, 2005-2009)
Camryn Manheim	...	Delia Banks (72 episodes, 2006-2009)

Runtime:

60 min | USA:60 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-13 (DVD) (2007) | Argentina:13 | South Korea:15 | Australia:PG (some episodes) | Netherlands:9 (season 1) (re-rating) (seasons 2-4) (slightly cut)

Filming Locations:

Altadena, California, USA

Company:

Sander/Moses Productions

Trivia:

The show is filmed entirely on the Universal Studios back lot in Hollywood. The town square is the same one used in Back to the Future (1985), but modified to represent the fictional town of Grandview (i.e. the famous clock tower has been removed/hidden).

Quotes:

[about the reasons why Alexis humiliated Melinda back in freshman year of college]
Alexis Fogarty: [whining] I kept her secret all though high school. I was practically her only friend at her grandmother's funeral. I've listened to all her problems. All of time.
Andrea Moreno: [peeved and annoyed] Alexis, that's just what friends do.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Psych: Meat Is Murder, But Murder Is Also Murder (#2.6)" (2007)

More than just a pretty face

I liked Ghost Whisperer. I don't know how long it will last, but who can tell nowadays. (I figured Joan of Arcadia for a seven year run.)

At least Jennifer Love Hewitt is back and she's not reprising Party of Five this time. She's chasing ghosts, which allows her to do everything she does well except sing. (She has a great voice. Started out singing in Texas at age 3. Maybe she'll meet a singing ghost somewhere along the way.)

So it's Ghost Whisperer on CBS versus Medium on NBC and that may rankle Medium fans but Medium is on a different night and seems to be slowing down this season. I always tape Medium because it usually puts me to sleep in the last half-hour, despite the admirable talents of Patricia Arquette and Jake Weber and their wonderful TV kids Sofia Vassilieva and Maria Lark.

It isn't Jennifer Love Hewitt versus Patricia Arquette in any case. These two actresses are as different as night and day in look, style and approach. Both total pros and completely capable of leading a series.

I didn't like the Medium rip-off scene where a prophetic nightmare wakes Melinda (Jennifer Love Hewitt) in bed with her husband (David Conrad), but once you get past the obvious similarities GW goes way beyond Medium. Melinda doesn't depend on dreams. She sees ghosts everywhere, all the time. (The bedroom in Medium is that show's main set.)

Ghost Whisperer is no Dead Zone and it's not jumping on the post-X-Files backlash bandwagon like Supernatural either. It's more Touched By An Angel (a similarity that Dead Zone exec producer Michael Piller specifically instructs his writers to avoid.)

The Ghost Whisperer pilot did center entirely on Hewitt, but it's her show, after all. I wondered if they cut stuff out for time. References to what her husband does for a living were rather obviously thrown in as voiceovers until they briefly discussed his day as a paramedic, rather than showing him in action somewhere in the beginning to establish him.

I liked that producer Hewitt pulled in character actors Eddie Jones (ex-Pa Kent from Lois & Clark, the Invisible Man's boss, etc) and Jon Polito and also Wentworth Miller (from Prison Break) as guest stars. (And was that June Lockhart as Melinda's grandma? Sure looked like her.) Wentworth Miller reminds me so much of Steve McQueen that I'm hooked on Prison Break, despite the limited nature of that plot line. And the scene where guest Balthazar Getty (as Michael Adams) told Melinda off was terrific.

Anyway, there's no denying that Hewitt is beautiful and maturing as an actress. She has a great, expressive face. (I admit that the whole show could be shot in close ups and I'd probably still like it.) Modern former child actors like Hewitt and Sarah Michelle Gellar and Seth Green knock me out because they always seem to know exactly what they're doing. They don't just stand around waiting while other actors deliver their lines. They're always "on".

But Hewitt is more than just a pretty face. (She could have been a Charmed One after Shannen Doherty left, but turned down the role.) I say let's see what happens with Ghost Whisperer. It may just be the surprise hit of the season.