TV show rec: Ghosts
Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:12 pm
There are so many checkmarks against this show (broadcast network, popular), I nearly didn't start watching it. But I did, and now have watched it all twice, except the final episode of Season 1, which airs Thursday night. They've already been picked up for Season 2, so we're not investing in a thing that won't make it.
You guys, it is charming and sweet and wonderful. It is a half-hour, so it is technically a comedy, and truly, it does lean more cute than serious. But in the way the best half-hour shows are, it is also about something.
I think it might be about family, or community.
So, first off, it's based on a British show, which you automatically get points for that.
Next, the cast is astoundingly good. My favorites are Rebbecca Wisocky, who has had to play mean women for so long that it is a delight to see her play occasional joyful, and slowly bust out of her Victorian-era attitudes, and Brandon Scott Jones, who I first met in the final season of The Good Place. But there is not an actor dud among the group.
Which leads us to our next point - that there are a gob of ghosts, so if there's one you hate, just wait a minute and they will go offscreen. Several earlier episodes didn't even have the entire cast.
Oh, and as is also the case with all of my favorite half-hour shows, there is no audience. They are not trapped in one or two sets, and can move around, though most scenes are in fact in the mansion. But they can go out on the grounds and even into town.
If you give it a try and you're wavering, promise me you will go through episode 6 (there are 18 22-minute episodes), with a storyline about Pete and another about Hetty and Thor. If one of those doesn't click into place for you and you see what I mean about heart and community, then it's OK to stop.
It's a CBS show, so it should be available on Paramount+, I would think (we still have cable, so we watch it through the On Demand thingy). Probably also Hulu.
You guys, it is charming and sweet and wonderful. It is a half-hour, so it is technically a comedy, and truly, it does lean more cute than serious. But in the way the best half-hour shows are, it is also about something.
I think it might be about family, or community.
So, first off, it's based on a British show, which you automatically get points for that.
Next, the cast is astoundingly good. My favorites are Rebbecca Wisocky, who has had to play mean women for so long that it is a delight to see her play occasional joyful, and slowly bust out of her Victorian-era attitudes, and Brandon Scott Jones, who I first met in the final season of The Good Place. But there is not an actor dud among the group.
Which leads us to our next point - that there are a gob of ghosts, so if there's one you hate, just wait a minute and they will go offscreen. Several earlier episodes didn't even have the entire cast.
Oh, and as is also the case with all of my favorite half-hour shows, there is no audience. They are not trapped in one or two sets, and can move around, though most scenes are in fact in the mansion. But they can go out on the grounds and even into town.
If you give it a try and you're wavering, promise me you will go through episode 6 (there are 18 22-minute episodes), with a storyline about Pete and another about Hetty and Thor. If one of those doesn't click into place for you and you see what I mean about heart and community, then it's OK to stop.
It's a CBS show, so it should be available on Paramount+, I would think (we still have cable, so we watch it through the On Demand thingy). Probably also Hulu.