Ghost Whisperer is
an American
paranormal/fantasy television series, which
premiered on CBS on September 23,
2005.
The series follows the life of
Melinda
Gordon (
Jennifer Love
Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate with the
dead. While trying to live as normal a life as possible, Melinda
helps them pass over to the other side by working as a paranormal
investigator, sometimes dealing with people who push her away, and
disbelieve her ability. The show was created by
John Gray and is produced by
Sander/Moses Productions, in association with
ABC Studios and
CBS Television Studios.
Premise
Ghost Whisperer is a series that follows the life of
Melinda Gordon, a young woman from
the fictional town of Grandview who has the ability to see and
communicate with the dead. Melinda lives with her husband Jim, and
is the owner of an antique shop. Ghosts seek Melinda's help in
relaying a message or completing a task that will put the spirit to
rest, and allow them to cross over into The Light, a metaphor
presented by the show as its concept of the equivalent of
Heaven. There is an interesting parallel here to
Buddhism and the concept of karma, where those who died after their
lives - in which they accumulated more sin than merit - led to an
afterlife of restlessness. To seek redress, these spirits appear
through an intermediary
Melinda
Gordon and she works with them to create a more favorable
spiritual balance with those still living. Once the imbalance
between merit and sin has been restored to a favorable plane, the
spirits can then proceed to what is indeed their final resting
place.
The
First Season introduces Romano, a former cult
leader from Europe who influenced his followers to commit a mass
suicide in 1930. His own suicide transformed him into an
earth-bound negative entity. Romano attempts to do the exact
opposite of Melinda and gather earthbound souls and prevent them
from crossing over into the Light. Also, Melinda suffers a huge
personal loss at the end of the season.
In the
Second Season, Melinda meets
Delia Banks, her son
Ned
Banks, and
Professor Rick
Payne, all of whom, by season's end, come to learn of Melinda's
power, with contrasting reactions, although Delia remains slightly
skeptical. The second season revolves around the thinning veil
between the living and the dead. Melinda meets a man whose arrival
in Grandview sets the final events of a disastrous prophecy in
motion, and the strengthening of the dark side over the Light,
which may result in the death of a loved one.
In the
Third Season, Melinda searches in her
family history for answers as she gets closer and closer to
learning the secret of her gift, her childhood, and her
father.
In the
Fourth Season, Melinda meets
Eli James after
a fire at Rockland University, who after his near-death experience,
develops the ability to listen to ghosts. Melinda also says goodbye
to her close friend
Rick Payne,
who leaves Grandview for a research trip for the university.
In the
Fifth Season, we are introduced to Jim and
Melinda's son,
Aiden Lucas.Melinda fears
that her son will be in great danger, because he seems to be more
powerful than she is.
Production
Development
Ghost Whisperer is based on the work of "Spirit
Communicator"
James Van Praagh, who
is co-
executive producer and
regularly updates a
blog about the show through
LivingTV. The stories are also said to be based in part on the work
of "Spirit Communicator"
Mary Ann
Winkowski. Development of the show dates back to at least two
years before its premiere.
The show is currently produced by Sander/Moses Productions in
association with
CBS (originally
Paramount Network Television in season
one and
CBS in seasons two and three) and
Channel4 Studios (originally
Touchstone Television in the first two seasons).
The show is filmed on the
Universal
Studios back lot in Los Angeles.
One area on the lot is
Courthouse
Square
from the Back to the Future
trilogy, though it has been drastically modified to portray
Grandview. For example, the
clock
tower present in
Back to the Future has been
completely covered up. Cast and crew members also believe that the
set gets visits from real spirits.
Sound effects are completed at Smart Post Sound. Visual effects for
the pilot and some season 1 episodes were completed at Flash Film
Works. Visual effects for nearly the entire series have been
created at Eden FX.
Production notes
Ghost Whisperer was originally produced by
Paramount Television and Touchstone
Television.
The show's
title is a reference to the main character Melinda Gordon (portrayed by Jennifer Love Hewitt), who lives in the
town of Grandview, New
York
with her husband Jim (David Conrad), a medic from Mercy
Hospital.
Creator
John Gray grew up in Brooklyn, New
York
, which is not far from Grandview-On-Hudson, west of
the Hudson River. Piermont is
referenced often in episodes as the neighboring town, which is
accurate to real life as Grandview-On-Hudson is actually located
just north of Piermont.
And Professor Rick Payne worked in the
fictional "Rockland University", and coincidentally, the actual
Grandview, New
York is a village located in Rockland County,
New York
.
The first season premiered on September 23, 2005 and ended on May
6, 2006. It has received an average of 10.20 million viewers.
Season two of
Ghost Whisperer premiered on September 22,
2006 and ended on May 11, 2007, again airing Friday nights on
CBS during the same timeslot.
CBS officially renewed the show for a third season
placing it in its regular Friday 8 p.m. time slot. (Eastern US
Time) The third season premiered September 28, 2007. Due to the
writers strike 12 episodes were completed before the strike.
However, once the strike ended,
CBS had
announced that the show would return April 4, 2008 with 6 episodes.
On February 15, 2008,
CBS renewed
Ghost
Whisperer for a fourth season. For the fourth season,
Jamie Kennedy would join the cast as the
psychology professor Eli James and
Jay Mohr
would be leaving after appearing in the first episode as his
character Professor Rick Payne takes a
sabbatical (Mohr took a role in
Gary Unmarried). Previously recurring
cast member Christoph Sanders also joined as a regular cast member.
The fourth season of
Ghost Whisperer premiered on Friday,
October 3, 2008 and concluded on May 15, 2009. The season consisted
of 23 episodes. It was announced in an interview by P.K. Simonds
with E! Online that
Ghost Whisperer will return for a 5th
Season.
The show costs an average $3 million dollars per episode to
produce, a cost that is split between
ABC
Studios and
CBS.
CBS officially renewed Ghost Whisperer for a
fifth season on May 20, 2009. The fifth season began airing on
Friday, September 25, 2009 at 8pm EST.
The opening sequence showcases the work of
Maggie Taylor
Syndication
On May 5, 2008 it was announced that the first three seasons of
Ghost Whisperer were purchased for $169.8 million dollars
($700,000 per episode, per network) for syndication by the
SyFy,
ION Television, and
WE TV. Episodes begin
airing in Summer 2009 on ION, and in Fall 2009 on SyFy and
WE.
Internet promotion
Ghost Whisperer: The Other SideA series of
webisodes entitled
Ghost Whisperer: The Other
Side have been released on the
Ghost Whisperer
website. A total of eight webisodes were produced and extras (such
as trailers and behind the scenes) are available for viewing. The
story follows Zach (played by
Mark
Hapka), a young delivery boy who dies while delivering a
package. He soon learns how to do things in the spirit world, and
gets revenge on Danny, the man he thinks killed him, and his former
best friend. Melinda from the television series doesn't appear in
the internet series as it takes place entirely in the spirit world.
However, ghosts from the television series have appeared in some
webisodes.
In the second season finale of
Ghost Whisperer, Zach made
an appearance while trying to get help from Melinda before being
taken into the Dark Side leaving the internet series in its own
cliffhanger.
The second season of
The Other Side premiered on the
LivingTV website on January 18, 2008.Season 3 deals with Marc
trying to help his high school crush Olivia find true love as her
ex soon to be husband does not love her.
andshamethedevil.netandshamethedevil.net is a site linked to
Ghost Whisperer. The site is mentioned in the Season 3
premiere. By visiting the site and clicking on the word 'bloody',
it leads to another site rubloodymary.comBy clicking on the star in
the upper right hand corner, the site appears to crack into pieces.
Those pieces can be moved by dragging, revealing this message:
"Meet Me In The Underworld". Small type at the bottom of the page
read the repeated words: "bloody mary. bloody mary. bloody
mary."
rubloodymary.comrubloodymary.com is mentioned in episode
302—"Don't Try This At Home"—which prominently features the Bloody
Mary Urban Legend. When visiting rubloodymary.com if you click and
hold down anywhere on the main page and scrub you can erase the
image, revealing another image underneath that reads "...until she
is trapped underground." Above that there is a countdown timer
that, doing the math, counts down to Friday, October 26, 2007,
episode 3.05 of
Ghost Whisperer aired that night.
Other features: There is a stories link that takes you to a book
with a Bloody Mary tale in it. The very last line reads "I hope she
doesn't go into the church."
Finally, there is an email address to which to connect, and several
links, some to the
Ghost Whisperer Myspace page and
ghostwhisperer.com and one that links back to andshamethedevil.net
which is another secret
Ghost Whisperer site.
penthius.infoIn the series, the Penthius site is often used
by Melinda to look up information about the families and ghosts
that she is investigating in Grandview. A real world version of
this site has been up since February 2008. The site description
reads: "Penthius.Info is a free search engine and video super site
based on the search engine in the television series The
Ghost
Whisperer with
Jennifer Love
Hewitt." It was first mentioned in a post on TV.com by
misscalais, a fan who created the site to promote the show.
Cast
Episodes/U.S. Ratings
US Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per
episode)
|
# Eps |
Season Premiere |
Season Finale |
Viewers
(in millions) |
| Season
1 |
22 |
September 23, 2005 |
May 5, 2006 |
10.20 |
|
| Season
2 |
22 |
September 22, 2006 |
May 11, 2007 |
9.90 |
|
| Season
3 |
18 |
September 28, 2007 |
May 16, 2008 |
9.30 |
|
| Season
4 |
23 |
October 3, 2008 |
May 15, 2009 |
10.62 |
|
| Season
5 |
24 |
September 25, 2009 |
May 2010 |
TBA |
- The average rating from the broadcasted episodes so far.
Season 4 first run episodes of Ghost Whisperer won their time slot
every week this season in viewers, and across all age demographics,
including the coveted 18–49 age bracket, and also usually won the
night for CBS as the most watched show on Friday nights.
A Feb. 28 episode earned 11.54 million viewers and placed the show
at the No. 15 spot in the Nielsen ratings beating out hit shows
like Lost and The Amazing Race. Fourteen episodes from Season 4
surpassed 10 million viewers and seven surpassed 11 million
viewers, a feat in and of itself on what is considered the
Friday night death slot.
DVD Releases
The Region 1 DVD releases are distributed by
Paramount Home
Entertainment/
CBS DVD,
while releases in all other regions are distributed by
Walt Disney Studios Home
Entertainment (formerly Buena Vista Home Entertainment).
| Season |
Specifications |
Special Features |
Release dates |
| 1 |
- 22 episodes
- 6 discs
- Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1 Aspect
Ratio
- Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
- No subtitles
|
- Audio Commentaries
- Blooper Reel
- Deleted Scenes
- Two featurettes
- Virtual tour: Grandview
- Ghost Whisperer Mythology
- Scare Tactics
|
- Region 1
- October 31, 2006
- Region 2
- July 9, 2007 (Europe)
April 23, 2008 (Japan)
- Region 3
- May 29, 2007 (Hong Kong)
June 19, 2007 (Korea)
- Region 4
- May 23, 2007 (Australia)
- October 22, 2007 (Brazil)
|
| 2 |
- 22 episodes
- 6 discs
- Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1 Aspect
Ratio
- Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
- Close captioned
|
- Audio Commentaries
- Behind-the-scenes featurettes
- The Other Side webseries
- Tarot Cards
- Music Video
|
- Region 1
- September 18, 2007
- Region 2
- February 25, 2008
- Region 3
- April 8, 2008 (Hong Kong)
July 26, 2008 (Korea)
- Region 4
- April 2, 2008 (Australia)
- September 12, 2008 (Brazil)
|
| 3 |
- 18 episodes
- 5 discs
- Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1 Aspect
Ratio
- Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
- Close captioned
|
- Audio Commentaries
- Behind-the-scenes featurettes
- The Other Side II web series
- Interactive games
- Interactive Haunted House
- Interactive Mash up
- Melinda's Haunted Diary
|
- Region 1
- September 2, 2008
- Region 2
- April 6, 2009
- Region 3
- March 3, 2009
- Region 4
- March 12, 2009 (Australia)
- May 12, 2009 (Brazil)
|
| 4 |
- 23 episodes
- 6 discs
- Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1 Aspect
Ratio
- Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
- Close captioned
|
- Audio Commentaries
- Behind-the-scenes featurettes
- The Other Side III web series
|
- Region 1
- September 22, 2009
- Region 2
- N/A
- Region 3
- N/A
- Region 4
- March 24, 2010 (Brazil)
|
- Ghost Whisperer Season two DVD was released on
September 18, 2007 in the US. Along with such Special Features as
the Ghost Whisperer Crystal Ball, Melinda's Closet,
Ghostly Visions, The Other side Webseries, Jennifer Love Hewitt Speed Painting
Video, the DVD also came with Limited Edition Tarot Cards. These
physical Tarot Cards have a hidden message on them when placed next
to each other in a certain order. The message reads
"GhostWhispererTarot.com". When typed in a web browser,
GhostWhispererTarot.com leads you to a virtual Tarot Card Online
Game. At the end of this game, Ghost Whisperer fans are
given a secret. The site is no longer active.
Other Media
Novels
| Title |
Author |
Summary |
Corresponding Season |
Revenge
(September 30, 2008) |
Doranna Durgin |
A ghost brings his killer upon Melinda, but can the ghost stop
the person before it is to late? |
Season 2+ |
The Haunted
(October 15, 2008) |
Carrie Smith, Becca Smith |
A ghost claiming to be the Egyptian God Osiris arrives in
Grandview with the intent of creating darkness which would prevent
Melinda from helping other ghosts. |
Season 2+ |
Plague Room
(November 25, 2008) |
Steven Piziks |
Melinda has trouble crossing some ghosts over into the light,
enter new Ghost Whisperer Wendy King. Melinda becomes upset when
she learns of that Wendy requires fees and traps the ghosts forcing
them into the light against their will. Andrea is featured in the
novel, making it before the finale events of season one. |
Season 1+ |
Ghost Trap
(March 31, 2009) |
Doranna Durgin |
When the bank repossesses her storefront, a would-be ghost
whisperer decides to possess it right back. After years of
manipulating people with fake readings, she finally proves her
validity by amassing a horde of ghosts—but they-ve been taken
against their will. When Melinda is inundated with desperate cries
for help, she discovers the ghost trap, and its wicked warden. Will
she find a way to help the disillusioned ghosts cross over, or has
the old woman already manipulated them into sticking around . . .
for good? |
Season 2+ |
The Muse
(July 29, 2009) |
Barbara Randall Kesel |
They call her their muse, but this goddess of art is killing
artists, not just inspiring them. Can Melinda Gordon help cross
over spirits who don't want to abandon their goddess? |
Season 2+ |
|
Guide Books
| Title |
Author |
Summary |
Spirit Guide
(November 25, 2008) |
Kim Moses,
Ian Sander |
A guide to communicating with ghosts in the real world as well
as a guide to the show. Includes interviews, photos, and an episode
summary. |
|
Video Game
A video game based on the show with five separate stories entitled
"Ghost Whisperer: Shadowlands" will be released in early 2010, by
publisher Legacy Interactive. The game will allow players to step
into Melinda Gordon's world with a hidden-object style game play
whilst trying to save earthbound spirits. The video game is set in
Grandview and so far the time line of the game has not been
confirmed but is most likely to be set after the five year
time-leap and the only characters from the TV show that are so far
confirmed are Melinda & Jim. The game will début on PC and
there has been no word on whether or not the actors will provide
their voices.
International airings
Awards
[Episode 418 "Leap Of Faith"
Notes
- Ghost Whisperer Cast & Details,
TV Guide website,
accessed 7 February, 2008
-
http://www.variety.com/profiles/TVSeries/Synopsis/173242/Ghost+Whisperer.html?dataSet=1
-
http://abcstudiosmedianet.com/web/showpage/showpage.aspx?program_id=CB2043&type=lead
- http://www.etonline.com/tv/35533/index.html
- http://www.vanpraagh.com/Ghost_CBS.cfm
- Ghost Whisperer on Ghost Whisperer on
LivingTV
- Real-life 'Ghost Whisperer' inspires Living TV - TV dramas
- MSNBC.com
- Ghost Whisperer on LivingTV
- Universal Studios Hollywood - What's New
- SCI FI Wire | The News Service of the SCI FI
Channel | SCIFI.COM
- Ghost Whisperer Television Show-Mix Checks in on Creating
Audio Sounds for Ghost Whisperer TV Show
- Flash Film Works - Ghost Whisperer
- EDEN
FX
- http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/livingTV-renews-11-tv-series-for-the-2008-2009-season-what-about-the-rest/#more-1323
- http://www.buddytv.com/articles/ghost-whisperer/ghost-whisperer-jamie-kennedy-20458.aspx
- http://www.tv.com/story/11434.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=news&tag=headlines;title;2
- http://www.tv.com/ghost-whisperer/show/33483/story/11434.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=headlinessh&tag=headlines;title;0om_act=convert&om_clk=headlinessh
- Who Got Jennifer Love Hewitt Pregnant?, E!
Online, March 13, 2009
-
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118003988.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&query=ghost+whisperer
- "Ghost Whisperer" to Haunt ION, SyFy and WE,
Broadcasting & Cable, May 5, 2008
- The Other
Side 2 - Ghost Whisperer on Living TV
- and|SHAME|the|devil
- misscalais profile - TV.com
-
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/David+Conrad+lives+Ghost+Whisperer+Character+lives+dead/1378207/story.html
- http://abcmedianet.com/web/dnr/dispDNR.aspx?id=051909_05
-
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118001809.html?categoryid=1019&cs=1&nid=2562
- Ghost Whisperer -Season 1 DVD Information
|TVShowsOnDVD.com
- DVD : GHOST WHISPERER; S1 6DVD - Sanity.com.au - More
Movies - More Music
- Ghost Whisperer DVD news: Announcement for Ghost
Whisperer - The 2nd Season | TVShowsOnDVD.com
-
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Ghost-Whisperer-Season-4/12199
-
http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2009/09/returning-ghost-whisperer-the-amazing-race-medical-emergency.html/comment-page-1#comment-97451
AUS S05
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