TVSquad

I've been a fan of Ghost Hunters since the early part of the first season. My brother told me there was this show based in New England where a team of people investigate hauntings, but rather than trying to prove they're real, they try to debunk them. Oh yeah, and the two main guys -- they're plumbers. Living in New England myself, it interested me more.

When it's this time of year, with Halloween right around the corner I get the itch for this sort of show, so I was pretty happy to get to get an early look at the first two episodes of the new season this past week. I was also hoping that problems I'd had in the past were addressed this go around. Thankfully it seems everything has improved.

First of all, the locations the GH'ers visit in the first two episodes are a couple of the best yet of the series: Tombstone and the O.K. Corral. Some of the evidence gathered in these episodes is just mind blowing, right up there with the stuff we saw in the Eastern State Penitentiary episode or the Haunted Lighthouse. It's amazing how the guys somehow keep their composure when reviewing the evidence, moreso than they'd done in previous seasons. Now, I'm not looking for them to be a bunch of beard scratchers here, but not seeing a couple of guys dorking out in a hotel room over a piece of floating ash was kind of refreshing I guess. These guys are seasoned, and they now seem to be acting that way.

The one thing that bugged me a bit in the past was the overuse of drama in the ranks. You know, Brian and Jason getting on each other, Steve's got girlfriend things going on, etc. And then you've got those goofy phone calls, where Grant answers the phone as though he didn't expect the call to come in. I never got why they felt they had to add that sort of thing in -- it just seems so beyond these guys. Take Jason, for example. That guy must have choke back on puking in those scenes he has to act surprised at a new case or that his cell is ringing. Come on now -- we know it's set up.

Anyway, thankfully they lay off on the drama near totally in the first two episodes, and I'm just hoping they keep it at bay. I know the TAPS guys don't have much say in the matter, and the investigations are always very cool to watch, but the personal issues ... who cares?

I'm still a fan of the show and I plan to tune in every week. Hopefully I'll catch them in my neck of the woods someday and I can see the team in action.

Ghost Hunters season three premieres Wednesday, October 11 at 10PM on Sci Fi.