ghost-related stories
Posted Nov 7th 2009 3:01PM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows
The
Ghost Hunters name is starting to rival
CSI and
Law & Order in the spinoff department. What else do all three of these franchises share? There's just as much hard paranormal evidence in the last two as appears in the first.
Please don't misunderstand me -- since I've gone off on this topic before. I'm not saying ghosts don't exist. I'm not saying there's no afterlife. I don't begrudge any scientific investigation into parapsychology or realms described as paranormal. I'd just like any of the endless march of "ghost-based" shows to dig up one scintilla of proof that they found something and, therefore, deserve to be on TV every week.
The latest entry is Syfy's
Ghost Hunter's Academy -- sort of
Most Haunted meets
The Rookies from the 70s. Each week, ghost hunting "professors" (the show's conceit, not mine) Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango welcome first-time paranormal investigators onto
The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) team.
Continue reading Syfy's Ghost Hunters Academy busts spirits with rookies
Posted Oct 29th 2009 2:03PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
SyFy has
picked up the rights to broadcast an American version of the BBC show
Being Human. For those who are unaware,
Being Human is about a twenty-something ghost, a werewolf and a vampire that live together, each with their own set of melodramatic problems. It's a bit like a supernatural
Melrose Place.
Actually, given the context of the program, it would go much better on The CW. But that's not likely at this point. They already have
The Vampire Diaries anyway.
While relaunching Americanized versions of Brit shows has been successfully done on television before (such as
The Office), it's the first time that I'm aware that SyFy has tried it. Usually they have new versions of old television shows with hit-or-miss results (there was
Battlestar Galactica, and then there was
Flash Gordon).
The BBC series was okay but not great. If the British makers of the show are lucky, SyFy won't butcher it beyond recognition.
Posted Oct 29th 2009 1:31PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, OpEd, Video
I've never been big on scary ghost stories -- perhaps I'm still traumatized from my older siblings scaring the crap out of me in my early years. But for some reason, I've found myself watching
some of the ghost hunter-type shows on the air right now. I'm actually looking forward to the Oct. 30 live broadcast of
Ghost Adventures from the
Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Asylums are darn scary even in broad daylight.
Maybe I'm just getting in a Halloween mood. Maybe I need something to jolt my psyche into fast-forward. Whatever the reason, I'm currently into ghosts -- even though I have to believe they're just sitting around laughing with glee over all the people who are out looking for them. I probably won't see
Paranormal Activity, though, because I DO want to sleep again, after all. But
Extreme Paranormal on A&E will suffice just fine.
Continue reading What's Hot on SlashControl: Extreme Paranormal
Posted Sep 29th 2009 12:28PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Survivor, Reality-Free
What happens when the producer of
Survivor collaborates with his wife, an actress who starred in
Touched by an Angel, in a story created by the guy who brought us
Dirty Sexy Money? Do you get
Touched by a Dirty Sexy Angel? I guess that's what CBS will find out because
Mark Burnett and Roma Downey are teaming with Craig Wright for a drama project for CBS.
Burnett, he of
Survivor and a half-dozen other reality shows, is married to
Angel star Roma Downey, and they're both executive producers while Wright is doing the writing for Sony Pictures TV. The show is the story of a lawyer who nearly dies in a car crash and gets a second chance at life when the ghost of his ex-wife appears to him.
Continue reading Mark Burnett gets real for CBS drama
Posted Mar 24th 2008 3:21PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Daytime, Casting
They'll be whistling Dixie in Pine Valley again.
Cady McClain is coming back to All My Children. It's not unusual for a soap favorite to return to the show where they once were a prominent player. It happens all the time. Cady has done it before, multiple times. But this time is different. This time she's coming back as a ghost!
You see, last January 2007, Dixie was killed by a serial killer. She returns now because she has a job to do, reuniting Tad with the child they thought they'd lost, Kate.
Continue reading Cady McClain will haunt All My Children
Posted Feb 25th 2008 8:42PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Daytime, Celebrities, Ratings, Awards, Emmys
Oscar turned 80 last night. For eight decades, Hollywood has been handing out gold statuettes for the best in motion picture arts and sciences. Sadly, last night's show will not have to worry about winning an Emmy. Not only was the show pedestrian, long and uninspired, it was also
a bomb in the Nielsen overnight ratings. In fact, it was historically disappointing: averaging just 32 million viewers to become the least watched Oscar telecast ever! EVER, people!
Of course, if you're worried that with ratings so bad, some day the Academy Awards won't be broadcast -- don't. The Oscars, like the Super Bowl, make a fortune for the network broadcasting it. ABC made an average of $1.8 million for each 30-second spot.
Continue reading Oscars a flop in Nielsens and that's not all
Posted Feb 8th 2007 1:22PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, ABC, OpEd, Grey's Anatomy
Just when you think the Denny Debacle was over...
Mike Ausiello over at TVGuide.com
is reporting that Jeffrey Dean Morgan is returning to
Grey's Anatomy as Denny Duquette; he'll appear in an episode later this season. Of course,
Grey's fans know Denny, since he was an integral part of the season-ending plotline last year. You remember... Izzie falls in love with the prostrate Denny, they get engaged, then she cuts his LVAD lines to help him move up the heart transplant list. We also know that Denny croaked and left Izzie with a bundle of money.
How do you bring a dead character back? Dream sequences, silly! Either that or a flashback will be in order. Ausiello has his ideas, though, including bringing Morgan back as an ET, a ghost, or Denny's twin brother Kenny. Yeah, I'm laughing on the inside, too.
[via
Pop Candy]
Posted Jan 27th 2007 9:05AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Animation, Web
Since my doctor recommends I talk about cartoons at least six times a day, I thought I would mention this awesome collection of Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoons. There are many other videos to be found on the site, and some of them are NOT SAFE FOR WORK, so click ahead with caution and/or lustful excitement, depending on where you are at this exact moment.
Like Matt Groening, I have trouble not referring to Casper as "Casper the Little Dead Boy," since that's essentially what he is. As cute and adorable as he was, you've got to admit a cartoon based on the spirit of a deceased child is somewhat morbid.
The first Casper cartoon, "The Friendly Ghost," was created for Famous Studios in 1945, and you can watch it both here and here. The "friendly ghost" wouldn't be given a name, however, until the first Casper comic book was published in 1949.
[via Boing Boing]
Posted Jul 9th 2006 6:16PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, FOX, OpEd, Retro Squad, The X-Files
(
S01E06) According to
The X-Files wiki, this episode was penned with the direction of FOX, which wanted an episode about poltergeists. Luckily, two of the writers for the show (Glen Morgan and James Wong) were fans of the paranormal and we got a very
X-Files-style ghost story.
Continue reading The X-Files: Shadows
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