By Ron Wynn
NASHVILLE, TN — There haven’t been many comedies that have enjoyed big success this season, but one of them has been the blend of supernatural fantasy and historical portraits called “Ghosts.” It’s both CBS’ most successful new comedy and the highest rated among first year comedies on any network.
The series’ main stars are Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar (Samantha and Jay.) They are described in the promotional material as “a cheerful freelance journalist and up-and-coming chef from the city, respectively, who throw both caution and money to the wind when they decide to convert a huge rundown country estate they inherited into a bed & breakfast—only to find it’s inhabited by the many spirits of deceased residents who now call it home.”
But what has really distinguished the show is its cast of ghosts. They include “a saucy Prohibition-era lounge singer (Danielle Pinnock); a pompous 1700’s Militiaman (Brandon Scott Jones); a ‘60s hippie fond of hallucinogens (Sheila Carrasco); an overly upbeat ‘80s scout troop leader (Richie Moriarty); a cod-obsessed Viking explorer from 1009 (Devon Chandler Long); a slick ‘90s finance bro (Asher Grodman); a sarcastic and witty Native from the 1500s (Román Zaragoza); and a society woman and wife of an 1800’s robber baron who is Samantha’s ancestor (Rebecca Wisocky), to name a few. If the spirits were anxious about the commotion a renovation and B&B will create in their home, it’s nothing compared to when they realize Samantha is the first live person who can see and hear them.”
Ambudkar told the Shadow and Act website that the program hasn’t really affected or changed his views regarding the afterlife or the supernatural, but instead has confirmed what he’s already believed.
“I think the show kind of just slid into what I was already about anyways,’ he said. “I think in my family and in my personal leanings, [I’ve] always been toward the belief that there’s sort of like a spiritual side and there’s an elsewhere. I don’t know that it’s occupied by these types of ghosts. But like my wife and I always call out to our ancestors and people that we’ve lost. We just assume there are folks watching at all times. Hopefully, they stay out of the places where they’re not supposed to be when we’re trying to have our private time. Our angels are way more respectful than the ghosts on the show. Let’s just put it that way.”
“So every ghost has their POV and the thing that makes them special,” explained Ambudkar. “And Sam has her thing that makes her special, and I think Jay’s superpower as it were, is unconditional love. The guy differs from almost every other human being on the planet in that Jay just loves his wife, unconditionally. No matter what she’s going through, he’s going to believe her. He has questions, but she comes first. So it’s been fun to find comedic ways to play that love. My wife…I know she doesn’t BS. Like, she doesn’t lie. If she came to me right now and was like, ‘Yo, I just saw like an old ghost dude. In the laundry room,’ I’d be like, ‘Oh, boy, here we go.’ I think I’d believe her. I’d be like, ‘All right. Well, you know, I got a lot of questions.’ But I think I would probably freak out. I don’t know, man…I don’t know. But Jay’s figured it out [laughs] That’s all that matters.”
New episodes of “Ghosts” are now airing Thursdays at 7 p.m. on WTVF-5.
