Ghost Whisperer

*Ghost Whisperer*
Ghost Whisperer
	Ghost Whisperer title card
Created by	John Gray
Starring	Jennifer Love Hewitt; David Conrad; Aisha Tyler (2005-2006); Camryn Manheim (2006-); Jay Mohr (2006-2008); Christoph Sanders (2008-); Jamie Kennedy (2008-)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	71 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	John Gray; Ian Sander; Kim Moses; James Van Praagh (Co-executive producer); Jeannine Renshaw (Co-executive producer); Mark B. Perry (Co-executive producer)
Producers	Joe Dishner; Jennifer Love Hewitt
Running time	approx. 43 minutes
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 23, 2005 –; present

Ghost Whisperer is an American television drama-fantasy-thriller that premiered on CBS September 23, 2005.^[2] The show was developed by Spiritual medium James Van Praagh and created by John Gray. It currently stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Conrad, and Camryn Manheim. Formerly Aisha Tyler and Jay Mohr were part of the regular cast. Ghost Whisperer airs Friday nights at 8/7c.

Production

It was CBS Productions' final series before folding into CBS Paramount Television with the merger of Paramount Television for the second season in 2006 (the CBS Productions name would be re-activated in 2008 when 90210 premiered).

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, and who has the ability to see and communicate with the dead. The show is also one of several fantasy television programs about young women with gifts for supernatural communication such as the NBC show Medium, and canceled shows Joan of Arcadia, Tru Calling, 1-800-Missing, Wonderfalls and Afterlife.

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.^[3] 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 has announced that the show would return April 4, 2008 with 6 episodes. ^[4] On February 15, 2008, CBS renewed Ghost Whisperer for a fourth season.^[5]

Ghost Whisperer will be broadcast in reruns, not only on ION Television, but also on Sci Fi and WE TV.^[6]

It was announced on June 12, 2008 that Jamie Kennedy would join the cast as a psychology professor Eli for the fourth season of Ghost Whisperer and Jay Mohr would be leaving after appearing in the first episode in season four as his character Professor Rick Payne takes a sabbatical. ^[7] Previously recurring cast member Christoph Sanders also joined the regular cast at the start of the fourth season. The fourth season of Ghost Whisperer premiered on Friday, October 3, 2008 and will consist of 26 episodes.^[8]^[9]

Plot Synopsis

Ghost Whisperer is an episodic series that follows the life of Melinda Gordon, a young woman who has the ability to see and communicate with the dead. Each episode deals with one or more ghosts seeking 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 conception of Heaven. Crossing over is when a spirit leaves earth and goes to heaven.

Despite the episodic structure of the show, plot lines that span two or three episodes (normally during season openers and finishers) develop and progress throughout the rest of the season. The first season arc introduced the show's first antagonist, Romano, a negative entity in a black hat, who attempted to do the exact opposite of Melinda and gather earthbound souls and bring them to the Dark Side. The story climaxed in the season finale when a plane crashed in Grandview, and Melinda and Romano both attempted to sway the souls to the Light, and staying on earth, respectively. Her best friend Andrea Moreno was killed in the plane crash and, in a story that would carry over to the second season, was being swayed by Romano to stay earthbound.

In the second season, two new characters (Delia Banks and Professor Rick Payne) are introduced, both of whom, by season's end, come to learn of Melinda's power and become survivors that ghosts want messages passed to through Melinda. The second season arc revolves around the thinning "veil" between the living and the dead, evident in certain situations in second season episodes. By the end of the season, a second Ghost Whisperer was introduced. His arrival in Grandview sets the final events of a disastrous prophecy in motion, and the strengthening of the dark side over the Light.

The beginning of each episode normally revolves around Melinda first encountering the ghost(s) that will be crossed over in the episode. In their normally brief appearances, Melinda collects clues she later researches. After gaining a significant piece of information that drives the episode's plot further, the ghost(s) normally open up to her, and tell her how it is she can help them find peace. Often, the messages the ghosts want Melinda to pass are confusing and as a result, she is normally met with questions and scepticism by those she is trying to give the message to the families, friends and lovers of the ghosts. By the end of each episode, Melinda is usually able to complete her task and cross the ghost(s) from the respective episode over.

Episodes/U.S. Ratings

US Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode)
	# Eps	Timeslot (EDT)	Season Premiere	Season Finale	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
Season 1	22	Friday 8:00 PM	September 23, 2005	May 5, 2006	#41	10.2^[10]
Season 2	22	Friday 8:00 PM	September 22, 2006	May 11, 2007	#44	9.9 ^[11]
Season 3	18	Friday 8:00 PM	September 28, 2007	May 16, 2008	#64	9.3 ^[12]
Season 4	26	Friday 8:00 PM	October 3, 2008	TBA		*10.14

Note: * as of 12/19/08.

Cast

Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt): Melinda has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts. She moved to Grandview after she married Jim Clancy, a paramedic who knows of her ability. She had always been able to speak with the dead, or "earthbound spirits" as her grandmother (with whom she shared this ability) called them. Her mother, Beth Gordon, possesses the same gift, although she denies it. When Melinda was a little girl, her father was killed, thus showing that he never walked out on his family.

Jim Clancy/Sam (David Conrad): is Melinda's husband. Jim and Melinda get married at the very start of the first season as well as move to Grandview. Jim was a firefighter, and the two met when he rescued her from her burning apartment complex. Jim knew of Melinda's unique abilities of being able to communicate with ghosts at the start of the series; he helped her as much as he could, though Melinda's good friend Andrea Moreno provided most of the aid until her death at the end of the first season. It was revealed in the pilot episode that Jim witnessed his older brother, Dan, die when Dan was in college. After having seen Dan die and being unable to save him, Jim decides to become a paramedic. After Melinda's near death experience during the season two finale, "The Gathering", Jim becomes worried about what else could happen to Melinda due to the ghosts. Jim also helps try to find information about Melinda's father, Tom Gordon, who might or might not be dead, as well as try to find any information about Melinda's brother. In "Haunted Hero", Jim and Melinda welcome a returning soldier from Iraq, Matt, back to Grandview. When Matt becomes so fully paranoid due to being haunted by his dead comrades and due to post-traumatic stress disorder, Jim confronts Matt in the town square and talks Matt out of trying to kill himself. Jim delivered some of his convincing argument with Matt's gun pointed at him. In "Weight Of What Was", Gabriel returns to Grandview and Jim throws him away, though, not before Gabriel reveals that he is Melinda's half-brother. Jim, Rick, and Delia go in search of Melinda, who is trapped in old Grandview which is buried under present day Grandview. Tessa, the ghost of Melinda's ancestor from her mother's side who was also a Ghost Whisperer, helps them find Melinda by communicating with Delia and Jim. Jim also begins thinking of moving out of Grandview while attending Medical School; at first, Melinda does not like the idea, but she later agrees to it. In "Deadbeat Dads", he admits that he would like to have children someday. Early in the fourth season, Jim was shot and flatlined in the episode "Imaginary Friends & Enemies;" Melinda subsequently wakes up and sees his ghost. Jim is eventually revealed to have died, but he refuses to cross over. He eventually enters the body of a recently deceased man named Sam; when Jim/Sam wakes up, he has no idea who Melinda is.

Andrea Moreno (Aisha Tyler): had once worked in New York, for the FBI, until her job changed. She would move to Grandview and obtain a job working at "The Same As It Never Was", an antique store that is owned by Melinda. Andrea was a tall and single woman up until her death. She was played by Aisha Tyler, and was part of the main cast during season one. Andrea becomes Melinda's best friend while working with her. Melinda even comes to trust Andrea enough to tell her about her gift of being able to communicate with earthbound spirits, or ghosts. Andrea becomes essential to the store and Melinda, because of the very fact that she knows about Melinda's gift. Such as, whenever Melinda has to run off and help a ghost, Andrea is left to keep the store. Andrea also helps Melinda with difficult cross overs removing some of the stress from Melinda's husband, Jim. In "The One" a plane crashes and Andrea notices Melinda is hiding something. She believes that her brother Mitch had died during the plane crash and that Melinda is seeing his ghost.At the end of season one it was revealed that it was Andrea who had died during the crash and not Mitch. While Andrea was not on the plane she died because her car had been on the path that the plane had crashed on. Romano attempts to prevent Andrea from crossing over into the Light, and instead to join him on the Dark Side. Melinda would not allow such a horrific occurrence to happen to her friend and so she sets out to stop Romano and warn Andrea. With the help of an occult professor at Rockland University, Rick Payne, Melinda is able to help Andrea find peace and cross over into the Light. Andrea is later mentioned in "Delia's First Ghost" and "The Prophet". Also, while having been successfully crossed over into the Light for over a year, two ghosts taunt Melinda by calling her Andrea during "Bad Blood".

Delia Banks (Camryn Manheim): She and her teenage son, Ned, lost their husband and father Charlie three years prior to their appearance on the show. Delia became a real estate agent after Charlie's death. Delia meets Melinda Gordon after Melinda calls Delia about Ned having tried to shoplift from Melinda's antique store. Delia tells Melinda about how stressful her job as a real estate agent is, so Melinda offers her a job to help work at the antique store, which Delia accepts. They begin a friendship, though Delia does not know about Melinda's gift at first. In the episode "Delia's First Ghost" Melinda has to tell Delia about her gift because Charlie's spirit is haunting her. At first Delia calls Melinda crazy, admitting that she had seen Melinda talking to herself and was worried. Delia even goes as far as to tell Melinda not to expect her at work again. By the end of the episode Delia learns, with Melinda's help, that Charlie is only haunting her because he wants her to be safe. While still a little skeptical of Melinda's gift, Delia tells her that she will open the shop the next morning. Delia remains skeptical concerning Melinda's gift in season three, but discusses the various ghosts that Melinda encounters to help Melinda with them. When Melinda was stalked by a lawyer, Shane, he tampered with Ned's records because Delia was trying to get him into private school. Nevertheless, when Shane was caught Ned's records were untarnished and Ned got in. In episode 5, "Weight of What Was" Delia travels along with Jim and Rick into a series of underground tunnels and alleyways from a much older Grandview to find Melinda. With the help of a ghost named Tessa helping Delia and Jim they manage to find Melinda and get her to safety. In "Bad Blood", Delia's need to find a rational explanation for every situation, including ones involving ghosts, is brought up. Delia tells Melinda that she will try to accept the notion of ghosts more.

Main Crew

Production notes

The series is based on the work of "Spirit Communicator" James Van Praagh,^[13] who is co-executive producer^[14] and constantly updates a blog about the show through CBS.^[15] The stories are also said to be based in part on the work of "Spirit Communicator" Mary Ann Winkowski.^[16]. Development of the show dates back to at least two years before its premiere.^[17]

The show is currently produced by Sander/Moses Productions in association with CBS Paramount Network Television (originally CBS Productions in season one) and ABC Studios (originally Touchstone Television in the first two seasons).

The show is filmed on the Universal Studios back lot in Hollywood.^[18] 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.^[19]

Sound effects are completed at Smart Post Sound^[20] and special effects at Flash Film Works.^[21]

The hair stylist for the show’s protagonist, Melinda Gordon (played by Jennifer Love Hewitt), was five time Emmy award nominated hair designer Michael Reitz.

After the season one finale, John Gray, the show's creator, signed a two-year contract with CBS, which would all but guarantee a third season.^[22] Season three is also supposed to bring about new executive producer P.K. Simonds.^[23]

Afterlife in Ghost Whisperer

There are two places in afterlife, when the ghosts "cross over": The Light and the Dark Side. These two places are one of the main points of the show.

The Light

When Melinda helps ghosts cross over, they see a bright light. The Light is identified with Heaven. The Light is invisible to viewers and shown only a few times such as in episodes The Vanishing, The One, Giving up the Ghost (briefly) and The Gathering. Almost all the spirits Melinda helps in the show cross over into the light.

The Dark Side

Not all spirits cross over into the Light. Some cross over to the dark side. The dark side is identified with hell. Spirits who are trapped in this Limbo are exposed to hate and anger.

However, some ghosts remain earthbound, whether because of an evil force, or unfinished business. Some do not even know they are dead. These spirits can reside above the surface (such as ghosts that haunt people) or in The Underneath (where evil spirits stay).

Awards

Year	Group	Award	Result	For
2006	Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films	Best Actress on Television	Won	Jennifer Love Hewitt
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Main Title Design	Nominated
	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Television Actress	Nominated	Jennifer Love Hewitt
	Teen Choice Awards	TV - Choice Breakout Show	Nominated
	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a Television Series (Comedy or Drama) - Guest Starring Young Actor	Won	Joseph Castanon
2007	Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films	Best Actress in a Television Program	Won	Jennifer Love Hewitt
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)	Nominated	Episode: Love Never Dies
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Drama	Nominated	Jennifer Love Hewitt
2008	Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films	Best Actress on Television	Won	Jennifer Love Hewitt
	TV Land Awards	Favorite Character from the "Other Side"	Nominated	Jennifer Love Hewitt
	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress	Nominated	Jenna Boyd

Internet promotion

The Other Side

A series of webisodes entitled Ghost Whisperer: The Other Side have been released on the Ghost Whisperer website.^[24] 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, one of the characters from The Other Side, Mark, 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 CBS website on January 18, 2008.^[24]

andshamethedevil.net

It has been recently discovered that andshamethedevil.net^[25] is a site linked to Ghost Whisperer. The site is mentioned in the Season 3 premiere. If you visit the site and click on the word bloody, it leads to another site rubloodymary.com

Also, recently discovered: If you click on the star in the upper right hand corner, the site appears to crack into pieces. Those pieces can be removed by dragging, revealing this message:

"Meet Me In The Underworld"

Also in really tiny letters at the bottom read the words: "bloody mary. bloody marry. bloody mary."

rubloodymary.com

Another site discovered to be a part of Ghost Whisperer. rubloodymary.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 305 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 in the church."

Finally, there is an email address to connect to, 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.

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^[26]^[27]	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
2^[28]	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
3^[28]	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 webseries Interactive games Interactive Haunted House Interactive Mashup Melinda's Haunted Diary	Region 1 September 2, 2008 Region 2 N/A Region 3 N/A Region 4 March 12 2009

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.

Books

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 Egyptain 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.	Season 2+
Ghost Trap (March 31, 2009)	Doranna Durgin	Has not yet been released	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.

International

Country	Local Title	Literal Translation	Network	Weekly Schedule
Argentina			Sony Entertainment Television
Australia	Ghost Whisperer		Seven Network	Tuesday 9:30pm
Austria			ORF 1	Monday 00:30am
Belgium	Melinda entre deux mondes Ghost Whisperer	Melinda between two worlds	PlugTV VTM	Tuesday 22:00pm
Brazil			Sony Entertainment Television	Monday 7:oopm
Canada	Ghost Whisperer		CTV	Friday 8:00pm
Canada (Quebec)	Melinda entre deux mondes	Melinda between two worlds	Ztélé
Denmark			Kanal 4	Wednesday 8:55pm
France	Ghost Whisperer		TF6	broadcasted between 2006-2007
Germany	Ghost Whisperer – Stimmen aus dem Jenseits		Kabel 1	Wednesday 8:15pm
Indonesia	Ghost Whisperer		JakTV	Varies
Ireland	Ghost Whisperer		RTE One	Weekdays 3:25pm
Italy	Ghost Whisperer - Presenze	Ghost Whisperer - Presences	RaiDue / Foxlife	Wednesday 9:00pm
Israel	הלוחשת לרוחות	Ghost Whisperer	yes stars 2	Tuesday 9:00pm
Lebanon			TV land	Tuesday 8:00pm
Lithuania	Dvasių Užkalbėtoja	Ghost Whisperer	LNK	Saturdays and Sundays 12:50am
Malaysia	Ghost Whisperer		8TV Star World	Monday 9:30pm Unknown
Mexico	Almas Perdidas	Lost Souls	Azteca 7 Sony Entertainment Television
The Netherlands	Ghost Whisperer		NET 5	Sunday 8:30 pm
New Zealand	Ghost Whisperer		TV2	Friday 8:30 pm (Season One)/Monday 9:30 pm (Season 2 - 3)/ Monday 8.30 - 10.30 (Season 3 Finale)/ Season 4 (TBA)
Poland	Zaklinacz Dusz	Souls Whisperer	Fox Life
Portugal	Em Contacto Entre Vidas	? Between Lives	Fox Life SIC
Singapore	Ghost Whisperer		MediaCorp TV Channel 5	Friday 10:00pm
Spain	Entre Fantasmas	Between Ghosts	Cuatro (channel) Fox	Sunday 10:00pm Unknown
Sweden			TV4 AB
Switzerland (French)	Ghost Whisperer		TSR
Switzerland (Italian)			TV4 AB
Thailand	Ghost Whisperer		Star World
United Kingdom	Ghost Whisperer		Living	Tuesday 9:00pm
United States	Ghost Whisperer		CBS	Friday 8:00pm
Puerto Rico	Almas Perdidas	Lost Souls	WAPA-TV	Tuesday 10:00pm
Venezuela	Voces del más allá	Voices from Beyond	Televen