One Of The Best TV Shows About Ghosts Doesn’t Involve Any Horror – SlashFilm

Though “Abbott Elementary” might be getting probably the most consideration and acclaim amongst stay-motion sitcoms in 2025, CBS’s “Ghosts” nonetheless deserves its due. It is a comedy collection a few married couple who come into possession of a manor in upstate New York and attempt to flip it right into a profitable mattress and breakfast.

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There’s only one complication: the home is crammed with ghosts, and the spouse, Sam (Rose McIver), can see them. The husband, Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar), cannot see the ghosts, however fortunately, he’s the world’s most affected person man. Not solely does he consider his spouse rapidly, however he additionally makes a valiant effort to be good to the invisible specters as they always intrude together with his and Sam’s lives.

What makes “Ghosts” work is the best way its premise permits it to toss collectively characters who would by no means usually discover themselves in the identical room. For instance, the ghosts in Sam and Jay’s home embody a closeted navy officer who died in the course of the Revolutionary Struggle, a Native American storyteller who died in 1593, a Viking who died over a thousand years in the past, and extra fashionable spirits like Trevor, a finance bro who died in 2000. The potential for sitcom-y shenanigans between them are countless, particularly since a lot of the ghosts have dwelling ancestors who can cease by for an episode at any time when the present’s writers really feel prefer it.

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The most promising side of “Ghosts” is that, even after 4 seasons, it has nonetheless resisted the temptation of getting Jay undergo his personal close to-dying expertise and develop his personal potential to see the ghosts. If the collection’ writers ever run out of concepts, they’ll do this and assure not less than one other season’s price of fabric to work with. However though Jay has interacted with the ghosts often (and even noticed one among them quickly in an episode), the present’s creatives have in any other case refrained from any such establishment shift. On the identical time, they’ve left the likelihood open for down the road; hopefully, they’re going to toss Jay the bone he deserves by the point the present begins wrapping up.

Very like “The Workplace” earlier than it, “Ghosts” is one more American TV present that is not as unique as you may’ve assumed. The unique UK “Ghosts” collection premiered in April 2019 and aired for 5 seasons (or 34 episodes whole). It has the identical fundamental premise involving a spouse (Alison, performed by Charlotte Ritchie) having the ability to see ghosts after a close to-dying expertise, all whereas her husband (Mike, performed by Kiell Smith-Bynoe) tries his greatest to maintain up.

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The variations between the exhibits recall these between the American and UK variations of “The Workplace,” in that the British iteration is extra keen to embrace the darkness of its premise. The American “Ghosts,” alternatively, typically skirts across the tragedy inherent to its ghostly characters, utilizing humor to undercut what may’ve been devastating heartfelt moments. The British “Ghosts” is just extra snug letting the viewers keep unhappy for an prolonged interval when wanted.

It is also keen to let its primary married couple have harsher fights over the course of the collection. Whereas Sam and Jay are nearly absurdly wholesome and good at speaking, Mike has a a lot more durable time adjusting to how his spouse spends all day speaking to her invisible buddies. The result’s that the UK “Ghosts” feels grittier, however the American model makes for reliably breezy escapist leisure.

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For American followers wanting Jay to begin seeing the ghosts frequently, the British model would not supply a lot hope. Mike makes it the entire present with out seeing the ghosts, which looks like a missed alternative. Fortunately, the American model, with its 20+ episode seasons, can have extra time to discover its zany premise from each potential angle. In some unspecified time in the future throughout its six (or presumably extra) seasons, Jay may get to correctly hang around with all of the ghosts.