Ghost Whisperer

…

Created by John Gray

Starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Conrad, Camryn Manheim and Jay Mohr


I have increasingly found myself watching and enjoyed ‘Ghost Whisperer’ and I look forward to new episodes. I think the turning point came with the rather impressive two-part season one finale, ‘Free Fall’ and ‘The One’.

I would not for one moment try to lay claim that it is a great show, destined to be remembered for its influence or quality, unlike say ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ or ‘The West Wing’. It’s fluff. It’s the new ‘Murder She Wrote’, although it might be worth remembering the enormous success and popularity of that show.

The premise is simple enough. Melinda (played by Jennifer Love Hewitt) owns an antique store in a small town (the show uses the old ‘Back to the Future’ set). She sees ghosts, those who have “unfinished business” in the world of the living, and helps them to cross over to the other side.

Although it is in its third season in America, I am currently watching season two. It’s sentimental and saccharine and the resolutions at the end of each episode are often ludicrously glib and unbelievable. A case in point is ‘Children of Ghosts’, the eighteenth episode of season two, which features Jenna Boyd, a young actress who made an impression in the film ‘The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants’.

Somehow, Melinda and her hubby (Hewitt and David Conrad) manage to become foster parents to this troubled young girl at the drop of a hat. In one scene Melinda suggests it and at the start of the next scene it has become a reality, even though they had no prior fostering experience and were not registered with social services. Later on, when Melinda discovers the identity of the girl’s real mother, she is able to hand her over with nary a form to sign or an explanation to be given. It’s trite and wears rose-tinted glasses, but it has a big heart and that particular episode also happens to be a favourite of mine.

I find it nearly impossible to dislike Jennifer Love Hewitt. She is surely too perky to take a real dislike to and my instinctive leaning in her favour has been strengthened recently by the spiteful, childish and woefully misinformed gossip about her weight.



…