Sweet nothings in 'Ghost Whisperer' - Boy, does this show suck!

Boston Globe ^ | September 23, 2005 | Matthew Gilbert

[EveningStar]

It's a namby-pamby, touchy-feely version of "Medium," the NBC series for which Patricia Arquette won an Emmy on Sunday. Think of it as "Touched by a Medium." Like Arquette's character, Melinda is based on a real person (medium Mary Ann Winkowski) and she has a home life, with paramedic husband Jim (David Conrad). But unlike Arquette's character, she gets all buddy-buddy with her spirit guests as she helps them find peace like a therapist.

[EveningStar]

This show is remarkably bad (but the opener did contain some nice exteriors of Old Towne Orange, a few miles from where I live).

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[EveningStar]

I'm really not to sure who to ping on this turkey. :)

[escapefromboston]

However Hewitt is alot better looking than Patricia Arquette.

PS. Did anyone think this show WASN'T going to suck?

[martin_fierro]

Mediums are rarely well-done.

[Fintan]

 

Here's a medium-sized moose.

[SouthernFreebird]

LOL.

[LongElegantLegs]

Snerk!

[Maximus of Texas]

Would it be worth watching if you just turned off the sound and watched Hewitt on screen?

[goldstategop]

I do believe the spirits of our loved ones are always with us and they watch over us and God watches out for them and for us. Maybe that's sweet nothings to those who lack faith in God but for me getting through the day after losing my father last month is the conviction he's still looking out for me. When people die sure, their physical essence as we knew them is gone but love and family remains unbroken through time. I like the show and maybe some people do have a spiritual gift and we should respect it. Secular critics can trash it but I am convinced two things are very real: God and heaven.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[EveningStar]

I'm not trashing the concept that some people may have such a gift. I'm trashing the show itself.

I saw the premier last week when my wife and I were visiting my wife's best friend in VA (near DC). When I first heard about the show, I figured it was an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of "Medium." I wasn't expecting much before the show started and when it did start, I wasn't pleasantly surprised. The show was terrible. However, it was better than "Medium" in one way: Unlike Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Love Hewitt has more than one facial expression.

It was so bad that I vowed not to watch it again. Last night, however, I decided to give it another chance. My wife said to me, "I can't believe you're watching this again." About 5 minutes into the show, I knew I'd made a mistake. The bad dialog and predictable script had me in agony. This show followed the same pattern as the premier, including the manipulative tear jerker ending.

I'm not a secularist. You don't have to be a secularist or "God-hater" in order to not like this show. I judged both "Ghost Whisperer" and "Medium" on their artistic merits. If you are a believer (and I am) there is no requirement to like this show because it deals in the hereafter. "Medium" deals in the hearafter too, and I really enjoying it in spite of Patricia Arquette's perpetual "I'm having a migraine" expression.