Ghosts Review: Pilot / Hello! (Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2)

There’s no need to run screaming from this series! Ghosts is good, like scary good.

CBS kicks off the series premiere of its quirky paranormal comedy and what could be a new era for a network once built on stale man-cave sitcoms, with Ghosts Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2, “Pilot / Hello!”

From dysfunctional spirits incapable of understanding each other’s references to a couple with a kink for roleplaying HGTV personalities, this latest ghostly gimmick is to die for.

This series embraces a bubbly gothic aesthetic further elevated by a fresh-faced cast and an arsenal of quotable one-liners.

What’s lovely about Ghosts is its ability to appeal to the sillier offbeats of its supernatural premise in the same vein as What We Do in The Shadows. Yet, it manages a more stylistic, mundane pacing you would associate with a workplace comedy.

This sitcom is an old-school haunt with Spirit Halloween costume concepts, over-the-top pratfalls, and comical special effects. Even so, these choices don’t scream tacky; they scream on-theme in the best way — like watching Disney Channel marathons every October kind of way.

The grand atmosphere of this setting looks out of place on cable television. That choice to redefine what a sitcom can look like through a paranormal lens is what will earn Ghosts its cult following.

The expansive architecture gives this concept the ambiance needed to succeed. By engulfing chaos in rich textures and warm lighting, this haunting home sets the mood for a series more stylish and refined than its occupants would have us believe.

Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun

Every character is so impeccably charming and harmless it’s impossible to come out of this pilot pinpointing weak links.

The gaggle of ghosts are so fun with their oddball personalities and inability to humor the idea of murder (what a concept). Much like The Office dynamics, these ghosts being stuck together for eternity means their relationship comes off more like reluctant coworkers than close friends.

This breeding ground for reluctant bonding allows their chorus of banter to work for large chunks of the episode. Their casual repour says they have put up with each other for years, but their irritation suggests they’re not exactly okay with that.

Each ghost died centuries apart from the other, so many of their cultural references are met with rounds of confusion and chaotic guessing games.

It achieves a level of mundane comfort comedy unique to Ghosts and is captivating even when it isn’t generating a chuckle.

Flashing back and forth between the ghosts struggling to haunt and the living standing in a silent corridor is a masterstroke for the series. It’s a tool that captures the absurdity of these ghosts as Trevor spends the pilot attempting to knock over a vase.

Such a basic task should be tedious, yet the constant cutaways mocking his struggle never tires. The celebratory group hug moments before Trevor accidentally trips Sam with that very vase is well-earned.

People will undoubtedly have their favorite ghosts (it’s Thorfinn; let’s not kid ourselves). That said, this lively ensemble makes it impossible to choose, and for a show that relies on group dynamics, that’s not a bad problem to have.

Isaac: We can’t let these invaders take our land.
Sasappis: Do you hear it? Do you hear what you’re saying?

Isaac’s beef with Hamilton and not-so-subtle attraction to Jay is laughable, Sasappis secretly loves starting drama, and Trevor lives in a pantless hell where no one knows how cool he is.

These eight spirits are a chaotic mess, but they are Jay and Sam’s chaotic mess now, and I love that for them.

The Boo-tiful Couple

Our leads are perfect as the horror genre’s slightly clueless couple. Their chemistry and expansive vocabulary of renovation shows are pretty enticing. Watching this house of chaotic ghosts break their spirit one episode at a time will be fun.

It is an absolute delight to see Utkarsh Ambudkar lead this sitcom after years of watching him kill it on The Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever.

Jay’s reluctance to embrace change is entertaining. From watching him destroy the house with only a drill to hearing him declare, “We are doubling down and deeply in debt,” Ambudkar will be a great asset to this comedy.

Sam: It makes me feel like Joanna Gaines and I’m not mad about that. Wanna come be my Chip, big boy?
Jay: Why do we only role play couples from HGTV?
Sam: Please don’t kink shame me.

Confession time, it wasn’t just the promise of a spooky sitcom that piqued my interest; it was news the queen of supernatural herself would lead it. Rose McIver’s run as Liv Moore on iZombie produced one of TV’s greatest paranormal comedies.

McIver made a show about a zombie that solves crimes good, and she gave us an undead lead that walked so these clumsy ghosts could run.

Now, it looks like the magic of Liv’s world will trickle into Sam’s as she embraces the land of the dead once again.

Suppose there were any bones to pick with this introduction. In that case, it’s the way Ghosts initially boxes in McIver with potentially harmful female stereotypes, just as it leans on notable stereotypes to define its ghosts.

The sweet and oblivious wife is a staple of horror and sitcoms, so McIver completely understands the assignment. The show, however, will miss the mark if it continues to lean into these stereotypes without making a commentary on them.

Sam: There’s a bunch of zombies down here.
Ghost: Zombies?! Zombies aren’t real.

Sam is the linchpin, and she deserves material worthy of that role. Thankfully, we do begin to see the depths of her capabilities during Episode 2. I am excited to see what happens when this character is cracked open.

There’s no one I trust at the helm of a supernatural comedy more than Rose McIver. The actress has a wheelhouse, and Sam is smack-dab in the middle of it.

That’s the Spirit!

Pilots are notoriously tricky to pull off. They’re tasked with introducing us to an entire world and are often tedious information dumps. So, Ghosts‘ easy-going spirit is a significant selling point for this series.

In a sea of crime procedurals, this show is a wonderful weird reprieve that wants nothing in return but for us to enjoy its spooky jokes. One can’t help but worry that Ghosts is fleeting as if television this good will up and vanish.

CBS, I’m begging here — please do not cancel this bizarre little paranormal jaunt! No one wants to see more ghosts go to the cancellation graveyard, not with the grief of Julie and the Phantoms still so fresh.

In a time when we are desperate for a laugh, and TV has only procedural dramas to offer salvation, this series will happily raise your spirits.

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What did you think of the series premiere of Ghosts? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Ghosts airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.

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