‘Ghosts’ Cast Teases New Characters, Conflicts, and Holiday Specials for Season 4 at San Diego Comic-Con

Last week, the Ghosts cast began filming Season 4 of their hit CBS sitcom.

This week, cast members Rebecca Wisocky (Hetty), Utkarsh Ambudkar (Jay), Román Zaragoza (Sas), Richie Moriarty (Pete), and show creators Joe Port and Joe Wiseman took the stage at San Diego Comic-Con for a panel brimming with gasp-worthy Season 4 reveals.

And, naturally, they kicked things off with a road trip story.

Zaragoza revealed that he and Moriarty (the besties they are) chose to drive to Montreal from New York together this season.

Ambudkar finds this friendship delightful, explaining that “Román is very recognizable and Richie is not unless he has an arrow through his neck. So everywhere these two go together, everyone’s like, ‘Oh my god, Román, I love you on Ghosts!’

And then they’re like, “Sir can you take our picture,” Moriarty laughed.

“We consider it the Superman complex with Richie where you put a pair of glasses on him and it completely changed the way he looks,” Zaragoza explained. “And the wig,” added a giggling Wisocky.

“Don’t keep try to get that rumour going!” Moriarty responded with mock outrage as Ambudkar joked, “It’s a whole hair piece and arrow.”

Have Some Patience

When they first returned to set, the cast ran to see one thing in particular.

“There’s a whole new set where Patience is, so I ran there to see it,” Moriarty revealed.

“Zoey, our set designer, is incredible. I wanted to see how they were creating the space for Patience, and it looks unbelievable! I can’t wait to see what it looks like on camera, but I was just so impressed with what our crew is creating for Season 4.”

The Joes confirmed we will meet Patience “early on” in the season, and she will be played by the hilarious Mary Holland (Big Door Prize). “She’s funny; her performance is a little scary and a little awful. She’s the perfect Patience,” Wiseman explained.

“We describe Patience as being kicked out of her Puritan village in life for being a bit too much, even for the Puritans.” Yikes, she sounds fun!

Happy Halloween!

It wouldn’t be Ghosts without a Halloween special, and this cast had only treats for fans of the spooky season episodes.

“We’re going to keep doing what’s working. We’re gonna keep following the storylines for all of our Woodstone residents, and we’re going do another Halloween special this year,” Port assured.

It gets better, though. “Halloween comes early this season — it’s Episode 3,” Wiseman announced. “Our Puritan ghost will still be with us and she’s going to have a big effect on the house. She may not be the biggest fan of Halloween.”

Additionally, Ghosts could honor spooky holidays from other cultural backgrounds in the future. “We’re always trying to push the ghost rules, and doing it on Halloween or Day of the Dead is perfect because the line between the living and the dead on those days thins. So something like that is possible,” Port assured.

Speaking of Halloween, the show is bringing its haunting premise to the masses this fall.

CBS and Just Fix It productions are working on a 60-minute immersive Ghosts experience. It’s going to be called “Creep LA Ghosts.” The spooky experience will be open on select dates this October in LA, with tickets available on September 9.

Jay’s Time to Shine

Jay fans, our man is booked and busy with new solo storylines this season!

“We have been building toward the opening of Jay’s restaurant, and that’s going to open this season,” confirmed Wiseman. “It’s going to be an episode of The Bear,” Ambudkar joked. “The incredibly funny comedy known as The Bear.”

Full shade intended there.

On a serious note, Ambudkar says this restaurant “means a lot” to Jay because it is “the first thing that Jay actually gets for himself in this new adventure.”

“There’s a gigantic wrench in his plans in the form of one Isaac Higgintoot, his silent investor,” Ambudkar adds. You can imagine how a mid-30s Indian hipster and an 1800s guy who missed signing the Declaration of Independence will get along. So that’s going to create a lot of comedy with their buddy antics.”

“The restaurant is very much Jay’s passion project,” Port confirmed, teasing friction between Sam and Jay. “At the same time, they have this burgeoning B&B business, and so there’s going to be conflict over resources and which one takes priority. So there could be a little bit of friction about business.”

Finally, the Joes have an answer to one of the biggest questions haunting this series: When will Jay get to see the ghosts? “We can tease that he will see the ghosts this year.”

“We’re also going to do another one-hour Christmas special,” Wiseman revealed. “And we’re going to meet Jay’s family too,” added Port.

“Bet you didn’t know Jay had a family too, huh? Take that, they’re real,” a smug Ambudkar told the audience.

This move will put even more pressure on Sam and Jay’s relationship, given Sam’s strained relations with his side of the family. “I think it’ll be really stressful for Sam,” Ambudkar theorized. “Sam and Jay’s mother, Chumba, have this strange, antagonistic relationship where Sam’s not in the family group chat for some reason.”

“We don’t know why but we have brainstormed a lot of good reasons. So I think it’s going to be a major chance for Sam to either prove herself to Jay’s family or, more importantly, for Jay’s family to accept these two people for who they really are and in the unconditional love that they clearly had for each other.”

Sam’s Family Business

Our generous Ghosts creators also revealed Breaking Bad’s Dean Norris would play Sam’s father, Hank, this season.

“Sam is from Ohio, and we thought her dad should be distant in the show. So he should be played by this gruff Dean Norris-type role, and we will get a little backstory as to where he’s been,” Wiseman explained.

According to Variety’s press release, “Frank and Sam have struggled to stay close since Frank divorced Sam’s mom when Sam was 10. On the surface, Frank and Sam are cordial, but deep down, Sam resents her father for being largely absent from her life. After decades of insisting ‘everything was fine,’ Sam is finally compelled to confront these feelings when a new ghost at Woodstone forces her into an awkward conversation with her dad.”

However, Sam’s family drama won’t stop there. She will also spend more time with her ghost ancestor, Hetty.

“Jay is going be busy with the restaurant and Hetty is going to step up and be this great businesswoman that she didn’t get to be in life because she took a backseat to Elias. She can now bring that to helping Sam run the B&B,” Port explained.

“Hetty perceives that she set into motion generations of depression and sadness in her family,” Wisocky reminded. “I think that’s one of the reasons she’s so bossy with McIver’s character — and I predict that I might get more in her way, more bossy with how she should run the business.”

Sas and Pete’s Meet Cutes

As for Pete and Sas, the two spirits will go on similar journeys as they meet new people in Season 4.

“Pete’s gonna have a bit of a Rumspringa,” Moriarty said. “In the first few episodes, Pete is able to leave and meet new ghosts. We have only read three scripts, so I don’t know a ton, but I’m super excited for what this means in terms of character growth and continuing to explore romantic relationships.”

Port also touched on the possibilities of more off-property ghosts. “One of the things that we talk about a lot is how can we get ghosts to the property for people to meet and I will say we have a crazy way for Sas to meet someone this season,”

“Keen minds will already know,” Ambudkar teased.

Perhaps our traveling ghost will help the storyteller with his relationship woes. “When we decided on Pete’s power, we got excited. But we also got scared because it’s a powerful power,” Port admitted. “We don’t want it to fundamentally change the premise of the show. That’s why we put this limiter on it.”

The Joes are hesitant to allow Pete to travel with other ghosts, but “if there was some very specific weird thing he would have to do,” it could be on the table.

—

Ghosts Season 4 will premiere October 17 at 8:30/7:30c on CBS.

Check out our full coverage of San Deigo Comic-Con, including panel recaps, news, and interviews, here!

Follow us on X and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!