Ghosted Blends Themes to Make It’s Own

Fox’s New Comedy Ghosted Shows Promise But Needs It’s Own Identity

courtesy+of%3A+tvguide.com

courtesy of: tvguide.com

Megan Summers, Staff Writer

“Ghosted” is one of Fox’s new fall shows that aired on October 1. It stars “Parks and Recreation”‘s Adam Scott and comedy star Craig Robinson.

This show is a comedy that takes a spin on the supernatural genre. Max Jennifer (Adam Scott) was a professor at Stanford before being kicked out because he thought his wife had been abducted by aliens. Leroy Wright (Craig Robinson) was one of the best detectives before he was fired from the LAPD for getting his partner killed on a call.

These two are kidnapped by an organization called The Bureau Underground. It’s a lot like “The X-Files” meets “Ghostbusters.” The Bureau is a secret government organization that keeps all supernatural occurrences covered up and taken care of. The Captain of The Bureau, Ava Lafrey (Ally Walker) tells the two that she needs their help after one of her agents goes missing, mentioning that he needed Max’s help. The two agree after Lafrey tell’s them they can get their jobs back, but by the end of the episode the two end up staying, wanting to help The Bureau more.

“Ghosted” uses the dynamic of “The Die Hard Believer” (Max) and “The Skeptic” (Leroy) isn’t something new to TV, but it still works. The two find companionship within each other even though they are very much polar opposites, each using their own strengths to help in their work. This dynamic plays greatly between the two, with Leroy mostly making fun of Max for being a dork. However, Leroy is always grateful to have him by his side by the end of the episode.

The other characters have their own fun uniqueness as well. Captain Walker is very good at her job but doesn’t show much emotion. This is similar to Andre Braugher’s character Raymond Holt on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” The tech and weapons expert, Annie Carver (Amber Stevens West), is very much the cool girl, but seems to have a troubled past. Then there’s the goofy scientist Barry Shaw (Adeel Akhtar) who provides a lot of humor during the scenes that Max and Leroy aren’t in.

So far, it is clear that “Ghosted” has a lot of potential but it’s still figuring out what it’s trying to be. It seems to take humor and situations from shows like “Parks and Recreation,” “New Girl,” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” Because it seems to apply some of that humor into their own show, it seems pieced together like it was made with magazine clippings on a serial killers letter.

The episodes start with a little too much build up and not enough of the case. Leroy also doesn’t seem to question too much about these supernatural occurrences. Therefore, he might not be as much as a skeptic as the writers made him out to be in the first episode. On the other hand, that could largely be because Leroy experienced the supernatural for himself in the back half of the pilot episode. There’s something that’s missing from the show. Whether it’s pacing, more monsters or the characters themselves, there’s a hole in each episode that will hopefully be filled in later episodes to come.

Saying that, it’s still a very enjoyable show. From clever humor to physical humor, it hits the mark. “Ghosted” takes the supernatural detective work of “The X-Files” while mashing it together with the humor and gadgets of “Ghostbusters.” It’s a fun twist on all of the serious supernatural shows that are big right now like “Stranger Things” and “Supernatural.” The characters in “Ghosted” are fun and interact well with each other. Another nice touch is that the supernatural creatures haven’t been cliché. For example, in episode two there’s a cat that turns people into super strong zombies. For the future, the writers should address some of the problems in the show, but with what’s been seen so far, fans should be excited to see how the rest of the season goes.