CBS Orders More Episodes of Ghosts

By Russ Burlingame

CBS has given a full season order to Ghosts, the new single-camera comedy starring Rose McIver (iZombie) and Utkarsh Ambudkar (Free Guy) as a young couple who unknowingly move into a haunted house, where a freak accident renders the wife (McIver) able to communicate with ghosts. The series is TV's top-rated new comedy for the 2021-2022 broadcast season, and premiered on CBS with back-to-back episodes on October 7. According to official numbers released by CBS, Ghosts is the #1 most-watched new comedy this season. In L+7, its debut has the largest lift of all new and returning comedy premieres this season, adding +2.2 million viewers, bringing total viewers to 7.76 million. 

The series is based on a BBC series of the same name, which released its third season on iPlayer in August. There is no word yet on whether that BAFTA-nominated series will come back for a fourth outing, but McIver, who is a fan of the original, told ComicBook recently that she and the producers were all very cognizant of doing right by both the show and the American audience.

"I think [adapting a show] sometimes can be seen as sanding off the rough edges, but sometimes it's also just contextualizing it differently," McIver said when asked about changes made to some of the original BBC characters for the U.S. series. "And yes, we've definitely seen instances where it doesn't work, but we've also seen now many instances where it really does, and where an idea is so strong that when it's made can be recontextualized for an audience, and they keep the heart of it, and do really lean into making sure they still find the grounded, funny moments."

"We're thrilled this spirited new comedy has struck a chord with viewers and critics alike and is off to a great start," Thom Sherman, Sr. Executive Vice President, Programming, CBS Entertainment, said in a statement. "We've loved Ghosts since day one, and thank the outstanding executive producers, cast and writers for skillfully bringing to life the boldest, most unique comedy you'll find anywhere on television this season."

You can see the official series synopsis below:

Ghosts is a single-camera comedy starring Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar as Samantha and Jay, a cheerful freelance journalist and up-and-coming chef from the city, respectively, who throw both caution and money to the wind when they decide to convert a huge rundown country estate they inherited into a bed & breakfast-only to find it's inhabited by the many spirits of deceased residents who now call it home. The departed souls are a close-knit, eclectic group that includes a saucy Prohibition-era lounge singer (Danielle Pinnock); a pompous 1700's Militiaman (Brandon Scott Jones); a '60s hippie fond of hallucinogens (Sheila Carrasco); an overly upbeat '80s scout troop leader (Richie Moriarty); a cod-obsessed Viking explorer from 1009 (Devon Chandler Long); a slick '90s finance bro (Asher Grodman); a sarcastic and witty Native from the 1500s (Román Zaragoza); and a society woman and wife of an 1800's robber baron who is Samantha's ancestor (Rebecca Wisocky), to name a few. If the spirits were anxious about the commotion a renovation and B&B will create in their home, it's nothing compared to when they realize Samantha is the first live person who can see and hear them.

Executive producers are Joe Port & Joe Wiseman, Mathew Baynton, Jim Howick, Simon Farnaby, Laurence Rickard, Ben Willbond and Martha Howe-Douglas; Alison Carpenter, Debra Hayward, and Alison Owen (Monumental Television); Angie Stephenson (BBC Studios); and Trent O'Donnell. The series is produced by CBS Studios in association with Lionsgate Television and BBC Studios' Los Angeles production arm.

Ghosts airs Thursdays (9:00-9:30 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

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