The Cheater: Ghost Whisperer, CBS, Friday @ 8 p.m.
“I see dead people.” – Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense)
That pretty much sums up this show from the looks of things. Wait…scratch that. There is so much more to this show than that. However, none of which is anything we haven’t seen before.
From the previews and early reviews of the pilot, Ghost Whisperer starring Jennifer Love Hewitt seems to be combined from two or three previous television shows and a popular movie as well. Hewitt plays a young woman who has the ability to communicate with earthbound spirits of the recently deceased and help them send important messages to the living so they can pass to the other side. Makes sense to me. It would sound interesting, IF I haven’t heard it before.
It all started with The Sixth Sense and that infamous line. It has to be one of the best, if not the best of its genre. It has had numerous movies try to copy it over the years.
When the movie industry ran through this idea, it was time for TV to pick it up and run with it. Some have compared this show to Tru Calling. In that show, Eliza Dushku had the ability to “re-live” the previous day over again and was able to help people who had died that day. She saved lives. Hewitt and Dushku are both smokin’ hot and their characters both help the dead; so one can make a case that the shows are alike. But let’s not stop there.
How about another show on NBC right now? Has anyone seen Medium? Patricia Arquette plays a mom who solves mysteries using a special gift. What is that “special” gift? She can see dead people and can often hear the thoughts of those around her. Hmm…I think I have heard that one before.
But wait…there is more. I have not seen the show, because it doesn’t debut until late in September, but I have heard reviews of the pilot. The reviews say that this show is more melodramatic than Medium and Tru Calling. That doesn’t stop the comparisons, though.
Anyone remember a show called Touched by an Angel that was one of the most popular show in the 90s? Some are comparing Ghost Whisperer to that show. Roma Downey and Della Reese starred in Touched by an Angel. They played angels who came down to earth to tell people who are depressed or troubled that God loves them and to have hope.
Hewitt does pretty much the same thing in her new show, except she is not dead. She helps dead people, but she gives those dead people the chance to pass to the other side in peace. They both seem have those tear-jerker moments. Ghost Whisperer has a little bit of the paranormal stuff thrown in, but it appears the show is meant to make you “feel good.”
Based on all of that, I see no better award for the Ghost Whisperer than The Cheater. This show just screams out, “Seen it before!”
