SYFY seems to lead the pack with the ghost hunting shows. GHOST HUNTERS is still popular and has a large viewing audience. This show is still doing well in the ratings but seems to be lacking something this year. I feel like I’m watching the same episode every week. They still do a great job of debunking but the evidence just isn’t there. I would love to see them experiment with new equipment instead of occasionally. Those head cameras are pretty cool because the let us see what they are seeing at the same time, but they don’t use them enough. Get a full spectrum camera to help see a spirit or shadow clearer and better EVP devices because those ghostly voices are so hard to make out. They just don’t seem like they enjoy ghost hunting anymore.
Another SYFY show that is still popular is GHOST HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL. This show had a weak and rocky start and had troubles getting a good team together. I wasn’t sure what I thought of Robb Demerest as a leader at the beginning but this year he has proven that he is up to the task. Also this year the season ended with the best team they ever had. Let us hope that they can keep them all together and when they return in January they give us some exciting shows to watch. I do love all the international places they investigate.
To me the most improved show is SYFY’s DESTINATION TRUTH. This show had its best season yet. This ratings winner still has another half a season to go next year and this gal is very excited to see where Josh Gates and his team goes. Even though they have investigated haunted places, they also investigate claims of UFO’s and mysterious creatures. I suppose you can say that this show is not a ghost hunting show, but it is so much more. This season we watched as they investigated a haunted forest, an island full of creepy dolls, the ghosts of Chernobyl, the mysteries of King Tut’s Tomb, the mysterious Bermuda Triangle, and followed the team high in the Himalayan mountains to look for a yeti for the second time. Josh continues to entertain us with his witty comments and crazy stunts most people will not even try. Josh and his team do this in the name of getting to the truth.
The Travel Channel’s ghost hunting shows Most Haunted and Ghost Adventures are still being watched in 2009. GHOST ADVENTURES continues to have a big audience even though shows like The Soup love to make fun of them along with some of you. They continue to be locked in known haunted places, taunt the spirits while walk around in complete darkness. They continue to try out new equipment that I’m not sure they know how to use but at least they are trying. Zak continues to be possessed which I have a problem with, and the “dudes” and “bros” are still being constantly said especially when they get excited over something happening. So far this season it seems like many of the ghosts at some of the locations don’t like Nick. I’m still hoping that their EVP’s get clearer so we can hear what the ghosts are saying. Most are so hard to make out. Also in 2009, Ghost Adventures went live on the day before Halloween for 7 straight hours. This was their first time doing this and it seemed to be a ratings winner. I was only able to catch about 3 hours of the special and it looked like they had some success of capturing ghostly evidence.
Other ghost hunting shows of 2009 still continue to entertain the fans that have been loyal and keep on watching. There is A&E’s Paranormal State and Psychic Kids, two shows I have never watched.
This year has seen more ghost hunting shows added to the mix such as Ghost Hunters Academy and Ghost Lab.
GHOST HUNTERS ACADEMY is Steve and Tango taking rookie hunters and putting them through training to possibly becoming a TAPS member. This group of five young kids is brought to places that TAPS has had some of their best investigations and evidence found. I just can’t get behind this show because I find it boring. If I am getting somewhat bored watching Jason and Grant these days, then why would I want to watch these young men and women try to investigate. Even the ghosts are not impressed with the students because they haven’t got any good evidence to get excited over. I probably will not be watching the next season of this show if it continues.
Another new ghost hunting show is the Discovery Channel’s GHOST LAB. Here is a description of the show from dsc.discovery.com: “With the help of the latest technology, two brothers have uncovered some of the most powerful results in supernatural research to date — including a recording of Civil War soldiers talking. Meet Brad and Barry Klinge, Texas natives who in 2007 founded Everyday Paranormal, an investigation team that has explored more than 70 locations and set a new standard in supernatural research with some of the world’s most sophisticated equipment housed in a decked-out traveling "ghost lab." Traveling the country, the 24-foot car hauler can provide 200,000 watts of electricity to power audio-, video- and photo-analysis stations; flat-screen televisions; and an interactive touch-screen smart board. The lab houses surveillance video cameras capable of shooting 300 feet away in total darkness with a 180-degree peripheral view; temperature, humidity and dew point data loggers; various digital cameras, including thermal-imaging cameras; audio recorders; and more than 8,000 feet of video cable. This on-site high-tech lab enables investigators to analyze data on the premises in real time, helping them to more narrowly focus their investigations on known hot spots.” I like this show and will continue to watch.
Not only were there many ghost hunting shows but other paranormal shows are still being watched this year as well. There is History Channel’s, Monster Quest and UFO Hunters; and Biography Channel’s, Celebrity Ghost Stories, Ghostly Encounters and Haunted History.
2009 seems to be the year of the vampires with the buzz over the Twilight, New Moon movie. This year’s second season of True Blood was even better than the first. The fans of the show are called Trubies and I have to admit that I am one. Love those hot blood sucking vampires along with all the other quirky characters that live in Bon Temp, LA. The CW has jumped on the vampire bandwagon this year with its new show The Vampire Diaries. I haven’t watched this show but it seems to follow the Twilight story with teenagers and vampires.
The primetime channels ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX also added their shows in the mix. ABC’s LOST continues to thrill its fans with an explosive (literally) ending to its 5th season this year. We were left to ponder two WTF endings:”If John Locke is in the coffin dead, then who is the Locke that they followed to the statue and promised to get them home?” and “What happened to the people who were stuck in 1978 when the bomb went off?” Can’t wait for February of next year to see how this whole thing is going to play out. ABC added two other shows in hopes that those LOST fans will have something else to get hooked on.
FLASH FORWARD is one of these shows. It is set in real time meaning that the date given on the show is the actual date on our calendars. Basically the show is about everyone in the world passing out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds and having visions of their lives six months into the future. Some people’s visions are good, some are bad and some have no visions at all leaving them to believe that they will be dead before the six months is up. These flash forwards start a frenzy from the FBI trying to figure out why they happened and who did it, to some trying to change the future so the flash forwards won’t come true. There are so many possibilities for this show to succeed or fail, but so far I am hooked and feel it is one to watch. Another ABC show is V based on the 1980’s miniseries and TV show. V stands for “visitors” who are human looking aliens that at first seem to be friendly and helpful. Not everyone is falling for their act and are out to prove what they really are, killers! This group of humans sees that underneath the human skin are lizard-like creatures. Not only are the humans trying to expose them but some of the V rebellions living amongst the humans are on their side as well. I’m still on the fence with this show. The first few shows looked good but I’m not sure where they will go with the story lines. I guess I will have to wait and see if this is one to continue to watch.
CBS has a couple of shows that deal with the paranormal, GHOST WHISPERER about a woman that can see and hear ghosts. She finds out why they are still hanging around, and then helps them to go into the light. Then there is MEDIUM, which is based on Allison Dubois life and her special skills. These shows are still on and being watched by their loyal fans. This summer CBS gave us a thrilling murder/mystery called HARPER’S ISLAND. This 13 week mystery keep you guessing who done it while one by one the guest at a wedding on Harper’s Island were getting picked off. It was a bit slow at the beginning but after the 5th episode it picked up steam, roped you in and never let go. In other words, you were hooked. Mike and I really loved this show and after each episode we tried to guess the murderer. I am happy to say that we did before it was revealed but I’m not telling because if you haven’t seen it, you should.
NBC’s show HEROES is still going strong this year. Even though I chose not to continue to watch it, they still have a large fan base that is still watching. I really liked the first season, but sometime after that, the storylines were flip flopping back and forth which caused me to lose interest. And then there is FOX’s FRINGE, a show I haven’t seen at all. Apparently there is lots of people watch because it is still on this year. Here is what fox.com says about the show: “FRINGE returns for a second thrilling season that will continue to explore the unexplained phenomena and terrifying occurrences linked throughout the world - known simply as "The Pattern" - in pursuit of a larger, more shocking truth. Set in Boston, the FBI's Fringe Division formed when Special Agent OLIVIA DUNHAM (Anna Torv) enlisted the help of institutionalized "fringe" scientist WALTER BISHOP (John Noble) and his son, PETER (Joshua Jackson), to save her partner and lover from a mind-bending death. Through unconventional and unorthodox methods, the FRINGE team imagines and tests the impossibilities while investigating unbelievable events, macabre crimes, and mystifying cases involving pyrokinesis, neuroscience, cryonics, genetic engineering, astral projection, and other fantastical theories. When the unimaginable happens, it's their job to stop it. Agent PHILLIP BROYLES (Lance Reddick) guides the group, while by-the-book Agent CHARLIE FRANCIS (Kirk Acevedo) and Junior Agent ASTRID FARNSWORTH (Jasika Nicole) provide support and depth to the team. Underscoring the unfolding mysteries, enigmatic Massive Dynamic executive NINA SHARP (Blair Brown) asserts that the advancement of technology is changing the world of science, and conversely, the science of the world.”
2009 was a great year for those of us that love to watch the paranormal shows. Here’s hoping that 2010 continues to bring us our favorite shows and enlighten us with some new thrilling shows. I am hoping that the ghost hunters use better equipment and thrill us with amazing evidence. I am hoping for more murder/mysteries like Harper’s Island and that they bring us more original themed shows like LOST and not the same old crap.
