Ghosts (ABC) — Episode from Hell*
I checked in on Ghosts (the comedy had such potential), just to discover mid-episode that I was getting increasingly furious.
People sometimes ask themselves how to get the love back in their marriage. They discover that they’ve gone from entirely in love to becoming strangers. This is my journey with Ghosts. Maybe season one was copied from the original hit show and season 2 is an increasingly feeble attempt to recreate the magic.
Ghosts on ABC has become a show about stupid people. That in itself is not a dealbreaker. Comedy is about complications. In order to create great comedy (satire included), one needs to have a deep understanding of the subject matter or at least a keen eye for observation, and an ability to “find the funny” in the situations and communicate it all with sharp wit. When the characters can’t do it themselves with intelligence and creativity, then that burden falls on the writer(s) to possess comedic genius. Charlie Chaplin as well as Laurel and Hardy were master classes on this topic.
Somehow the showrunners/writers' room of Ghost have decided that “the funny” is to double down on stupid. The actions are stupid, the dialog is stupid, and episode 17 of season 2 was a crescendo of stupid; one scene after the other seemingly getting dumber and dumber.
Now, “a sense of humor” may be a subjective thing. Some people revel in stupid and find it “so funny”, and apparently ABC has decided that this audience comprises the biggest segment for Ghosts.
However, many people feel frustrated when they see someone doing something that appears to be blatantly ignorant or irrational, particularly if it’s something that could potentially cause harm to themselves or others. Pile on that: something that could easily be avoided.
On that point, the ABC Ghosts writer’s room said: “Hold my beer…”.
[The expression “hold my beer” is a colloquial phrase often used in a humorous or ironic way, to indicate that someone is setting out to try to exceed everyone else in doing something daring or impressive — or impressively stupid.]
Sometimes, the [performers’] delivery is what makes a situation transitive, so that the viewers feel the emotion that a sound person in the scene would express if given the opportunity. In this case, frustration, shock, anger. But the cast of Ghosts on ABC is stellar. Flawless. There’s nothing the actors and actresses could have done differently.
This is on the writers and showrunners.
