Channel Surfing: Ghosted - "Pilot"

Scene from Ghosted
Welcome to a new column called Channel Surfing, in which I sporadically look at current TV shows and talk about them. These are not ones that I care to write weekly recaps for and are instead reflections either on the episode, the series, or particular moments. This will hopefully help to share personal opinions as well as discover entertainment on the outer pantheon that I feel is well worth checking out, or in some cases, shows that are weird enough to talk about, but should never be seen.
With new series starting to pop up almost half hour, the Fall TV season has produced its share of interesting Freshman shows. There's of course Star Trek: Discovery, which sees the return of beloved franchise Star Trek, as well as the clone The Orville - which has gotten less praise. There's even two X-Men shows filling up the Fall bracket with Inhumans and tonight's Gifted. These are just four of the few dozen network shows vying for attention. However, there is one supernatural show that probably should deserve your attention in spite of being a comedy with a silly name. Ghosted may not be the first comedy to premiere so far, but it's probably one of the first to show promise by mixing the comedic talents of Craig Robinson and Adam Scott with a sci-fi premise not unfamiliar to fans of Ghostbusters or Men in Black. While these two men are schlubs compared to those two (they don't have any weaponry at the moment), they have the one thing that makes a show click: chemistry.
In theory, there's nothing exceptional about Ghosted's pilot. It mostly sets up the characters through an elaborate inciting incident and reluctant hero premise that isn't without a fair share of "Did you see that?" style of humor in which Robinson and Scott take turns reacting to extremely strange things. By the end, the entire show's premise makes sense. While it seems like one long comedy procedural instead of a monster of the week premise, it still manages to show the one reason to come back. Scott and Robinson are phenomenal together and bring with them a charisma that overshadows any generic and familiar tools that are used to make this show seem funny. It's comedians reacting to supernatural oddities, and it works because the people reacting sound like their choices to go off script could actually make for the series' best moments.
It follows a formula that is extremely familiar to anyone who has watched a sitcom, well, ever. They're a traditional odd couple where Robinson is a defamed cop while Scott is a defamed scientist, trying to use this newfound power to regain that respect. It's a noble text to begin with, and it adds weight where shows like Making History fail. It isn't just about jokes where the world acts in hilarious ways. It's about the integrity of characters, who manage to do so in a surprisingly brisk way. If the pilot deserves any credit, it's for getting to the interesting parts a lot quicker than normal. Most shows get promising after the closing credits leave a bit of a stinger. Here there's plenty to want to like before the second commercial break. This isn't groundbreaking TV, but it's so full of life and ingenuity that it at least stands out as a really good pilot.
On another note, the actual genre elements blend perfectly with the comedy. Since these two men aren't necessarily familiar with aliens, they are allowed to peek in from the real world to see things without reason. There's no need to explain why a glowing head is screaming. It almost adds to the enjoyable confusion of it all. For the time being, Scott and Robinson have managed to bring a charm to this series. They manage to elevate their often sidekick role careers with the best tendencies into a great duo that aren't as generic as most mismatched couples of sitcom history have been. Even if there were no aliens, the idea of spending time with these two is a great thought, and one that is hard to pass up.
Considering that outlets have suggested that 2017 is having one of the worst Fall TV seasons in quite some time, it's nice to have a show like Ghosted that is at least entertaining for now. It isn't entirely clear what direction the show will go in from here, but at least it feels confident in what type of show it wants to be. Provided that the show continues to flesh out the characters and create empathy for them, this could end up being one of the few hits of the Fall TV season, and that seems to be Fox's bread and butter lately. One can only hope that Ghosted isn't entirely like other Fox shows and stays good and successful for awhile longer. This is a promising cast, and one can hope that they get to make a great season of TV that shows how to mix genres while producing something fun. 

Comments