#8 - International Media

Ghosts

At the beginning of the semester, I did a Media Presentation on Masterpiece Theater for Trends in Modern Media. In the presentation, I discuss how many Americans prefer watching British television. For example, many enjoy British television's humor over American comedy. Recently, I enjoyed watching the British comedy Ghosts, which was recently recreated for American television due to its popularity. 

The show focuses on Alison and Mike, who inherit a country home hoping to turn it into a hotel. Due to a near-death experience, Alison gains the ability to see ghosts that haunt the house. The spirits are from different eras of history and get up to many antics within the home. At first, they are against the idea of Alison and Mike creating a hotel, but soon they begin to enjoy the perks of communicating with a living person. 

The show was very funny, primarily through its ability to create humor using different historical eras. I found the premise of the show very clever. Ghosts is a light-hearted show despite some gruesome events that led to each ghost's death. Although there may be some confusing moments for US audiences, it is not essential to understand British history before viewing it. 

The popularity of the UK comedy resulted in its American counterpart under the same name. There are some significant differences between the two. For example, Alison and Mike are now Samantha and Jay, who also inherit a home occupied by humorous ghosts; however, the hotel is now a bed and breakfast. Just like in the original show, the spirits are initially unhappy. One noticeable difference is in the characters. To cater to American audiences, the US version exchanges the UK characters to match American history. For example, the UK's caveman is now a Viking, the World War II captain is now a Revolutionary War captain, and so forth. 

Even though the first few episodes of the US version of Ghosts is similar to that of the UK, the storylines become entirely different. By watching both shows, you are watching the same light-hearted comedy, but you will get a completely different experience. I absolutely loved watching Ghosts UK and would recommend watching the US version as well.