CBS's Ghosts Is Entertaining, But Adds Little To The Original Show's Ground

A young couple inherits a mansion and decides to turn it into a hotel. After a near-death experience, the wife discovers the house is haunted by ghosts--a scout leader with an arrow through the neck, the former lady of the house, a pantsless misogynist, and a closeted soldier, among others.

The plot and characters of CBS’s Ghosts are a near carbon copy of the original BBC show. The pilot, in particular, is almost beat for beat--the same setups, the same jokes, and the same cast. So why remake the show at all? Are Americans really incapable of appreciating a show where the characters have slightly different accents?

My issue is not with the show’s quality. The show is good because it’s exactly the same. There’s no reason to tune in to the newest episode of the American Ghosts when you can watch three seasons of essentially the same show any time. It does appear that the series is starting to divulge a bit and come into its own with original stories and plot elements, but it’s still disappointing to start with such a similar groundwork because the premise of Ghosts is one that lends itself to spinoffs. The best characters in the American show are the ones specific to American culture--the Native American, the prohibition-era lounge singer, and the hippie--and I only wish they had fully embraced being different.