Thursday, January 27, 2011

Ghost Hunters International

ANTM isn't the only "reality" TV show I watch. Since the beginning of time I have been obsessed with Ghost Hunters and it's spin-off, Ghost Hunters International. The original series "stars" average men and women that investigate supposedly haunted residences, historical buildings and commercial buildings. They use high-tech equipment to, hopefully, record any instances of paranormal activity.
Normally, the show tries to focus on the facts of whatever situation they crew is in but on occasion, personal drama peeks through. But that comes with any reality show, no matter the content. For the most part, Ghost Hunters has found a happy medium and I look forward to covering it when the new season begins (which is slated for February 23). Ghost Hunters International, on the other hand, is growing into it's own odd blend of fact and drama.
For the most part, I viewed GHI as a rather "trigger happy" show. The two lead investigators seemed way too happy to "officially" label a residence or establishment as haunted, or, at the very least, a source of paranormal activity. And one investigator in particular, Barry Fitzgerald, was a bit excitable. That made it so very entertaining. I often found myself laughing out loud at many segments of the show and this brings me so much joy.
The show is currently in it's second season, airing on the Syfy Channel. This season has been interesting because it's seen many changes - most notably, cast. According to Wikipedia the second season started in July of 2009 and has run over time to the present day. That's kinda weird. Anyway, the "winter season" began in early January and I've been watching it religiously. This week's episode was so spectacular, I just couldn't help but want to cover it. And it made me want to cover the rest of the season.
I'll do another post with my comments on the episode but here I'd like to do a little ... primer on the show. Here we go!

Ghost Hunters International (GHI) began after some of Ghost Hunters cast members traveled to Ireland to investigate some local "haunts" (har har). The team members met up with Barry Fitzgerald and went about their investigations. The spin-off premiered January 9, 2009 and did pretty well for itself. The first season saw a mixed bag of locations: United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Ireland), Italy, Romania, German, New Zealand, South Africa, Slovenia, Peru, Brazil, Denmark, Sweden, Philippines, Spain, France and Latvia.
The original crew consisted of Robb Demarest and Andy Andrews as Lead Investigators, Barry Fitzgerald as the Tech Manager, Brandy Green as Case Manager; with Dustin Pari, Brian Harnois and Shannon Sylvia as Investigators throughout the first season. Donna LaCroix began as the Case Manager before going back to America and returning to the original Ghost Hunters.
Andy left the show during the first season without so much as a word and was replaced by Dustin, as a Lead Investigator. Andy was a fairly polarizing cast member; fans have always been divided on him and the fact that he left the show so abruptly has led to some to believe that he was taken off the show. Dustin later left the show in April of 2010 to be with his family and was replaced as a Lead Investigator by Barry Fitzgerald. He has remained on the show to this day.
Robb's departure from the show was the most interesting development. It should be noted that GHI is not a show produced by any member of the original Ghost Hunters team but, instead, is a production of Pilgrim Films and the Syfy Channel. That means that the original team has no control over who works on the show. Or who leaves the show. Or why. Robb left during the third season, like Andy, without a word. Some point to GHI's ratings becoming low and the lack of sensational evidence that may have caused it. As the leader of the team, it was Robb's responsibility to keep the team on course with their set of principles. And those principles were a tad ... boring.
Brandy left the show amidst a flurry of rumors. But, like the other members that left, there's no concrete information. It was obvious that Brandy and some of the other team members did not get along very well, which might have led to her leaving the show. Or being asked to leave. She was replaced by Susan Slaughter, a team member cast from the reality competition "Ghost Hunters Academy."

The current team is as stands: Barry Fitzgerald and Kris Williams as Lead Investigators, Susan Slaughter as Case Manager and Investigator-in-Training, Paul Bradford as Tech Manager and Joe Chin as an Investigator. For now, Investigator Britt Griffith is still on the show but will be leaving soon. He was removed after making some inappropriate comments on a radio program, recently.
This mix is pretty good. Barry, an Irish man, has calmed down quite a bit and has made himself a very solid leader to the team. Kris, a team member from Ghost Hunters transplanted to GHI, is a very level-headed woman. I have noticed something that seems like a flirtation between Barry and Kris. Susan is a fairly low-key woman and seems to get along with all the team members. Paul (a British man) and Joe are very amicable  and do well at their jobs. Britt seems like a decent enough guy on the show but his recent behavior has really been sad. He made several comments about the public being "stupid" and used the term "faggot" all during one radio interview. So ... bye-bye, bub.
The remaining episodes will take the team to Serbia, Scotland and Puerto Rico. And I will be following them. So lets get on with this week's episode!

No comments:

 
Copyright 2009 Dizzy Potato. Powered by Blogger
Blogger Templates created by Deluxe Templates
Wordpress by Wpthemescreator