Whisperer Isn't Medium 2.0

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Jennifer Love Hewitt, who stars as a newlywed psychic in CBS' upcoming supernatural series Ghost Whisperer, told SCI FI Wire that she's not worried about inevitable comparisons with NBC's similarly themed Medium because she feels the two shows stand apart. "I'm not very concerned with them, because all we have is a pilot," Hewitt (Party of Five) said in an interview at CBS' fall press preview in Beverly Hills, Calif., on July 19. "And I think that when you really start to see the shape of this series, it is very different. I think it's different for lots of reasons. Here are the comparisons: We're both female. We're both married. And we both happen to be able to ... deal with the dead and the afterlife."

In the series, which is "inspired" by the work of avowed mediums James Van Praagh and Mary Ann Winkowski, Hewitt plays Melinda Gordon, a young wife who finds herself communing with the spirits of the departed. Though it superficially resembles "Medium" which stars the Emmy-nominated Patricia Arquette as Allison Dubois, based on the real-life psychic of the same name," Hewitt said that the shows have distinct differences.

"I needed to find something that would draw my passion out as much as "Party of Five," and this script was amazing”, Hewitt mentioned. "The difference is, she sees them only them in dreams," Hewitt said. "I deal with them up close and personal. They're in my living room. I cry over their stories. I'm their last, best friend on Earth. And I have a new marriage, not an established marriage, and I don't solve crimes for them. I solve crimes of their heart, which is completely different. And I think that that will show itself."

When she went into the pilot, Jennifer Love Hewitt was terrified, thinking that was a show about dead people. "After I shot the pilot, I thought, this experience has taught me that I need to live my life better, I want to live every day for the moment. I hope this show inspires viewers to live better and say hello to someone they haven’t spoken to in a while", said the actress, who is no longer terrified of death.

Hewitt admitted that she's a fan of "Medium", which returns for a second season on NBC in the fall. "But you know what? It's an honor to be talked about in the same sentence when you're a new show with a hit show," Hewitt said. "She's great on that show. I love that show. I watch that show. ... I'm glad we're not on the same night, because it would be very tough for me to decide which one to watch. ... I think this show will kind of speak for itself once people get to know better what it's about. It's hard after only one episode, I really think that." Medium airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT; Ghost Whisperer will air Fridays at 8 p.m.

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