
	IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER LEVEL ON "GHOST WHISPERER" (2 stories)

Release Date:

November 28, 2008

Press Release:

The Boston Herald

Everyone is dying to see what will happen next.....no pun intended.....

Ghost’ story: Husband-wife team
raises CBS drama to another level

By Bill Burke

Ian Sander and Kim Moses, the husband-and-wife executive producers of CBS’ “Ghost Whisperer” have done something extraordinary.

They’ve put together a successful drama on Friday nights.

Now into its fourth season, “Ghost Whisperer” finished No. 1 for the evening in households and viewers following last week’s broadcast.

That’s a hard enough feat - 82 percent of shows on Friday nights don’t make it to a second season, according to Sander. What’s unusual is the way Sander and Moses have gone about forging that success.

The pair have forged what they call the “Total Engagement Experience” - an ongoing series of nontraditional marketing efforts - to create a buzz around the show. There are “Ghost Whisperer” novels, comic books, fan-created content forums, online Webisodes, music videos, card sets and spinoff books. And that’s just for starters.

According to the pair, creating a new way of experiencing television was a matter of survival.

“Our landscape has been the same for a very long time,” Moses said. “But then about seven years ago, we realized we were going into meetings and everyone was wondering where the 18-to-34-year-old demographics - especially men - were. What Ian and I realized is that they left television and were on the Internet.”

The two dove into extensive online research. They had no budget but remained motivated by the belief that their hunch was correct. Four seasons later, it appears they were dead-on.

“People say television is in a free-fall and will eventually go away,” Moses said. “We don’t believe television will go away. We believe television will be watched in a different way. It’ll be more of an experience.”

The number of people watching their favorite shows with a computer on their lap is growing, Sander said.

“People want to not only watch, they want to be involved in other areas,” he said. “All of which drives the infinity loop.”

That loop starts with the show but uses such elements as merchandising, publishing, Web content and youth outreach to drive viewers back to their TVs again on Friday nights - and then back out to other elements of the show’s brand.

If it all works correctly, and it’s hard to argue with ratings, it keeps going around and drawing viewers in. But finding the correct balance is not easy.

“I’d like to see this model used in the future of producing TV series,” Moses said. “It’ll ensure the business does flourish. Success for us is going to keep dramas and comedies alive, which is important to us.

Conrad says death brings his
‘Whisperer’ character to life

by Amy Amatangelo

David Conrad wants fans of CBS’ “Ghost Whisperer” to know there’s no reason to panic.

Earlier this month, Conrad’s character Jim was murdered. But, in keeping with the series’ paranormal bent, Jim entered Sam’s (Kenneth Mitchell) deceased body. Now his beloved wife Melinda (Jennifer Love Hewitt) must help Sam (who is really Jim) through his amnesia.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Conrad said. “I am there most of the time.”

Executive producer P.K. Simonds promised that viewers will see Conrad, and not actor Kenneth Mitchell, who plays Sam, 99 percent of the time.

Conrad said the controversial story line finally gave him a chance to do something different.

“I think actually it’s an exciting development instead of going through the same kind of trope that we usually do, which is nice but somewhat predictable. Look, after three years, Love and I were like, ‘Oh, no, another kitchen scene.’ We kiss each other and its, ‘OK, honey, I’ll give you a back rub,’ end of show,” he said. “It’s kind of cool for us to walk out and do a scene that we’ve never done before, and I think that will reflect in the show.”

The Pittsburgh native said the story that will unfold over the rest of the season is akin to a prequel.

“I get to play the part we never got to play at all, which was, I meet this stranger who I am really attracted to. They get to date, flirt, fall back in love with each other, and that’s thrilling.”

Conrad has been preparing himself for his character’s demise since filming the pilot.

“I thought, you know what, at some point they are going to hand me a pink slip,” he said. “But I didn’t know it would be in such a creative and kind of cool way. I thought somehow I was going to become sort of ghostly, and I kind of looked forward to it, and I have to say I think Jim kind of looked forward to it. From the pilot, he was always fascinated by what’s on the other side.”

Simonds said the plot will finally allow the show to tap into the full complement of Conrad’s talent.

“David is an amazing actor, and one of the reasons that we were excited about doing this in the first place is that we knew we had an actor that could do a lot more than frankly we were asking him to do.”

Both Simonds and Conrad are aware that many fans haven’t yet made peace with the story line.

“You feel bad because you don’t want the audience to feel bad,” Simonds said. “You don’t set out to do that, ever. But at the same time, we knew where we were going with it, and we were sure for the fans who stuck around, it would be a worthwhile journey for them.”