By Rob Owen
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"It's like a hotel. Every five years they have to tear out all
the furniture and put new furniture in to sell it," Conrad said
in an October 2005 interview.
He said it makes sense that the series would "need a new guy" at
some point. "You bring in somebody else, like they did with
Sarah Jessica Parker [and her roster of boyfriends] on 'Sex and
the City.' "
So it wasn't all that surprising when Conrad's Jim Clancy,
husband of the ghost whisperer herself, Melinda (Jennifer Love
Hewitt), was killed in Friday's episode. He died in a hospital
from an embolism after being shot accidentally by a cop when
police responded to a home where a depressed, dumped-at-the-altar
groom was holed up.
What does Conrad think of Jim's death and how will it affect his
role on the series?
Read on:
Rob Owen (RO): Given your comments to me back during the first
season, I assume you weren't surprised by this turn of events.
David Conrad (DC): They said early on that
everybody but Jennifer is expendable. They didn't say it that
way, but they were like, "We're not going to lie to you. It's
definitely in our plans to kill you off in an exciting way." I
was like, "Cool, it's all good." I figured I'd do a pilot, and
the fact that we're in our fourth season and I'll make
it to the end of this one and it seems like I'm sort of in the
plans for a fifth season if there is one, it's all gravy.
RO: What did you think of the approach to killing Jim?
DC: I liked the fact that it's not
super-connected to the plot. I thought it was smart that it came
out of nowhere.
RO: In next week's episode, your character does something we've
never seen on "Ghost Whisperer." Is that how they'll keep you on
the series?
DC: What happens next happens so quickly
rather than happening slowly or piecemeal. I think it would be
more fun to drag it out: Where is he going? When will he come
back, and how will he manifest himself as
someone else? ... It just sort of loses the audience's sense of
how long do you wait before you give them the cake? The whole
plot of the show changes. Things get a little more clouded by my
issue. I wish that he'd visit her once in a while like Angel on
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer." ... It's strange how they rush
things. My only thought is I would drag it out a little, more
foreplay.
RO: Ironically, it seems like your character has more to do now
that he's dead.
DC: Yeah, that's the crazy thing. When
they kill you off, you work more! It's kind of like in
retirement when you're busier than when you were at your job.
... I do work more, which means I haven't been back to
Pittsburgh that much.
RO: Do you expect to be a series regular next season?
DC: They don't have a definitive answer
because the show hasn't been picked up.
RO: But it seems likely the show will be renewed. The ratings
are up.
DC: Best ever, actually.
RO: What are your future career plans?
DC: I don't know. It's a fluid time
because there's no official answer about the fifth season. My
agents are like, "We need an answer, guys." The documentaries I
was working on are done and I don't want to make another one at
the moment. I do need to figure it out.
RO: The Wall Street Journal reported last week that your flat in
the Strip is for sale. Are you planning to pull up stakes?
DC: I'm a single guy living in a
3,600-square-foot
warehouse. I'm embarrassed. What do I do with all this space? I
can throw a baseball from one end to the other. I'll just find a
smaller place [in Pittsburgh]. A crash pad. And I'll spend less
money or direct it more toward things I feel are more valuable
than paying a mortgage.
