Sense and Sensitivity

SENSE AND SENSITIVITY

Release Date:

July 27, 2005

Press Release:

The Los Angeles Daily News

"My show would have come out anyway, even if 'Medium' hadn't been a hit," says James Van Praagh, laying to rest - so to speak - the idea that his upcoming CBS "The Ghost Whisperer" series, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, is a knockoff of the NBC success.

"Let me tell you the real story, not the Hollywood version - the real story," he says. "I actually had a show at NBC similar to this one but not the same. We brought them a treatment, and they liked it and said, 'We'd love to do this pilot, but we have another show we're doing called 'Medium.' "

The famed psychic already had a successful relationship with CBS, having produced the high-rated "Living With the Dead" miniseries starring Ted Danson, and "The Dead Will Tell" telepic with Anne Heche. It was while working on his former syndicated show "Beyond," in 2002, that Van Praagh became acquainted with paranormalist Mary Ann Winkowski, who serves as the inspiration for Hewitt's "Ghost Whisperer" character.

JAMES VAN PRAAGH and SINGER-ACTRESS JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT at the CBS Summer Tour 2005 for the 2005-06 Fall Season.

"We asked Mary Ann about her experiences, and she had a story about a DEA agent she'd worked with before on a case." Apparently, the spirit of the agent came to her house one night and said, "Call my partner." The agent had just been killed, and he wanted his partner to know where to find the body.

While that might strike most of us as an attention-grabbing tale, "The powers that be said, 'We want to make it more exciting,' " recounts Van Praagh. Eventually, they wound up with the pilot story, which centers on a soldier.