Ghosted premieres October 1, 8:30 on Fox.
Ghosted is an action-comedy featuring Craig Robinson and Adam Scott whose characters are roped into investigating paranormal activity for the sake of saving the human race. Max (Scott), is a believer in the paranormal and his career as a college professor has suffered as a result to the point where he would jump at any chance to escape his current situation. Leroy (Robinson), was a former missing persons investigator with the police but has since fallen from grace as a mall security guard after getting his partner killed in the line of duty and is simply wanting to make more of an impact with his life.
From the beginning, Ghosted chooses to spend little time on the actual details of the show; Max and Leroy’s backstory, the supporting characters, the world of the paranormal. The show just approaches these elements with such a jarring pace that you are forced to just go along with it in hopes that they will eventually circle back to them for explanation. Ghosted is not awful by any standards but it does feel slightly half-baked. I felt as if I was watching someone’s first draft of a show that prematurely got produced in which there isn’t any one thing that does enough to grab you. Yet there are still positive moments that keep you thinking that this could grow into something consistently funny over a period of time.
The prime example of this is the chemistry between Scott and Robinson. Scott plays the quirky nerd who think he’s as cool as his partner and Robinson manages to actually embody that cool. As their characters get to know one another, their back-and-forth banter was at times very funny. Their rapport was clearly the focal point when developing the show and the writers exaggerate this by featuring them more heavily than that of showcasing the supporting cast and plot around them.
I am not sure if I will be watching Ghosted on a weekly basis. It had some funny moments, but felt way too rushed for most of the episode where I believe that will become a common occurrence. I think it can be healthy for a show to cultivate a quicker pace in plot explanation or establishing supporting stories and/or characters, but in the case with Ghosted it was glaringly done to avoid any weaknesses and chose to focus on the comedic chemistry of Scott and Robinson. This is a show that I would rather wait until the entire first season has aired and then catch up on it in the barren months of TV programming. Part of that reason is because I genuinely want to see if this show can pull itself out of impending cancellation and the other part recognizes that there are some truly good moments sprinkled throughout a show that seems to lack a certain focus that is required for longevity beyond just several episodes. Only time will tell…
I give Ghosted a C+.
TV and City 