After five seasons on the air, CBS has killed a staple of the Friday night schedule. Ghost Whisperer won’t be back next fall on the Tiffany network. Not unless it can come back from the dead…
Ghost Whisperer tells the tale of Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt), a young woman with the ability to see and talk to dead people. Regular castmembers over the past five seasons have included David Conrad, Camryn Manheim, Jay Mohr, Aisha Tyler, Christoph Sanders, Jamie Kennedy, and Kenneth Mitchell.
The TV show debuted in September 2005 and the season attracted an average of a 2.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 10.2 million viewers. In seasons two and three, the demo rose to a 3.0 rating with 9.9 and 8.6 million viewers respectively. For season four, the ratings went up again, to a 3.7 rating and 10.6 million viewers.
Unfortunately this year, the ratings fell — a lot. The season kicked off with a 2.3 rating and 8.7 million viewers. Things went further downhill from there. Last month, they hit a series low with a 1.3 rating in the demo and 5.96 million viewers. Though Ghost Whisperer was once a hit show for the network, those times are clearly over.
To little surprise, CBS has decided to cancel Ghost Whisperer. The series finale is set to air this Friday, May 21st.
However, because ABC Studios co-produces the series (with CBS), there have been discussions that it could switch networks. Medium ran for years on NBC before being cancelled and picked up by CBS.
ABC’s entertainment president, Stephen McPherson, has said that he’d be interested in picking up Ghost Whisperer if the series became available. ABC scheduler Jeff Bader told Variety today that they’ve toyed with the idea. He said, “We talked a lot about it. It could make a good lead-in to Body of Proof.”
To keep costs down, ABC has been committed to running only one scripted series on Friday nights but the execs will supposedly look at the possibility of picking up Ghost Whisperer in the next few days.
What do you think? Should ABC pick up Ghost Whisperer for season six or should it stay cancelled?
Image courtesy CBS.
I sincerely hope ABC will pick up the show. It’s one of the best shows on TV. I have purchased every season on DVD, watch reruns on SyFy. I have not missed an episode. It’s a horrible idea to cancel now. It’s completely aggravating when a show is cancelled before the storyline is finished. Please don’t let this be one of those shows.
Keep Ghost Whisperer – we don’t need anymore situation comedies that are silly
Definitely should keep the series running!
ABC – Please pick up Ghost Whisperer! I watch it every week – it is one of very few shows that I get really upset if I miss an episode (and with a DVR, the only time I miss is when the weather guys are overriding every thing!) My sister loves the show as well.
I can’t believe CBS is being so stupid to cancel Ghost Whisperer. It’s the ONLY show I watch during the week. I watch the reruns on WE and SyFy. I can see if JLH decided it was time to go but it doesn’t appear that way. Come on ABC show CBS what a bunch of dummies they are for getting rid of their ONE good show on Friday nights….CBS was also stupid to cancel “Moonlight” as well. I’m canceling my CBS newsletter subscription too…want NOTHING to do with this lame network.
I am so bummed! This is one of the very few TV shows that my daughters & I watch faithfully! I’m praying that ABC picks it up. There are just too many of the same types of shows on TV right now! Its either bad comedies or crime dramas. At least Ghost Whisperer had some feeling to it. This is a sad day, at least for me & my daughters!
With so many changes this year to the show, Ghost Whisperer can’t be canceled. ABC should pick this wonderful hopeful show about life. This is a show which reaches out to its audience every episode and tells them that life mattered and in death we really can see the importance a person made to others. With so many changes in our real lives we need that escape which Ghost Whisperer provided: hope, faith, optimism and love. Don’t let the networks continue to flood our screens with murder, drugs and sex. We need entertainment that matters.
I think that ABC should definitely pick up Ghost Whisperer for season six!!! I was very sad when I read that it was cancelled but now there is hope!!! I am a big fan of Ghost Whisperer, I watch it avidly. I am going to keep my fingers crossed that it stays on the air. I don’t watch much tv to begin with, but this is one show I would not want to miss every week. Please ABC, keep it on the air!
I have watched Ghost Whisper since it began. My husband and I both love it and were sad to hear it was canceled. It would be great if it were picked up by another station.
I can’t believe that CBS is taking away a wonderful show like Ghost Whisperer! It’s not right when a series is cancelled in the middle of a plot line. At least give them another season to finish things up for us fans. ABC, please pick them up!!
i am very angry that they canceled ghost whisperer because i love that show. i hope it gets picked up by another channel
Ghost Whisperer already has a very large fan base, can CBS come up with an hour show that will hold as much interest? I don’t think so. I hope ABC picks up Ghost Whisperer, they need this show being Lost will be gone.
i hope that Ghost Whisperer gets picked up because thats the first show that i can sit in my couch and watch forever and i wont be bored at all!! its so amazing that if it gets cancelled the worlds gonna end lol well eventhough the show is about dead people lets keep it ALIVE 🙂
The series has had its ups and downs, but few TV series have its combination of an intriguing plotline and likeable characters. Once you get your head around the concept of beings who haven’t “crossed over”, you can see the trials and tribulations of someone committed to helping them yet not understood by the average person. This cancellation is a mistake; although ratings have slipped, there is really nothing any better on Friday night. CBS will probably make the same mistake with Numb3rs, too.
I can’t believe CBS cancelled ghost whisperer and cold case. Hello not everyone is a comedy sitcom fan. I hope someone at ABC will have enough sense to grab ghost whisperer up cause obviously CBS didn’t have the sense to keep it. Ghost whisperer is a great show don’t let it go!