As a fan of the 2008 version of Celebrity Ghost Stories, I was thrilled to see promos indicating it was returning to basic cable. Well, not quite...
The old version of Celebrity Ghost Stories on Biography Channel was a paranormal feast, with each hour-long episode featuring at least three celebrity guests recounting ghostly events from their lives.
Some of the stories were simple, others were more elaborate, but they were generally very convincing, with personal details that rang true. Whatever the underlying truth was, the stories were spooky good fun in the manner of well-told campfire tales.
The new version apparently shares only the name of that former incarnation. A&E is the new network, and the creative staff is different from top to bottom. Most unfortunately, the old format was scrubbed in favor of one in which the celebrity guests play second fiddle to celebrity medium Kim Russo, who has all the pizzazz of a dinner at Denny's.
What this means is that instead of listening to a wide variety of allegedly true tales straight from the horses' mouths, we now get "psychically inspired" speculations from a person who makes her living off the business of ghosts, while the guest celebrities stand by, oohing and ahing her "chilling" pronouncements.
To prove the veracity of her psychic revelations, the producers supply researched documents. Unfortunately, the only thing they really prove is that it's possible she had access to the same material before taping the show.
It's sad that the old show was scrapped. It was one of the few gems standing apart from the garbage heap of crappy ghost hunting shows. The new show fits in with the pack--the guests and locations may change, but every episode is basically the same.
