‘Ghosts’ Receives Full Season Order From CBS

Thanks to steady ratings in its second week scaring up 5.3 million total viewers — a figure on par with its double-episode premiere on Oct. 7 per TVLine, Ghosts has received a full-season order from CBS. The show’s breakout success has certainly sparked an interest with viewers and critics alike thanks to its unique and refreshing comedy from creators Joe Port and Joe Wiseman.

In a statement from CBS Entertainment’s Sr. Executive Vice President of Programming, Thom Sherman, the show has been a favorite across the network. “We’re thrilled this spirited new comedy has struck a chord with viewers and critics alike and is off to a great start,” Sherman said. “We’ve loved Ghosts since day one, and thank the outstanding executive producers, cast and writers for skillfully bringing to life the boldest, most unique comedy you’ll find anywhere on television this season.”

In the Live Plus 7 ratings, the standard metric for evaluating the performance of a primetime series, Ghosts‘ debut had the most significant lift of all new and returning comedy premieres this season. This mark of success has shot the show up as the No. 1 most-watched comedy across the Fall 2021 slate, adding +2.2 million viewers for a total of 7.76 million. 

The single-camera comedy from Port and Wiseman and adapted from the BBC Studios series of the same name follows a struggling young couple (Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar) whose dreams of building a B&B finally come to fruition when they inherit a beautiful country home. However, as luck would have it, the home is also haunted and inhabited by many of the estate’s deceased residents spanning multiple generations — some even before the U.S. was a country. The departed souls, who are a close-knit, eclectic group grow anxious over the impending renovation but soon discover their anxiety is nothing compared to when they realize McIver’s Sam is the first undead person who can see and hear them.

With the show’s refreshing comedy balancing apt social commentary through its characters — both living and dead, lead series star McIver told PopCulture.com earlier this month that Ghosts most cleverly functions as both a smart and funny springboard for such conscious conversations, while being a series offering something for everyone. “When you gather 10 different actors together, you’re just going to find different dynamics between those performers,” McIver said. “As the train starts leaving the station, writers and the actors all start picking up from each other what’s working, what’s not — all sorts of original ideas start popping up as you go.”

While she admits some of the characters are obviously “direct comparisons” of their BBC counterparts, there is a smart “re-imagining” that aptly sets the show apart as its own within the context of American culture. One such model she shares is with the character of Sasappis, played by Native actor Román Zaragoza. “[His character is] an original custodian of the land and that could only apply here in America. There’s a lot of opportunities through flashback and through conversations between these different perspectives to actually have some quite meaningful conversations,” she said. “That’s stuff we’re really excited [about]. We’ve already begun exploring it and I feel like it’s a journey that could just get more and more interesting as the series progresses.”

Ghosts airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and is available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+. Audiences hoping to watch the sitcom among many others already available on the platform can sign up for a free Paramount+ subscription by clicking here.