"Ghost Whisperer" Pilot (2005)

Director:

John Gray

Writers:

John Gray (creator)
John Gray (written by)

TV Series:

"Ghost Whisperer" (2005)

Original Air Date:

23 September 2005 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

The spirit of a soldier disturbs Melinda at her wedding.

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Keeping A Secret | Psychic Power | Supernatural | Reconciliation

Cast

Jennifer Love Hewitt	...	Melinda Gordon
Aisha Tyler	...	Andrea Marino
David Conrad	...	Jim Clancy
Wentworth Miller	...	Sgt. Paul Adams
Jon Polito	...	Joe Grimaldi
Rodney Scott	...	Dan Clancy
June Squibb	...	Grandma
Grace Fulton	...	Young Melinda
Eddie Jones	...	Older Man
Deborah Strang	...	Thin Woman
Balthazar Getty	...	Michael
Allison McDonell	...	Vera Adams
Diane Dorsey	...	Coffee Drinker
William Marquez	...	Older Man
John Eric Bentley	...	Army Chaplain
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jody Hart	...	Honor Guard (uncredited)
Jeffrey Hutchinson	...	Father at Funeral (uncredited)
Brady Rubin	...	Widow (uncredited)

Directed by
John Gray

Writing credits
John Gray		(creator)
John Gray		(written by)

Produced by
Billy Crawford	....	associate producer
Joe Dishner	....	producer
John Gray	....	executive producer
Jennifer Love Hewitt	....	producer
Kim Moses	....	executive producer
Ian Sander	....	executive producer
James Van Praagh	....	co-executive producer

Original Music by
Mark Snow

Cinematography by
James Chressanthis		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Scott Vickrey

Casting by
Donna Rosenstein

Production Design by
Roy Forge Smith

Art Direction by
Michael Rizzo

Set Decoration by
Mary E. Gullickson

Costume Design by
Tom McKinley

Makeup Department
Bonita DeHaven	....	makeup artist
Gary Liddiard	....	makeup artist (as G. Dennis Liddiard)
Mary L. Mastro	....	hair stylist
Michael S. Ward	....	hair stylist: Aisha Tyler (uncredited)

Production Management
Joe Dishner	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Feury	....	first assistant director
Larry Lerner	....	second assistant director
Dan Leatham	....	second second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Will Blount	....	property master
Terry Kempf	....	construction coordinator
Drew Pierce	....	painter
Bret Ross	....	set dresser
Berj Daniel Bedrosian	....	propmaker (uncredited)
Jennifer R. Blair	....	art department coordinator (uncredited)
Peter Flynn	....	propmaker (uncredited)
David Lombard	....	leadman (uncredited)
Lee Ross	....	lead scenic (uncredited)
Jeffrey Whitman	....	carpenter (uncredited)

Sound Department
G. Michael Graham	....	supervising sound editor (as Michael Graham)
Robert L. Harman	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Robert Harman)
Steve Nelson	....	production sound mixer
Terry O'Bright	....	sound re-recording mixer
Philip Rogers	....	adr recordist
David Torres	....	foley mixer
Nate Arrigoni	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)
Bob Costanza	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)
Kevin Meltcher	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Dave T. MacDonald	....	special effects foreman
Arthur G. Schlosser	....	snow effects technician (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
William Mesa	....	visual effects supervisor
Mesrop Abrahamian	....	rotoscope artist (uncredited)
Tim Everitt	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Lincoln Kupchak	....	visual effects editor (uncredited)
John P. Mesa	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Dan Novy	....	digital compositor (uncredited)

Stunts
Alex Daniels	....	stunt coordinator
Brian Avery	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Betty Chow	....	film loader
Michael A. Johnson	....	camera operator (as Michael Johnson)
Scott C. Johnston	....	key grip (as Scott Johnston)
Scott E. Steele	....	camera operator (as Scott Steele)
Jeff Stewart	....	chief lighting technician
Ron Veto	....	steadicam operator
Vernon Wynne	....	grip
Dana Arnold	....	rigging gaffer (uncredited)
Ben Bowling	....	best boy electric (uncredited)
Orlando Diaz	....	dimmer board operator (uncredited)
Sean 'Fingers' Hourihan	....	electrician (uncredited)
Michael A. Johnson	....	camera operator: "b" camera (uncredited)
Jeff Journey	....	dolly grip (uncredited)
William Russell	....	gaffer (uncredited)
William Russell	....	lighting technician (uncredited)
James Takata	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Greg Wilson	....	grip (uncredited)
Jerald L. Wilson	....	electrician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Allyson Bosch	....	casting associate (as Allison Bosch)
Erin Weintraub	....	executive in charge of casting
Mara Kelly	....	casting assistant (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Layne Brightwell	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Josh Beal	....	assistant editor
Sam Bollinger	....	assistant editor
Ed Rowin	....	final colorist
Todd Kleparski	....	post-production coordinator: video (uncredited)

Music Department
Mark Snow	....	composer: theme music
John C. King	....	music supervisor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Steve Zerwick	....	transportation coordinator (as Steve Zerweck)
Michael DePue	....	driver: generator (uncredited)
Louis Dinson	....	transportation captain (uncredited)

Other crew
Robert Earl Craft	....	location manager (as Robert Craft)
Suzan Lowitz	....	script supervisor
Kathy McHugh	....	production coordinator
Peter Wentzel	....	finance executive
Mary Ann Winkowski	....	consultant
Eric S. Anderson	....	title designer (uncredited)
Nicholas Carpenter	....	set production assistant (uncredited)
Jerry Carville	....	assistant accountant (uncredited)
Lisa Henthorn	....	script coordinator (uncredited)
Paul Matthaeus	....	title designer (uncredited)
Laverne McKinnon	....	drama development executive (uncredited)
Leah K. Nellman	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Hunter Peil	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Kristian A. Quino	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Erin Sarofsky	....	title designer (uncredited)
Georgia Scheele	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Clyde Tull	....	technical advisor: military (uncredited)
Aaron Vaccaro	....	writer's production assistant (uncredited)
Anthony Vitagliano	....	title designer (uncredited)
Shangyu Yin	....	title designer (uncredited)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John Gray		creator

Makeup Department
Kamaura Eley	....	hair stylist
Myke Michaels	....	makeup artist
Kim Perrodin	....	makeup artist (season 1)
Marlene Stoller	....	additional makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stephen W. Moore	....	dga trainee

Art Department
Melissa Givens	....	buyer
Steve Roll	....	construction foreman

Sound Department
Richard Coleman	....	sound recordist
Mark Friedgen	....	supervising sound editor
Tommy Goodwin	....	foley mixer
Tom Hartig	....	boom operator
Timothy Pearson	....	foley artist

Visual Effects by
Douglas Aiken	....	digital compositor
Alfred Berger	....	rotoscope artist (episodes 105 & 109)
Kristen Branan	....	head of production
Jarrod Davis	....	visual effects supervisor
David Fogg	....	visual effects supervisor
Sid Jayakar	....	digital compositor
Kent Johnson	....	visual effects producer
Pency Kinnard	....	rotoscope artist (episodes 105 & 109)
Geoffrey Mark	....	digital artist
Robert Rowles	....	compositor
Patrick Peach	....	visual effects producer (episodes 105 & 109) (uncredited)

Stunts
Oliver Keller	....	stunts
Justin Sundquist	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Myers	....	grip
Bob Myers	....	rigging grip
Michael Piekutowski	....	electrician
Michael Piekutowski	....	lamp operator
Peter Villani	....	rigging electrician

Casting Department
Chad Darnell	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Meta Issa	....	set costumer (as Meta Moise)

Editorial Department
Julius Ramsay	....	assistant editor
Bob Riley	....	assistant on-line editor
Henry Santos	....	colorist

Music Department
Chris McGeary	....	music editor

Other crew
Joel Champagne	....	set production assistant
Gabrielle Glorious	....	key construction accountant
Jean Hodges	....	food stylist
Omar McClinton	....	post-production finance: Touchstone Television
Loren Spector	....	assistant production coordinator
Benjamin Vallery	....	production assistant
Jake Worden	....	additional production assistant

Production Companies

• Sander/Moses Productions
• Paramount Network Television
• Touchstone Television

Distributors

• Buena Vista International (2005-) (worldwide) (TV)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (2005) (USA) (TV)
• Kabel Eins (2006) (Germany) (TV)
• Nelonen (2006) (Finland) (TV)
• SBS6 (2006) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Seven Network (2005) (Australia) (TV)
• Sky Living (2006) (UK) (TV)
• Sony Entertainment Television (2005) (Brazil) (TV)
• Sony Entertainment Television (2006) (Mexico) (TV)
• TV2 (2007) (Hungary) (TV)
• TV4 Sweden (2006) (Sweden) (TV)
• Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) (2007) (Austria) (TV) (ORF1)

Other Companies

• American Humane Association, The  animal monitoring
• Final Note Productions  music editorial
• Keep Me Posted  post-production (as Online Post Production)
• Vera Wang  designer: wedding dress

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:TV-PG | Netherlands:12 | Netherlands:9 (re-rating)

Filming Locations:

Stage 19, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Sander/Moses Productions

Trivia:

In the pilot, Melinda looks for a name on a war memorial in the town square. The same name - "Lt. Ryan Beeman" (not the name she is looking for) - is the top name on two sides of the monument - under both "Gulf War" and "Vietnam War."

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the Pilot, the ghost of Vietnam Veteran Sgt. Paul Adams is wearing plain Olive drab (green) jungle fatigues, correct for the 1960s, but by the time he supposedly died, it was 1972 and his unit (5th ID), as most U.S. Army units, had changed to the "Nam Leaf pattern" camouflage (ERDL) uniform for several years already.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Grandma:Sit next to this man, Melinda; we're going to help him.

Just-Married

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Melinda Gordon has seen, heard and talked to ghosts since she was a child with the guidance of her grandmother, helping spirits to cross to the other side. On her wedding day with the paramedic Jim Clancy, the ghost of Sergeant Paul Adams, who was missing in action in Vietnam, comes to her, asking Melinda to contact his son Michael Adams. Michael believes Melinda is a fraud, but when his wife forces him to call the Pentagon giving the leads Melinda gave them, the army finds the remains of his father.

The pilot-episode of "Ghost Whisperer" promises an interesting series supported by the sweet Jennifer Love Hewitt. The simple story is beautiful, but predictable and without any surprises or twists. It is difficult to understand why the soldier of a war of the 60's and 70's has expected so many years to contact Melinda. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Pilot"