Ghost Whisperer (TV Series) Pilot (2005) User Reviews

Just-Married

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 11 November 2007]

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"

Outstanding pilot

[xredgarnetx · 8/10 · 10 February 2007]

The pilot involves a long-dead Vietnam vet haunting Melinda so that he can get in touch with his son. Melinda, played by the ever-fetching Jennifer Hewitt in peasant dresses, lots of costume jewelry and low-cut tops, is a spiritualist who can see, hear and talk to ghosts. Trained by her equally sensitive grandma (June Squibb), she helps these lost souls cross over into the light, a la POLTERGEIST. Melinda points out early on that spirits may appear in rather shocking, raw form, and this is borne out when the Vietnam vet first appears: he looks like hell warmed over. As the episode progresses, the "solidifies" and transforms his appearance, so that by the end of the episode he is the tall, dark and handsome dad who left his young son to go off and fight in a war. It is a very touching moment when the soldier walks side-by-side with his now-grown son, an arm loosely draped on the son's shoulder. Melinda's odd career is complicated by being married, although hubby (David Conrad) is mostly sympathetic to her ongoing crusade. She also has a partner in an antiques business (Aisha Tyler) who gets more and more involved in the wackiness as the first season rolls on. A well-written first episode, well acted, and just "off" enough to keep one coming back.

One of my favourite Pilot episodes ever

[mdking-49244 · 8/10 · 22 December 2021]

I've watched the Pilot episode of Ghost Whisperer a half a dozen times because I just really love the way the series starts. It introduces Melinda and Jim as a newlywed couple really well, has a couple of scary moments and gives us enough information about Melinda's powers to instantly buy in to them. Maybe I'll try and re-watch some of the other episodes again now.

A Pilot Which Sets the Standard

[juanruiz-65679 · 9/10 · 8 January 2019]

There is no doubt that this pilot got a go from the CBS network. It is incredibly well written, and establishes the way in which subsequent episodes were geared. A woman who can see ghosts seeks to resolve their conflicts and lead them to "the light."

The problem for the script writers throughout was to take this formula and vary it enough so that each episode was not simply a repeat: ghost shows up, ghost has issues, Melinda deals with them, others don't believe her, all resolved in last five minutes. For the most part, every episode is clever enough to avoid that.

I've already commented on other episodes that there is a lack of resolution; characters are introduced and summarily dumped. Others left for other shows and never mentioned again. Year 5 was a disaster with too much emphasis on the son. But, for the most part, the writers did a stellar job of producing great scripts. The pilot was just an omen of that.