"My name is Melinda Gordon. I just got married. I just moved to a small town. I just opened an antique shop. I might be just like you, except from the time I was a little girl I knew I could talk to the dead. Earthbound spirits my grandmother called them. The ones who have not crossed over because they have unfinished business with the living and they come to me for help. To tell you my story, I have to tell you theirs."

-Melinda Gordon

The First Season

CBS's drama Ghost Whisperer, which first aired in 2005, stars Jennifer Love Hewitt in a television series inspired by real-life medium James Van Praagh and paranormal investigator Mary Ann Winkowski. The show is about a woman who has had a special gift since she was a young girl. Her gift is the ability to communicate with earthbound spirits, or ghosts, that for one reason or another have been unable to cross over into the afterlife. This first season contains twenty-two episodes that provides an enjoyable look into the supernatural with a touch of wholesome goodness. It is the kind of show that draws you in after one episode and never lets go.

Jennifer Love Hewitt, best known for her role in Party of Five, headlines the cast as Melinda Gordon. When Melinda was young, she learned that she had the ability to communicate with ghosts that were unable to cross over to the afterlife because of unfinished business. Her grandmother, who also had the "gift", taught Melinda about what made her more special than everyone else. And as the years went by, Melinda became accustomed to seeing earthbound spirits in everyday life. However, it was not until after she married her husband Jim Clancy (David Conrad) that the ghosts started coming to her for help. Melinda came to realize her higher purpose in life, which was to help these earthbound spirits find closure and cross over.

Melinda's newlywed husband Jim is an emergency medical technician. He is a good natured fellow who loves Melinda unconditionally and he helps her with her supernatural work when he is able. He also does his best to try to understand what Melinda goes through on an emotional level as she is forced to go through the pain, suffering, and tragedy of the earthbound spirits. Joining the couple is a former New York Lawyer Andrea Moreno (Aisha Tyler). Andrea is Melinda's best friend and works at the antique shop with her. She plays an important role in helping Melinda cross over earthbound spirits as one of the few people Melinda trusts her secret with.

Together, Melinda, Andrea, and Jim deal with a variety of earthbound spirits and assist them in crossing over to the afterlife. The season one episodes are very episodic in nature--the storylines are contained in a single episode. There is very little in terms of a story arc, except for a few hints at a bigger picture in terms of forces that oppose Melinda's work. The season one storylines are typical from episode-to-episode. They deal with an earthbound spirit who has unfinished business with the living, usually about a loved one they left behind. But despite the lack of variety, the stories are still handled well.

What works for Ghost Whisperer is the general nature the storylines take. They deal with the supernatural, in terms of Melinda's line of work, but there is also another focus. Through Melinda's efforts, she resolves conflicts that are keeping the earthbound spirits from crossing over and the stories tend to be touching on a feel-good level. The feel-good nature is handled in a way that it reminds me of shows like Quantum Leap and Touched by an Angel in that the main character is always trying to right some wrong. How the storylines are drawn out and explained offer some truly heartwarming material. It is an aspect that makes Ghost Whisperer such an easy show to enjoy and appreciate.

Another aspect the series benefits from is Hewitt's performance. At first, I was skeptical about how she would fit into a supernatural, feel-good drama. In her past roles, I have primarily seen her in over-the-top dramas, which clearly this show is not. I was happily surprised to find that Hewitt fit her role with grace. She gives Melinda a likeable personality and really portrays the toll of her work. The other characters are also handled well, but they do not quite compare to the style Hewitt provides her character.

In regards to story arcs, there was not much content. Besides the obvious character development, there is not much from episode-to-episode. However, towards the end of the season with episodes "Free Fall" and "The One" a story arc dealing with a force opposing Melinda and her doings is introduced. He is known as "Wide Brim Hat Man", a devilish character who shows Melinda the dark side of life and death. This story arc proves to be intriguing and compelling. It is only too bad it was not a bigger part of the season.

Overall, I had a great time watching Ghost Whisperer. While the stories are episodic in nature (I prefer large-scale season story arcs), the episodes offered a lot of intrigue as Melinda uncovered the mystery dealing with one ghost or another and brought closure to whatever reason was keeping them from crossing over. The content is rich and there is more than enough to keep you coming back for more.

Episode Guide

1. Pilot: Melinda is haunted by the spirit of a restless soldier who died 30 years ago in Vietnam. She helps the veteran and his living son find closure.
2. The Crossing: A boy, killed in a train accident, gets Melinda to find and convince the boy's mother that it was not her fault.
3. Ghost, Interrupted: Following her twin sister's death, a young girl's strange behavior gets her placed in a psychiatric facility. Melinda discovers the girl's dead twin is haunting her and must help the sister reconcile.
4. Mended Hearts: A dead triathlete enlists Melinda to save the life of his suicidal fiance, by helping her find closure and new love with the man who received his donated heart.
5. Lost Boys: While cleaning the basement of an old inn, Melinda finds the lost spirits of three boys that died in an orphanage fire 50 years ago. She must help the boys pass on before the in is destroyed and they become eternally earth-bound spirits.
6. Homecoming: Melinda assists an upset teenage ghost and learns something that will affect the lives of everyone the boy left behind.
7. Hope and Mercy: A woman who died during pregnancy can't cross over until her husband stops blaming himself. Plus, Andrea meets a con artist who discovers a surprise about her past.
8. On the Wings of a Dove: Five years after his father's death, Jim begins acting strangely. Melinda notices and believes the problem is caused by his tortured spirit. Painful memories are brought back when she is surprised by a visited from a friend (Estella Warren).
9. Voices: Melinda has a horrible side effect upon meeting a spirit who communicates only via electronic devices. She assists the spirit in hopes of relieving her own aliments. Jim's mother brings an unexpected guest.
10. Ghost Bride: An evil spirit in a wedding gown tries to destroy the wedding of Melinda's friend Lisa. Melinda learns the spirit was supposed to marry Lisa's fiance the day she died.
11. Shadow Boxer: A recently dead woman will not pass over until her son, a boxer, reconciles with his father. Melinda helps the family come to terms with their loss.
12. Undead Comic: Melinda meets the spirit of a comic who committed suicide and guides him towards making amends with those he left behind.

13. Friendly Neighborhood Ghost: A new neighbor moves in and requests Melinda's aid in ridding the place of an uninvited spirit.
14. Last Execution: After a spirit follows Melinda home, she discovers he is looking for his troubled daughter who's been having serious problems since his death.
15. Melinda's First Ghost: Melinda must reconcile with her own mother before she can save the spirit of a young girl, the very first ghost she ever saw!
16. Dead Man's Ridge: Andrea enlists Melinda in finding a missing friend who disappeared while on a hike.
17. Demon Child: Melinda encounters a malicious young boy's spirit who is terrorizing his family. She takes on the challenge of helping this troubled child find peace and cross over.
18. Miss Fortune: The bitter ghost of a magician accuses his envious brother of causing his death and covering it up as an accident. It's up to Melinda to facilitate a reconciliation between the brothers.
19. Fury: Melinda must assist the ghost of a murdered African-American man find justice. She helps his son overcome his racist views before they are passed on to another generation.
20. The Vanishing: A head injury caused by an accident puts Melinda's ability at risk. She may have permanently lost her gift as she attempts to aid a young girl whose boyfriend has recently passed away.
21. Free Fall: The spirits of a pilot and flight attendant contact Melinda. She experiences a sense of dread over the possibility of a plane crash.
22. The One: After a jetliner crashes Melinda faces the overwhelming task of helping hundreds of passengers cross over. "Wide Brim Hat Man" is working against her. She must work with the crash investigators who try to find out how she knew the plane was going to crash.

The DVD

Video:
The video in this release is given in an anamorphic 1.85:1 ratio widescreen color format. The picture quality is quite good. It suffers from a slight grain, but detail remains to be sharp and clear. However, there are moments when the picture suffers noticeable compression artifacts. Overall, the picture is relatively clean and should look good on big screen televisions.

Audio:
The audio track in this release is in English 5.1 Dolby digital surround. In general, the sound quality is very good and it provides an audible and clean track. The dialogue is usually a little flat while music and sound effects come off rich and vibrant. Additionally the 5.1 track is somewhat dynamic and occasionally uses the surround sound capability with music and ambient sound effects.

There are no subtitles included, but the release has support for closed captioning.

The DVD covers have an explicit warning that "some music has been changed in this home entertainment version".

Extras:
For extras, Ghost Whisperer is packed! There are deleted scenes, audio commentaries, and several featurettes, which all make for a good time after you have completed watching the season episodes. For Deleted Scenes, there are four that include "Mended Hearts" - Andrea With Floorboards, "Homecoming" - Mitch Tells Andrea, "Homecoming" - He's Getting A Divorce, and "Undead Comic" - Ghost Comic. The Audio Commentaries cover episodes "Pilot" with John Gray and Kim Moses, "Ghost, Interrupted" with Ian Sander and Kim Moses, "Lost Boys" with Ian Sander and David Conrad, and "Undead Comic" with John Gray and Aisha Tyler.

Can You See Me? The First Season of "Ghost Whisperer" (21:16) is a featurette with cast Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Conrad, and Aisha Tyler, and crew John Gray, Kim Moses, James Van Praagh, Ian Sander, James Frawley, and James Chressanthis. The topics include developing/creating the series, writing, directing, the characters, storylines, the supernatural aspect, and other related items. It is a pretty extensive and interesting featurette about the series.

Second Sight: The Clairvoyants of "Ghost Whisperer" (8:24) stars the paranormal, supernaturally gifted individuals in which this series is partly based upon. Both James Van Praagh and Mary Ann Winkowski provide comments about their roles on the show and how their experiences relate. However, the focus is on the latter with the two talking about what they do and are capable of. For me personally, it sounded very hokey. (Of course, I don't believe in mediums and the paranormal.)

A Tour of Grandview (3:23) is about the set used for the town in Ghost Whisperer. Jennifer Love Hewitt gives a tour of the set to different places and talks about their significance to the show. It also features comments from Roy Forge Smith.

Ghost Whisperer Mythology (9:47) is a featurette about the series' title sequence. In it, Kim Moses, Paul Matthaeus, Anthony Vitagliano, and Erin Sarofsky talk about the production of the opening title sequence. They discuss about its conception from storyboard to final (with side-by-side footage) and the impact, direction they were aiming for with it.

Scare Tactics (11:12) stars Juanita Diana Feeney, Camille Cellucci, Sharon Michaels, and Tim Chilton talking about the show's unique aspect, where it is both scary and heartwarming. They focus on the visual and special effects dealing. The discussion talks about process and its conception, production, and implementation.

Blooper Reel (4:45) is a montage of goofs during filming. There are a few funny moments and it is worth looking into.

Final Thoughts:
The first time I saw Ghost Whisperer I was not expecting much. However, it turned out to be an exhilarating, heartwarming show that was easy to get into. Hewitt is great in her role as Melinda and the storylines provide a lot of intrigue as she helps the dead find closure and move on to the afterlife. While I would have loved to have seen more large-scale story arcs, the episodic nature of the series serves it well. In the end, Ghost Whisperer is an intriguing drama with likeable characters and heartwarming stories. For those who enjoy the do-gooder dramas, it is a must own.