Celebrity Ghost Stories [Show]

I started watching Celebrity Ghost Stories when its first season aired on the Biography Channel a few years ago. And, since then I have tried to watch each new episode because most have caught my attention in one way or another. The show is a reality-base where celebrities narrate a paranormal event that they had experienced.

Celebrities include actors, Corbin Bernsen (L.A. Law), Joan Collins (Dynasty, The Colbys) and Christopher Knight (The Brady Bunch);  musicians, Vince Neil (Motley Crue), Marilyn Manson (Marilyn Manson) and Jermaine Jackson (Jackson Five);  sports stars, Sugar Ray Leonard (Olympic Boxer); and other personalities, the late Phyllis Diller (Comedienne), Paul Shaffer (Late Night with David Letterman) and Margaret Cho (Comedienne).

In each hour-long episode, each celebrity segment lasts between 15 to 20 minutes. The only exceptions have been the “Scariest Moments” episode where they show the most frightening scenes from previous episodes and the Loretta Lynn episode showcasing the haunting of her ranch in Tennessee. As the celebrity narrates, the story is reenacted with live-action shots and stop-action-like stills. Now in the show’s fourth season, each celebrity has shared one story. Excluding any special episodes, there are few of the celebrities that have been featured more than once.

Vince Neil told the story about how his manager died and helped his band find his replacement and how he was contacted by his dead son. Karina Smirnoff (Dancing with the Stars) told about her run-in with a dybbuk (a spirit from Jewish folklore) during a visit to a Summer home in the Ukraine and how she saw her grandmother roam the halls of her home after passing away. Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips) told how she became sober from experiencing the ghost of a drunken barber and her experience with a strange apparition when her sister Wendy comes to visit. Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live, 1996 – 2002) recounted how she was visited by the victims of a fire while playing the role  Elphaba in a production of Wicked: The Musical and her experience with the ghosts of a hotel.

There are so many celebrities and so many episodes that I am amazed. It reminds me that the paranormal discriminates against no one. It is hard to find just one favorite episode, but there are many hits and misses. Nevertheless, one of the more memorable episode featured Shirley Jones (Oklahoma!,The Partridge Family), Mykelti Williamson (Forrest Gump). Shirley Jones and her ex-husband Jack Cassidy rented a sea captain’s former home in rural New York state. When her husband left for Los Angeles, she experienced the ghosts of the captain’s children. When she left for California, the house mysteriously bursts into flames. Mykelti tried visiting his mother several times only for her to send him away. He finds out that his mother did not want him to visit just in case he were to run into a childhood friend. His mother said that the look of death was too strong on Mykelti’s friend. After hearing this, Mykelti’s dinner with his girlfriend is interrupted by a phone call from the same friend. The phone company has no record of the call.

Whether you believe the existence of ghosts and the paranormal or not, this is one show that shouldn’t be watched alone late at night.

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Current schedule on the Biography Channel is 9/8 Central. Episodes are available online, but more are available on Hulu.

Website: http://www.biography.com/tv/celebrity-ghost-stories

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_Ghost_Stories

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