CBS’s Ghosts season two panel at the New York Comic Con kicked off with a screening of the October 6, 2022 episode, “Alberta’s Podcast.” Executive producer/co-showrunner Joe Wiseman, Román Zaragoza (“Sasappis”), Sheila Carrasco (“Flower”), Utkarsh Ambudkar (“Jay”), Danielle Pinnock (“Alberta”), Asher Grodman (“Trevor”), and Rebecca Wisocky (“Hetty”) took the stage at Javits Center in NYCC to discuss the popular half-hour comedy currently airing on Thursday nights.
Here’s a brief recap of all things Ghosts from the NYCC panel:
Danielle Pinnock was happy to have a flashback episode to the 1920s that focused on Alberta’s backstory. Getting to know more about the character was great, but most importantly Pinnock was able to actually touch props – something she can’t do playing a ghost. It was a thrill to hold a mic in a jazz club, and she finally understood that Alberta lives for the applause.
“Season one, she’s this boisterous delicious diva. She’s a loudmouth and she’s been with these bootlegger boyfriends, and we find out she may have a little bit of a crush on Pete. But in this episode, being on stage for the first time’s when I really got to understand this character,” explained Pinnock.
Pinnock confirmed she’s ready for Alberta to find some love in the afterlife. She hopes that Alberta will give Pete a chance.
Utkarsh Ambudkar thanked fans for their support, saying viewers have made it the phenomenon that it is. “Without our fans we would be United States of Al. We’d be gone,” joked Ambudkar. He’s seen the joy people get from the show when he runs into fans on the streets.
Jay still can’t see the ghosts, and Utkarsh Ambudkar revealed he thought season two episode one would be the turning point that would allow his character to see all these spirits – which he really wants to do. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way.
Ambudkar explained how they shoot the scenes in which he’s not supposed to be aware of his co-stars. “The short answer is we shoot with everybody here and then all these guys go off stage and they still say all their lines and they’re still there for us with as much energy as they had the first time,” said Ambudkar. “Rose (McIver) is our engine. She does the heavy lifting. Rose remembers where everyone was, and what their intentions were. She responds to them and then manages my response to her. Rose is really our puppet master on the set. She does so much work; she’s our unsung hero.”
Sheila Carrasco was a big fan of the original BBC series and was excited about getting the audition to be a part of an American version. As for Flower, Carrasco thinks she’s lived a very beautiful and colorful life. She’s robbed a bank, and there’s a cult episode coming up in which Flower will impart some wisdom about how cults work and how they can sometimes be dysfunctional and unhealthy.
“We get to see more of her crazy point of view which I always love exploring. I can’t wait to see what else Flower has done,” said Carrasco.
Carrasco thinks there’s still a journey there for her and Thorfinn. “I do believe that underneath it all they have a deep connection. I think that Thorfinn is an old soul and can be very deep. I think that they may just connect at some point.”
Rebecca Wisocky agreed it’s sometimes frustrating to not be able to touch anything, and she enjoyed interacting with the washing machine on “Alberta’s Podcast.” The episode gave her a chance to let Hetty loosen the reins and not be quite so uptight. Wisocky loves physical comedy and came from the theatre. “To get to let loose on that old Maytag was really, really fun,” said Wisocky.
Wisocky’s happy the episode also allowed her to have great scenes with Sheila Carrasco, and the friendship will continue to develop between Flower and Hetty. The characters have interacted as roommates before but “Alberta’s Podcast” allowed Carrasco to play Flower as someone who’s capable of sharing her knowledge with Hetty in a productive way. “That part of it was just a really fun opportunity for me as Flower,” said Carrasco.
Wisocky credited Wiseman and the writers with doing a magnificent job of splitting the characters up this season and creating interesting unlikely bedfellows.
“We love finding different pairings,” said Wiseman.
Asher Grodman added: “One of the things that’s so cool about our show and allows us to do something that I don’t think a lot of shows get to do is at the same time that audiences obviously know much more than the eight clowns who are trapped in Woodstone, because we’re all trapped in the past, then there’s like this hundreds of years of history on this land that we know more about than you do. And so, we kind of get to approach that relationship with an audience from two different points of view.”
Grodman, who also teaches acting at Hunter College, teased Trevor’s up to a lot this season and will continue to say inappropriate things. “Something I’m realizing in season two is that Trevor’s the only one of the ghosts who has still spent more of the time alive than dead. So there’s a lot that he gets up to trying to bring his life into the afterlife,” said Grodman. “There’s going to be some delving into some frat-like behavior.”
Roman Zaragoza teased there’s a big upcoming episode for Sasappis titled “The Tree.” Zaragoza confessed to being nervous about doing panels like this and then revealed the episode will dive into Sas’s backstory a little bit more. Plus, we’ll see more of Sas’s romantic side and learn why he’s really bad at dating.
Zaragoza’s real dad plays his dad in the series, and Wiseman confirmed they’d love to have him back.
Mark Hamill is a massive fan of the series and Joe Wiseman is ready for Hamill to show up on the set whenever he wants to. “Anytime he wants to come, yes. Whatever scene we’re shooting we’ll write him in.”
Ghosts Panel Tidbits:
- Ghost economy will be revealed.
- Jay’s sister will return for a holiday episode and Trevor is ready to hit on her again.
- Rebecca Wisocky said Matt Baynton from the original BBC show (and an original creator of the series) will guest star in season two. “He’s an incredibly funny and generous actor,” said Wisocky. Asher Grodman confirmed Baynton guest stars in episode seven, an episode he describes as “magnificent.” Episode seven will be a Pete episode.
- The cast loves to prank each other, including a running gag featuring inspirational quotes credited to Asher.
- Suggestions were made for a musical episode and one Blumhouse-ish version episode in which Sam really is just walking around talking to walls.
