My Mom Was Obsessed With Ghost Whisperer When I Was A Kid, So I Decided To Stream It... And Oh Boy, I Get It Now

You know that classic phrase, “Oh god, I’m turning into my mother”? Yeah, that’s where I’m at right now with Ghost Whisperer.

Let me preface this by saying that I’ve never seen this show once on my own in my life, aside from watching my mother view it when I was a kid. And even then, I never really stayed around in the living room that often. I was more the child who would get home from school and, after spending a couple of minutes in the living room with her, would either go and watch my favorite TV show, Avatar: The Last Airbender, or watch YouTube.

But now, in my mid-twenties, I wanted to see all the fuss about this show that my mom seemed to really enjoy. And wow…I get it now, but let’s get into why.

I Always Wondered Why Her Ghost Shows Were So Popular

First off, my mom was always really into any show that had anything to do with ghosts, spirits, the occult, or any of that, and really not for the reason you think. It’s not because she dreams of living her life in the best fantasy TV shows or the best fantasy movies – nah, my mom is just really religious.

Not to the point where it’s too much, like “I will kick you out if you don’t conform to my faith” religious. But she’s the kind of person who is a devout Catholic who spends a lot of her time at Church and worshipping, which isn’t inherently a bad thing. Because she is religious, she enjoys learning about the other side, spirits, ghosts, and everything else, because Catholics believe in that.

Of course, that leads to her love of shows that revolve around that kind of stuff. I’m pretty sure I ended up loving all my supernatural shows because of her – I found out about the series Supernatural due to my mother, and I think I watched that longer than she did—anyway.

Ghost Whisperer was just one of many ghost-featured shows that she would watch when I was a kid. And while my curious mind would always sit down with her to watch Ghost Hunters, I never found myself attracted to Ghost Whisperer. However, one day while I was scrolling Hulu, I saw that the entire series was there. So what’s a girl to do?

She decides to check out the show her mother loved. And wow…I think I get it now.

But Now, Watching It, I Finally Get Why – Because It’s An Interesting Concept, But Also Really, Really Silly

This show is silly. Like, really, really, silly. But it’s also an excellent concept.

If you’ve never seen Ghost Whisperer, the essential premise is this: the show follows a young woman who can see ghosts and tries to solve their problems so they can cross over. Sometimes, they can be menacing, and she has to be very smart with how she approaches them. Meanwhile, she also attempts to live a normal life.

Yeah, this series basically sets up every kind of “Oh, I’m not like other girls” trope for any supernatural series about a girl who has mystical powers. The main character, Melinda (played by Jennifer Love Hewitt), is pretty much the exact kind of person you could imagine would lead this – someone who really believes in her gift and the power of others and everything else.

It’s about as cliche as cliche can get – but I’m no better than my mother, and there’s a reason as to why these types of shows do well. Even if it is the type of story we have seen before, it’s still a really, really interesting concept.

I've always enjoyed the ability to see ghosts and help them to the other side, and now I can see why my mom enjoyed it, too. Melinda's personal life is interesting to follow, and the lives of the people around her make it even better. The episodes can get very dramatic. I totally understand.

Five Seasons Is Crazy For This Show - But I Enjoyed Every Second I Watched

However, I will say that I did not watch all five seasons of this show – five seasons is really crazy for the type of content that we get. Even so, I won’t sit here on my computer and say that I didn’t enjoy it, because I did, a lot, for the few seasons I watched.

Honestly, Ghost Whisperer is the kind of show where you don’t have to be fully invested. It’s the kind where you can probably put it on in the background as you’re doing dishes, and you’ll still get the basic idea as to what is going on without missing much. And that’s really what my mom used to do.

Truthfully, now it’s just another excuse to talk with my mom and connect over something that she used to love, like I did with Carrie. And to me, that’s worth every episode until the next show I binge – at least until the next 2025 TV show I watch.