"HO! HO! BOO!" -- as they say in the Spirit World. Hope you caught the GHOST WHISPERER HOLIDAY EPISODE that was broadcast last night on CBS.With GHOST WHISPERER there's more than just the spirits of Christmas Past and Christmas Present -- there's the magical spirit of 'Not-Crossed Over."While shooting this episode, we were hard pressed for snow in sunny L.A. but our special FX team came through like aces.The ghost who believes he's Santa was played by Gordon Clapp (you may remember him from NYPD BLUE) and Michael Riley Burke played the victim of the haunting. We had the pleasure of working with Michael in another series that ran on ABC: THE BEAST.Some of our favorite holiday songs featured in the episode are performed by RELIENT K -- SLEIGH RIDE and HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS. And, IMAGINARY FRIENDS does a great rendition of JINGLE BELLS.And, did you catch the secret message from the Spirit World that was embedded in the episode? Where is it? CHECK OUT the scene at ...
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Yesterday, I celebrated my birthday on set so that was a nice distraction. John and Dicko got me a cake and the audience started singing "Happy Birthday" to me before they even brought it out. It was overwhelming and kind of caught me off guard but it was very sweet!There are four bands left and each one had to learn three songs this week. They had to pick their favorite original song, a song picked by the producers, and a song picked by us judges.I chose four songs from four different artists for The Clarke Brothers because I wanted to give them different options but, at the same time, something they could have fun with. Each judge chose a song for a different band. There were a lot of great moments but I don’t want to give anything away so I’ll just say the top three blew me away.I really hope this whole experience has been enlightening for them. I remember the Old #7s saying, “We never would have thought we’d be playing different types of music from these arti...
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It always comes down to the wire — will we or will we not finish in seven days? Most of the time we do — most of the time, that is. Without going into too much detail (you will just have to watch!), I will tell you that Washington definitely lived up to its reputation of being a very rainy state. It rained, and rained, and rained some more. This build definitely had its share of challenges! The Building Industry Association of Washington led by their President, Daimon Doyle, our builder, was great and constantly fought mother nature to get this house done for the Chapin family. And when I say "constantly," I truly mean it. Everyone rallied together to get this house done — designers (Ty, Michael, Paul, Johnny and myself), everyone on the crew, the town of Kirkland, the local government, and of course, the entire state. And it was worth it! The Chapin family is so deserving. Connie, a single mom, is raising four children to be incredibly giving, and hard working ...
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We just finished shooting the last script written before the writers strike began. Now we are on vacation/hold/hiatus/looking for a gig while the writers and producers hopefully bang out a deal sooner rather than later. My instinct is that this strike could go on for a while — the stakes are high and the players are dug in. I'm just gonna save my dough and hopefully get a gig in the mean time. We'll see what the future brings. It's not time to worry yet.The production is completely shut down here . Most of the cast in PB have given up their apartments here in Dallas and moved back to L.A. The over- 200 member crew of Prison Break is out of work, as well. Nice timing for the holidays huh? It's hard for everyone. We all want to continue working on PB but we can't just wait around hoping for the strike to end and turn down other work. I think everybody is in "hope for the best, prepare for the worst" mode, taking work if it comes our way and saving the greenbacks. Since our daug...
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From All of Us at Ghost Whisperer, To All of You, Just in Time for the Most Magical (And Ghostly) Season of all . . .Nice to see you back, and just in time for the holidays! I know that we’ve all missed Ghost Whisperer these past two weeks, but everyone knows that “Frosty the Snowman” comes to town once a year and we’re not gonna get in the way of that – so preempted we were. Besides, it gave us a little extra time to get Ghost Whisperer ready for the holiday season. And since we have some dazzling offerings for you this holiday season, let’s get to it-- THE EVOLUTION OF LOVE: in the blink of an eye, take a cool journey on-line and see Melinda Gordon – THE BEAUTIFUL JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT -- from the first frame of film that we shot in the pilot episode of GHOST WHISPERER to the last frame of film that we shot in next week’s Holiday episode. You’ll glimpse two and a half years of film in under a minute. (And, yes we did shoot the w...
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The families we meet from week to week are not only unique and deserving, but some go beyond "unique" to depths of amazing, wonderful, giving, incredible — I could go on and on!Ty, Michael, Tanya, Rib and I headed northwest to the beautiful state of Vermont to meet the Vitale family. On the bus on the way to the Vitale home, we learned that this family had its share of trials and tribulations. What we did not expect, however, is how amazing and wonderful this family would be, in spite of everything they have experienced. They came out of the door and we were met with such beautiful spirits. They are the kind of people that you feel like you have known for years ¬— like you are immediately a part of their family. They are amazing!For me, the best part of the week was my visit to "David's House," ¬a home for families with sick children in the nearby hospital. But why did we go there? First of all, the reason we went to David's House, was because the family asked ...
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I blog to you from an Aer Lingus jet, high over the Atlantic Ocean on its journey from Dublin. I'm happy to report that Men in Trees is shown on not one, but two Irish television stations, a small step in our ultimate goal of Elmo world domination. Everyone in Ireland is loving the show, although those I spoke to are all related to me so it may be a rather unscientific focus group. As the title of "Sweatering It Out" suggests, Marin is knitting a sweater for Jack to keep her occupied until his return from the Bering Sea. Anne Heche is such a dedicated actress that she actually learned how to knit for the show, and she is making a real sweater pattern in the scenes. (Obviously Marin has never heard the old wives' tale that you must never knit a sweater for your boyfriend.) Anne must have inspired the rest of us because now our cast and crew are all knitting a blanket together for charity. As soon as one of our assistant directors announces that we are ready to continue shooting a s...
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A funny thing happened this week while we were taping the show. It was John [Rzeznik]'s birthday and everybody really made an effort to bring him presents. Everywhere he turned, it was cake and choruses of "Happy Birthday." Little did we know, he absolutely hates his birthday! He was trying to be as polite as he could be but he just wasn't handling it well. Fortunately, the bands had better luck than he did. This week, they're doing songs from Queen, a heavy rock act that morphed into this huge global pop act. I don't want to ruin anything but there are a couple of whopping surprises. One of the bands has a change in their line-up, and another one really embraces theatrics in their performance.We have a small but loyal audience so, regardless of the size, we're dedicated to making this show as good as it can be. I've done some TV shows where I feel a bit embarrassed afterwards but I'm actually proud of this show. If it had been a lot of the same bands, it would have been a bit tedio...
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We just found out that the GHOST WHISPERER: THE OTHER SIDE web series won the 2007 TV GUIDE.COM ONLINE VIDEO AWARDS for BEST TV DRAMA WEBISODES. Thank you for casting your vote! Everyone at GHOST WHISPERER and THE OTHER SIDE is thrilled with the honor.We want you to know that GHOST WHISPERER: THE OTHER SIDE was created in direct response to thousands and thousands of e-mails we've received from fans around the world. Everyone wants to know, "What happens after you die?" And, "What's it like to be a ghost?" GHOST WHISPERER: THE OTHER SIDE enables viewers to venture beyond Melinda Gordon's GHOST WHISPERER world and experience THE OTHER SIDE. Along with the web series, we created an interactive flash site that allows users to get hands-on with 'the spirit world'. One more thing, the featured ghost, Zach (played by Mark Hapka) intersected the TV series during the Season 2 finale. (It's the first time a character created on the web has ever 'crossed over' onto a primetime TV Dram...
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This week is Rod Stewart week. I love Rod Stewart! I think all of the bands did a really great job with his songs. I don't want to spoil the surprise but one of the bands performed "You're in My Heart" and we all just cried. It reminded me of my first time playing music with my dad so it made me really emotional. It's hard to do somebody else's song but that's what's so great about this show. Everyone did a really good job and I think they're doing that every week. Right now, it's getting to the point where I do not want anyone to go home. It's like, "Can't they all get a deal?I think everyone's getting nervous now. We're almost done so nobody wants to go home. But, from what I hear, the bands all really love each other. In their clips, they've all said they feel like family. I do too and I'm not even in a band!It's hard to believe there is only four more shows left. We don't know what the future holds but I wish much success to all of the people that came out and auditioned. I'm ho...
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