As the central couple of the CBS supernatural sitcom “Ghosts,” Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar are the audience’s eyes and ears into a heightened world where some spirited specters end up haunting their place of death in a kind of purgatory — but with a clever twist. After a near-death experience, McIver’s type-A, freelance journalist Sam can see and communicate with the spirits, while Ambudkar’s free-spirited chef Jay cannot. That unique premise has transformed the stateside version of “Ghosts,” which is as much a retrospective of American history as it is a throwback to classic family sitcoms, into the second most watched comedy on network television (after “Young Sheldon”).
If the gaggle of ghosts form the show’s raucous heart, then Sam and Jay are the grounded eye of the storm. For three seasons, McIver and Ambudkar have played a married couple who uprooted their lives to turn the quaint country house they inherited into a bed-and-breakfast. Although some may balk at the idea of their spouse being able to communicate with the deceased, the writers wisely chose to make Jay immediately accepting of Sam’s new abilities, which has not only allowed them to get into comic hijinks together but also made them a pair worth rooting for.
“Jay is the definition of unconditional love,” Ambudkar says on a recent video call with McIver. In return, Sam gives Jay a sense of purpose and drives their adventures with the ghosts. “It feels really good to be able.
