Crossover episodes of television are typically viewed as a big deal. Franchises likeNCISandCSIhave featured episodes with the characters mixing it up with each other, and animated series have even gotten into the act with crossovers betweenThe SimpsonsandFamily Guy.In recent years,9-1-1and9-1-1: Lone Starhave exchanged characters to help entice viewers of either series to tune in.Crossovers can be marquee eventsthat provide a series with a renewed sense of interest or excitement. However, there are times when crossovers are just not a great idea, andGhosts UKandGhosts U.S. are the perfect examples of that.
Could ‘Ghosts U.S.’ Do a Crossover With the UK Version?
The originalGhosts,which premiered in the UK in 2019, introduced audiences to the premise of asweet married couple who have their lives turned upside downwhen the estate they inherit is actually filled with many paranormal guests (that only the wife can see). The series ran for 5 hilarious seasons, with its last episode airing in December 2023. Then, there’s the US version, which made its debut in 2021 and has already delighted viewers for 3 seasons. With the UK series officially at an end,some fans have been musing about whether there could be a crossover with the characters from the British version heading across the pond.
It makes sense why this idea has come about. There are so many funny characters on the British version, especiallythe various ghosts of the estate, which include Kitty Higham (Lolly Adefope), Lady Fanny Button (Martha Howe-Douglas), and caveman Robin (Laurence Rickard). And the ‘human’ characters of Alison (Charlotte Ritchie) and Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) bring a warm and funny vibe toGhosts UKthatmakes every episode a delight to watch.It’s no wonder that fans haven’t quite felt ready to say goodbye forever to these people. There were only 35 episodes altogether of the series (they had much shorter seasons of seven episodes each); perhaps some feel that there wasn’t enough time to completely mine all of the comedy out of these characters. So, with some creative ideas from theGhosts USwriting team, there could be a world in which some of the ghosts (or even Alison and Mike) journey over to America to stay at the Woodstone Bed and Breakfast with Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar). But is it even a good concept to do a crossover with these two shows?
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As fun as it would be to see the Shakespearean poet Thomas Thorne (Mathew Baynton) or WWII Captain (Ben Willbond) interact with the American ghosts, there are actually a ton of reasons why the crossover just wouldn’t work that well overall. First off,there are just way too many similarities between the two showsfor the characters to not feel extremely redundant. Lady Button’s refined and haughty ways are super close to Hetty Woodstone (Rebecca Wisocky) and Pat Butcher (Jim Howick) was obviously the inspiration for Pete Martino (Richie Moriarty), down to the arrow through the neck as the cause of death. Likewise, Alison and Mike don’t have distinguishing characteristics that make them all that different from Sam and Jay — the woman is the one who can see the ghosts, they’re both a couple who are trying to make their business succeed, and there areplenty of silly mishaps because of the ghosts' presenceat their respective estates.
The most glaringly obvious reason a crossover would never work is that the ghost lore that’s already been established prevents the ghosts from showing up in a different location. Except forPete’s ghost power,the majority of the ghosts are tied to the site where they died. There’s not really any conceivable way that, all of a sudden, ghosts from the UK (who have previously been stuck at Alison and Mike’s home) could gain the ability to travel thousands of miles to pop up at the only other bed and breakfast that also houses a woman who can see spirits. It would be way too much of a coincidence, and it doesn’t fit with what’s already been the foundation of how the ghosts operate. Plus,the UK series ends with a flash-forwardto Alison and Mike as much older versions of themselves who have headed back to Button House, so Alison can visit with her old spirit friends.It doesn’t really make sense for the two humans to travel to Woodstone in any timeline, since we already know what their story looks like in the future.
There Is One Way To Have a Semi-Crossover of the ‘Ghosts’ Shows
So far, it seems likeGhosts USco-showrunner,Joe Port, agrees with this assessment,saying in an interviewthat having Alison and Mike on a crossover “sort of doesn’t compute for us because it feels kind of strange… It just seems too similar, or something, to Sam and Jay.” The UK show was also perfect in completion, so it doesn’t really need continuations of those characters' stories. But there is one solution for fans that still want more of their favorite British spirits. Why not bring over those actors in brand-new roles on the US version?This would be a fun way to utilize the talents of the castwithout getting bogged down trying to follow the pre-established ghost lore or without needing fans to question why thesespecific characters would be showing up at Woodstone.
Even if the ghosts from Button House don’t make appearances in the US, there are still many exciting things in store forGhosts’upcoming season. It has already been announced thatJay is going to start seeing ghostsfor the first time (which will most definitely lead to all kinds of upheaval and hilarious situations for all of the characters). We also don’t know exactly what happened to Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones); the last we saw of him in the Season 3 finale, the mysterious Puritan ghost, Patience,was dragging him into the earth. The series has always included plenty of fun twists and exciting guest stars, sothere will certainly be interesting additions to the plot and to the cast going forward. But here’s hoping a few of the actors fromGhosts UKwill still pop up in future seasons of the US franchise, without needing to do a traditional crossover to make it happen.
Seasons 1-3 ofGhostsUSare available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S. Season 4 will premiere on October 17 on CBS.
Ghosts (US)
When a cash-strapped couple inherits a crumbling country estate, they soon discover it is inhabited by an eclectic group of spirits, leading to comedic encounters as they navigate cohabitation with their supernatural roommates.
Watch on Paramount+
