Ghosts’ Biggest UK Change Sets Up The CBS Comedy For Greater Success Than The Original

Spoiler Alert for Ghosts season 4, episode 4, “The Work Retreat”CBS Ghosts is setting up its main characters, Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar), to be more successful than the ones who inspired their show – a major and promising departure from the source material. Ghosts UK, a British series for the BBC with the same name and premise, inspires the American series. Ghosts UK focuses on Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) and Allison (Charlotte Ritchie), who move to Button House after Allison inherits the estate from a distant relative. Like Sam and Jay, the Ghosts U.S. characters based on their UK counterparts make the mansion their home and turn it into a bed and breakfast.

There are significant differences between the couples and their respective series, and one of the variations could set the CBS series up to be more successful than its predecessor. Ghosts UK ended after five seasons, while the American Ghosts is currently in its fourth season. The CBS series could last longer, especially since Sam and Jay have a few advantages to their situation that Mike and Allison didn’t have, namely, the nature of the spirits at the Woodstone Mansion and how they impact the living inhabitants’ lives.

Ghosts’ Spirits Are So Much More Helpful Than Their UK Counterparts

The Characters In The Ghosts UK Series For The BBC Are Persistently More Bothersome

Sam and Jay’s greatest advantage over Mike and Allison is the spirits they live with. The CBS spirits are more helpful than their BBC counterparts, and the ghosts in the British series are a bother throughout. Spirits like Fanny (Martha Howe-Douglas), the Captain (Ben Willbond), and Robin (Laurence Rickard) constantly heckle Allison. The American series starts that way, but by season 4, the spirits have mostly adapted to exist cohesively with “the livings” and rarely disrupt Sam’s life (except for Ghosts‘ season 4’s Patience). Ultimately, they improve Sam and Jay’s situation.

Julian Fawcett pushes Allison out of the window in
Ghosts UK,
whereas Sam’s fall down the stairs in
Ghosts
is just an accident.

Beyond eventually evolving past the menacing qualities of the original ghosts, the American spirits move Sam and Jay’s life forward. For instance, Sam writes, and Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones) asks her to pen his memoir. When Sam finally gets an offer, she earns a healthy book advance of $20,000. While Isaac insists Sam split the money with him, he invests it back into Jay’s business. Then, in Ghosts season 4, episode 4, Trevor (Asher Grodman) gets a job and offers to split his bonus with Sam and Jay, which is enough to cover the cost of their fountain.

How The US’ Ghosts Sets Up Sam & Jay To Be More Successful Than Alison & Mike

The Couples In The Ghosts Series Require Money To Renovate And Run Their Business

In Ghosts UK,Mike and Allison run out of options to stay at Button House. Their business is failing, and to make matters worse, a lightning bolt sets their Gatehouse on fire in the season 4 finale, decimating the only source of income that the financially strapped couple has. While Sam and Jay started frugal, their business has grown with each Ghosts season, so they don’t need to fret about losing it. All this suggests that the American couple’s journey running the Woodstone B&B can last longer than Mike and Allison’s bed and breakfast, and the ghosts will undoubtedly continue to help them along.

Ghosts season 4 continues on CBS on Thursdays.