Interview: CBS’s special Christmas episode of ‘Ghosts’ is tonight — what News 5 learned about it

The Christmas episode of the CBS show ‘Ghosts’ is airing on Dec. 19, and WKRG News 5’s Summer Poole sat down with the two main characters to find out what viewers can expect.

Rose McIver (Sam) and Utkarsh Ambudkar (Jay) explained what the episode was about and what filming the Christmas episode was like.

Poole: What can we expect from this episode?

Ambudkar: Well, this episode is crazy. We have a double possession. We have Jay’s parents showing up to the house for the first time. So, we have Sam desperately trying to impress Jay’s parents. But she’s got a problem because she’s being possessed by Nancy, our basement ghost, at the same time. And simultaneously, Jay is being possessed by Pete, who’s played by Richie Moriarty. So we just have like it’s high jinks left and right. It’s very funny and heartfelt.

Poole: You mentioned a double possession. Tell me what that looks like.

McIver: So literally, there is Jay is trying to fix the water heater. And whenever there’s a water heater with ghosts, there’s also literally water on the ground; there’s electricity. It’s a real dice roll and a rookie move, if I may. So anyway, we have a bit of a mishap and both Nancy and Pete are thrown into Sam and Jay, and it looks like you could imagine trying to navigate having in-laws stay while possessed. It’s chaotic; it’s funny; it’s surprising. And, you know, Sam is incredibly desperate to impress Jay’s family, and I don’t think she expects the reaction that she gets from Jay’s mother.

Poole: Why do you think it’s important for Sam to impress Jay’s mom?

McIver: Well, I think that Sam is very, very desperate to belong in family in general. She had a bit of a complicated upbringing herself, and we started to unpack that a little bit by meeting her dad this season and see a slightly strained relationship there. She’s really keen to fit in. I think it’s why it’s worked so well that she’s inherited a house full of ghosts because she kind of gets that family that she’s been longing for. And so Jay has a much closer, more traditional family unit, and she’s desperate to be a part of that. And that kind of overzealous enthusiasm can come on a little bit strong. So, Champa understandably sort of has a very boundary to person, and Sam doesn’t quite know what to do with that. But we get some pretty good breakthroughs this episode.

Poole: What do you think the fans will enjoy the most out of this episode?

Ambudkar: Well, I think it’s got everything that people love about a ‘Ghosts’ storyline. It’s got so much humor brought to you by Rose playing Nancy. It’s so funny what she does with the character, and then there’s a ton of heart and a lot of connection to family and a lot of accepting.

McIver: Also by Utkarsh, who navigates that beautifully. It’s very emotional. And there’s a lot of like a very authentic kind of relationship strain that you can feel between parents and a child that is explored in a really interesting way for a comedy.

Ambudkar: Yeah, and there’s some really deep, beautiful friendship stuff going on with ‘Sasappis’ and ‘Thorfinn,’ which is happening kind of behind the scenes of our main storyline. But Roman and Devan and Sheila play a wonderful little triplet storyline between ‘Flower’, ‘Thor’ and ‘Sasappis’ is really fun. You guys are going to love it. If you love the holidays and you love ‘Ghosts,’ you’re, like, going to love it. If you’re not a big fan of ghosts, I don’t know if you’re going to like it, but if you do like watching a gal talk to a bunch of ghosts that live in her house with a husband just following on…

McIver: This is the show for you!

Poole: What do you guys think was different with filming this episode versus maybe just another regular episode?

McIver: Well, as we’ll see in the second half of the episode, in the second part, it’s a technical feat and a big shout out to Richie Keen, our director who navigated working under complicated circumstances. You know, there’s 10 main actors in this show that all have moving schedules and very full days that we have to film, and he was able to navigate some really complicated VFX and some elements that I don’t want to spoil, but that really enhanced the second half of the episode. So the days on set were jam-packed. They were complicated, Utkarsh did a wonderful job having to step up to this very technically demanding role. And yeah, it’s a little different than a standard episode on that front.

Poole: Can you guys tell me anything about when the show will return in 2025? Can you guys tease anything about that?

Ambudkar: Sure. I mean, we have some amazing stuff this season. I think this is our best season yet. We’ve really hit our stride. Writers, actors, crew. We’re just having such a good time making this show. And in 2025, you finally get to meet Isaac’s arch-nemesis, Alexander Hamilton, which is very cool. We have Nat Faxon coming to play him, and he’s so funny, such a great actor. And it’s, I think for someone who’s been multiple times nominated for awards now, I think it’s Brandon Scott Jones’s funniest, best work on the show up to date. We get to delve into Alberta’s backstory and get to see some of her flashbacks and get into her love story a little bit, which is beautiful. And anytime you get to hear Danielle sing, you’re winning.