Ghost Hunters is a documentary show that airs on the SyFy channel. It follows the investigations of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) as they help people with paranormal problems, and learn the truth behind reports of hauntings. The show debuted in October, 2004 and is still ongoing. Currently on the show are Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, Steve Gonsalves, Dave Tango, Amy Bruni, Britt Griffith, and Adam Berry, although Grant will be leaving the show at the end of the 2012 season.The show has two spin-offs: Ghost Hunters International (2008-) with Robb Demarest, Brandy Green, Joe Chin, Barry Fitzgerald, Ashley Godwin, Kris Williams, and Paul Bradford; as well as Ghost Hunters Academy (2009-) with Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango. Joe and Barry have also appeared on Ghost Hunters to assist the team.Former members include Andy Andrews, Brian Harnois, Donna La Croix, and Dustin Pari.
Cluster F-Bomb: In the early seasons, Brian got bleeped a lot, and Jason fairly frequently as well, especially when he was having to deal with Brian. Nowadays, it's not nearly so prevalent.
Let's Split Up, Gang: The team usually splits into groups of two for investigations.
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: A key part of the investigations, in both the on-site evidence gathering and the evidence analysis, is "debunking" - finding logical explanations for what's being claimed as paranormal. In one case Jason and Grant used their experience as plumbers to determine that the "blood" running down the wall was actually a leaking cleaner from a bathroom. That being said, as the show's gone on, it's become very rare to see an investigation that comes up dry, whereas in the early seasons when investigations of homes were commonly featured, the ratio of hits to misses was about even.
Noodle Incident: Jason and Grant never give specifics about their personal paranormal encounters that occurred before the formation of TAPS.
Not Using The Zed Word: They almost never say "ghost," instead saying "haunting" or "activity."
essentially an energy imprint that constantly repeats itself
or intelligent.*
the typical ghost - it can interact with people and move around
Papa Wolf: The guys take cases that involve children being terrified very seriously, as evidenced by the fact that they came back early to the New England winter from Hawaii when they heard about a case involving a young girl being terrified in her own home.
Precision F-Strike: These tend to happen when the investigators get spooked by something.
At one point Grant self-censors his own Precision F-Strike by saying "what the fetch?", making one of the only cases of this trope also being Adorkable.
Product Placement: Not quite. Jason and Grant do work for Roto-Rooter, though, and many shows open with them doing work when they get a call about a new case.
The opening credits for most of the seasons show them standing by a Roto Rooter van in their work clothes, which changes to them standing by a TAPS van in TAPS gear. For the 2011 and 2012 seasons, this is now a moving Roto-Rooter van that turns into a TAPS van.
Also, in the course of the show they rarely simply call themselves "plumbers," they call themselves "plumbers for Roto-Rooter."
Put on a Bus: Anyone the team doesn't like. The bus usually ends up at Ghost Hunters International.
Revolving Door Casting: Ties into the previous trope. A lot of team members have come and gone, either to move on to other paranormal groups (or even starting their own), move to Ghost Hunters International (which is what's happened to some people who were causing friction in the main team), or quit entirely.
Even the ghosts themselves seem to give shout outs. In the "Lullaby Lane" episode, an EVP recording reveals a mysterious voice saying "There is no Jean here" which sounds kinda like...
In the "Hartford Conservatory" episode, Jason tries to scare Grant with an ax saying "Heeeeere's Jason!". In the same episode, they sing "The Michigan Rag".
Ghost Hunters International, which is notable for both the locales investigated and for being the team that a lot of former GH members end up on, for whatever reason.
Ghost Hunters Academy, where Steve and Tango hold a competition to choose new members of the TAPS team.
Those Two Guys: Jay and Grant, Steve and Tango, Kris and Amy.
Who Would Want to Watch Us?: After the success of Ghost Hunters, Jason and Grant got to host their first radio show TAPS Para-radio. In the first episode, they poke fun at themselves:
Jason: ...an episode appeared in Sci-Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters where the team did an investigation of Allentown. Yeah. Pretty cool, huh? Grant: Have you seen that show? Jason: Uh, yeah. I have. I heard some big bald jerk guy... Grant: I don't know. I haven't watched it. I've heard it's not very good.
Wham Episode: The 2/15/12 episode, where Grant announced he's leaving the team due to family issues.
Steve has phobias for just about everything...except ghosts. Spiders, heights and flying are his major fears, and he gets freaked out by insects in several episodes.
Brian, on more than one occasion, mentioned his fear of dolls.
Amy Bruni is claustrophobic and is terrified of elevators. In the 2/15/2012 episode, she and Adam get stuck in an elevator during an investigation and she nearly has a panic attack.
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