Series / Ghosts (US)

♫ It's a dead man's party, who could ask for more? ♫^note From left to right: Alberta, Flower, Hetty, Thorfinn, Sam, Jay, Sasappis, Pete, Isaac, and Trevor.

"Huh. Haunting is hard."

— Pete

Adapted from the hit British series of the same name, Ghosts is an American supernatural-themed sitcom airing on CBS since 2021 and starring Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar as the main (living) leads.

It all starts when Samantha (McIver), a cheerful but overly ambitious freelance journalist, learns that she has inherited the once-grand, 300-year-old Woodstone Estate deep in the countryside of upstate New York. Against the better judgement of her husband Jay (Ambudkar), a composed but cynical unemployed chef, Sam decides they should invest all their money toward converting this major fixer-upper into a bed-and-breakfast establishment. There's just one small problem: the whole estate is haunted, or rather inhabited, by the spirits of its deceased residents.

The eponymous ghosts are a close-knit but eclectic group that includes Alberta (Danielle Pinnock), a saucy Prohibition-era blues singer; Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones), a pompous and very likely closeted Revolutionary War militia commander; Flower (Sheila Carrasco), a '60s hippie who's as spaced out as she is chatty; Thorfinn (Devan Chandler Long), a bloodthirsty Viking and the oldest of the resident spirits; Trevor (Asher Grodman), a sleazy Turn of the Millennium yuppie caught with his pants down—literally; Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky), the uptight, original owner of the house back in the 19th-century; Sasappis (Roman Zaragoza), a snarky Native American exasperated with the whole afterlife situation; Pete (Richie Moriarty), an upbeat '80s scout troop leader with an arrow shot through his neck; Crash, a decapitated '50s greaser who spends most of his time reuniting his head with his body; and a group of assorted, disheveled cholera victims residing in the mansion's basement.

When the ghosts learn of the couple's plans, they take it upon themselves to frighten the newcomers away. But if the spirits are anxious about the commotion that a renovation and B&B will create in their home, that's nothing compared to their shock after discovering that Samantha, following a near-death experience, is the first living person who can see and hear them.

The Six Idiots, who created and starred in the original UK series, serve as executive producers for this version.

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Tropes found in the series:

• 419 Scam: Pete, Trevor and Flower fall for one such scam in "Whodunnit" after Pete, who got an e-mail account made so he could get the Reader's Digest joke of the day, got a message from a "Nigerian prince" and they wired money from Sam and Jay's bank account. It's only after Trevor Googled "Nigerian Prince" that they realize what they did; fortunately, Sam got a fraud alert on her phone and canceled the transaction.
• The '60s:
  • The flashbacks in “Flower’s Article” takes place in 1968.
  • “Dumb Deaths” opens with Flower’s death in 1969.
  • The flashback in “A Date To Remember” takes place in this era as evident when Flower puts on a record of Will You Love Me Tomorrow by The Shirelles. ^note released in 1960
• The '80s:
  • The opening of “Pete’s Wife” is set in 1985.
  • The opening of 'Attic Girl' takes place in 1987.
  • A flashback of Pete arguing with his wife in “Dumb Deaths” takes place on the day Pete died in 1985.
• The '90s: Thorfinn, Isaac, Nigel, and several other ghosts watch a show called "How 'Bout Those 90s?" Significant because Isaac learns a lesson about friendship from a segment about The Spice Girls.
• Accidental Murder: Isaac was observing a handsome Redcoat officer through the telescope of a sniper rifle when he sneezed and accidentally pressed the trigger. The shot killed the officer. In the present, the victim's ghost is not happy finding what really happened.
• Acting Unnatural: Sam often has to cover for herself when she is caught Suddenly Shouting with the ghosts whenever living guests are present at the house, such as when she hands over a bottle of wine to one of them and it shatters on the floor or pretending to speak to clients over speakerphone.
• Adaptational Curves: Most of the ghosts are younger and in better shape than their UK counterparts. The only notable exception is Isaac, who is slightly more pudgy compared to the Captain.
• Adaptation Deviation: This is necessary since the show is a Transatlantic Equivalent from the original British series.
  • Rather than the standard six-episode fare, it has a longer season and thus more episodes to make up the bulk due to being a US remake.
  • New ghosts, aside from Pete, had to be invented wholesale to adjust to American history and its eras while still filling in the roles of the originals. Also, the eras in which they died are closer to each other with a majority dying in the 20th century.^note Alberta ('20s to '30s), Crash ('50s), Flower ('60s), Stephanie and Pete ('80s), with Trevor dying at the turn of the millennium
  • The couple's dynamic is inverted where the husband is more sensible yet cynical and the wife is incredibly optimistic and impulsive. This is best exemplified when Jay was initially apprehensive towards Samantha's ill-thought plan of converting the house into a B&B because of the costs and time they'll need to invest in it.
  • Instead of being pushed out the window, Samantha trips over a fallen vase caused by Trevor and proceeded to tumble down two flights of stairs. This near-death experience is what triggers her ability to see and hear ghosts.
  • Where the UK series has avoided giving any explanation for the ghosts' continued presence on Earth or why some Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence, in the US version it is canon that ghosts can (at least sometimes) move on by dealing with their Unfinished Business, which happens to Sam's mom.
• Adaptational Expansion:
  • In the original British series, it was never really explained what jobs Allison and Mike had before they came into possession of the mansion. Here, Sam is a journalist and Jay is a chef.
  • In the first few episodes, Jay tries to interact with the ghosts even though he can't physically see them, something Mike seldom does in the first season.
  • Ghosts can also be banished to Hell, as seen with Elias in "The Vault". It's implied that if they refuse to change their ways, this is their fate. They can temporarily leave Hell if they become a better person while down there. Elias explains that he was granted a 48 hour furlough because he is a changed man in “Weekend From Hell”. To permanently stay out of Hell, the person they had wronged must sign their contract with full intention that they forgive them. However if they can’t behave in the mortal realm, they are forced return as seen with Elias in the end of “Weekend From Hell”.
  • Ghosts can be summoned back to earth by performing a séance on Halloween. In order to do it, the physical copy of the object that is part of their Jacob Marley Apparel must be on the table where the séance is happening. It’s the reason why Molly appeared as June was using her feather duster as part of her maid costume and was taking part in the séance. The process can be reversed which results in the ghost being sent back to the place they came from but the object is still needed for it to work.
• Affectionate Nickname: Thorfinn likes to call Jay "little man".
• The American Revolution:
  • The flashbacks in “D&D” takes place in this era; the year 1777 to be exact. Isaac was a commander on the Colonists side.
  • A brief flashback in “The Christmas Spirit, Part Two”, shows Isaac’s final moments alive in 1777.
• Amoral Attorney: Dan is a lawyer from a firm representing Sam's family for generations. In "The Heir", he pays a woman $10,000 to pretend to be the rightful owner of Woodstone so he can become the owner and then sell it at a huge profit.
  • This, alone, could be enough to get Dan disbarred in most jurisdictions.
• Anachronism Stew: Bros icing bros became a brief fad in 2010 and Trevor died well before that.
• Annoying Arrows: Pete still has the arrow that killed him stuck through his neck. It hasn't dampened his upbeat attitude, though.
• Arbitrary Skepticism:
  • Upon hearing that Thorfinn put a curse on Sam and Jay, some of the ghosts react with skepticism, which irks Alberta because they're ghosts with supernatural abilities.
    Alberta: We're stuck in an endless purgatory...we saw a guy go down on us a couple weeks ago...and curse is where you draw the line?
  • While Sam and Jay hold a seance at a Halloween party:
    Pete: I can't believe they think this is real.
    Alberta: Pete, you're a ghost.
    Pete: Fair point.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Discussed with Hetty and her husband, Elias, who were Robber Barons when they were alive and generally seemed to fit all the stereotypes associated. Confirmed when Elias himself shows up as a ghost and quickly proves to be such an unrepentant monster for any and all suffering he caused people that he gets Dragged Off to Hell by the end of the episode.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Hetty's fears of who could get involved in her mansion include murderers, perverts, and Irishmen.
  • When Jay is possessed by Hetty in "The Possession" and the gang need to exorcise her so Jay can cook for a snobbish critic, they look up a video of how to perform an at-home exorcism. At the end of the video, the hostess asks her viewers to check out her other two videos, "DIY Vampire Killing" and "Rom Com Writing Made Easy"
• As You Know:
  • In "Attic Girl", Stephanie comes down to the kitchen after Jay accidentally wakes her up where she meets up with Isaac, Hetty, Flower, and Pete, to which Pete exclaims that, as a teenage ghost, Steph sleeps for months at a time. Considering that, by that time, Steph has already been dead for 35 years (which also means Pete has only been dead for two years longer than her), she most definitely already knows this. It's doubly weird considering that Sam, the one person who doesn't already know this, isn't in the room.
  • In the Pilot, when the group is discussing how to haunt the livings, they settle on using their powers... And then spend several minutes listing and demonstrating their powers to each other. This helps establish the groups habit of jumping onto random tangents after years, decades, or even centuries of chronic boredom.
• Bad Liar: The core cast has a bad habit of this, pausing, stuttering or making it very obvious from their faces and body language, especially when the rest of the group is piecing a subterfuge together. Sam ironically falls victim to this frequently, purely by accident, as she goes off the ghosts' word when they tend to misremember things before they died, or lie to protect details or something of meaning to them.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • When Samantha first arrives at Woodstone, she burns some sage to ward off spirits. The ghosts initially react in fear but then find the scent very pleasant.
  • After Samantha falls down the stairs and taken to the hospital, Jay covers his head with his hands in sorrow when the doctor approaches and says, "It’s a tough loss". We then hear the toilet flushing as Sam exits with a neck brace and find out that Jay and the doctor were talking about how the Knicks lost to the Nuggets with a ten point lead.
  • After the ghosts pester Samantha, she goes to a hospital where a male doctor confirms that it is possible to see ghosts after death. The doctor she was just talking to is a ghost himself and a living doctor arrives just before he leaves.
  • In "D&D", Isaac has a secret he has kept from Nigel, which is implied to be that he has a crush on him. Everyone urges him to go ahead and tell Nigel, but the secret turns out to be that Isaac was the one who killed Nigel by accident. Nigel does not take this revelation well.
  • In "Spies", Jay thinks he can see the ghosts now after falling through the floor at the end of the previous season. He seems to see Pete in front of him and rushes to embrace him, but it turns out he had mistaken a delivery guy for Pete, and in fact walks through the real Pete to greet him.
  • In “Whodunnit” It looks like Al Capone killed Alberta as he laced the moonshine with rat poison but it turns out that he was planning to commit suicide using the moonshine because Alberta rejected him. Theresa, Alberta’s sister, talked him out of it. Then it looks like Theresa killed her sister as she was holding the poisoned moonshine. However, it turns out that she wanted Thomas to dispose of it. Unbeknownst to her, he was heartbroken that his lover didn’t break up with Alberta, so he decided to get rid of her using the poisoned moonshine he was given.
• Beak Attack: After Jay releases an owl back into the wild, it flew back to him and it’s implied that it attacked Jay’s eye as the next scene shows him wearing an eye patch. It’s also implied that it previously attacked Jay’s hand since he’s wearing a bandage on his affected hand.
• Bears Are Bad News: Flower was killed when a bear mauled her whilst tripping on hallucinogens at a music festival.
• The Big Damn Kiss: Isaac and Nigel have one near the end of “The Christmas Spirit, Part 2”.
  • And so do Hetty and Trevor.
• Bile Fascination: In-Universe. In "Pete's Wife", Thorfinn and Sasappis get hooked on a ridiculous Reality TV show called It's Getting Hot in Here, wherein contestants are placed in a freezing room wearing concealing winter coats and the temperature is turned up until they take off their clothes. At first they just watch to make fun of it, but soon find themselves getting caught up in it, and Sasappis even gets upset when Thorfinn watches the show without him.
• Blackmail Backfire: Towards the end of "Dinner Party," Henry Farnsby agrees to fast-track the permit that is pending with the historical preservation board... so long as they give a "donation" of at least $20,000 to the board and make it out to him personally. Luckily, the ghosts overhear the Farnsbys divulging that they secretly violated their no-demo ordinance to make way for a new pickleball court when they admonished the young couple about doing the same. Sam is able to use this information to throw Henry Farnsby's attempt at soliciting a bribe back into his face.
• Bland-Name Product: The Chekhov Chill drink from "Trevor's Pants" is a thinly disguised Smirnoff Ice, but the name also lampshades that it functions as the episode's Chekhov's Gun.
• Blessed with Suck:
  • Since she was technically dead for three minutes after her staircase accident, Sam can now see and hear, as well as talk to, not only the ghosts that occupy the mansion but other ghosts in other locations.
  • Ghosts sometimes develop powers to affect the living to some varying degree or another. Some of these powers are useful or cool, others are quite disgusting.
    • When a Living walks through him, Isaac creates a noxious gas due to his dying of dysentery.
    • In a similar vein, Sam's mom, who died from a shrimp allergy, can project a foul shrimp breath onto people from her mouth.
• Brick Joke: in "Pete's Wife" After Jay uses Jurassic Park to inspire Sam to clean up the mess she makes by inviting Pete's wife to the Woodstone, Alberta can be heard muttering "clever girl" when Sam uses a speech from Pete's guidebook he wrote in the margins to get him to forgive his wife for cheating on him with his best friend.
  • in "The Vault" Hetty explains to Elias that she has learned from Sam how to voice her displeasure with her husband as part of a "Reason You Suck" Speech. Thor chimes in with an example of when Sam was furious at Jay for spending $500 on an action figure. At the end of the episode, Hetty is horrified to hear that Elias spent $5,000 on a watch.
  • In "The Owl" as Cholera Ghosts Stuart and Nancy walk into the living room, Stuart says he thinks the floor is made of pine, and Nancy tells him to know which wood it is or shut up. They had a similar conversation about the entrance floor support beam in "Farnesby and B".
• Cacophony Cover Up: Jay tenderises some meat to cover up the fact that Sam is smashing down a wall to find some vintage liquor in "The Liquor License." They do it in sync with each other with Sam hitting the wall on Alberta’s orders.
• Catching Up on History: The older ghosts are mostly unaware of such modern inventions as cars, television, and the internet. Isaac, in particular, is shocked and incensed to learn that that "little twerp" Alexander Hamilton not only became famous, but also got his own musical.
• Catfishing: This trope is played with in the main plot of "Jay's Sister" when the titular character stays over for the weekend. Recovering from a terrible breakup, Bela ends up matching with Trevor on a dating app, who uses the kitchen iPad to set up a dating profile. When Jay and Sam try to dissuade her, she initially becomes suspicious of Trevor and finds that the photo her match used is from Trevor's obituary, and her suspicion immediately falls on the living couple after tracing the profile to the kitchen iPad.
• Character Title: Some of the episode titles follow the structure of "[Character Name]'s [Noun]".^note Pete's Wife, Flower's Article, Alberta's Fan, Sam's Mom, Jay's Sister, Trevor's Pants, Alberta's Podcast, Jay's Friends, Trevor's Body, Issac's Book, Alberta's Descendent
• Chekhov's Gag: In "Weekend from Hell", When Pete thinks he's going to hell, he asks Thor for tips. He advises the "eye gouge" and "genital punch" techniques. Later, when Elias tries to literally drag Pete down to Hell, he uses those exact maneuvers to fight him off.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • The fact that when a person becomes a ghost their spectral form falls under Jacob Marley Apparel helps Isaac realize that Elias's expensive watch he has on his ghost-person must be on his body as well. That watch helps Sam and Jay recoup the lost money from the canceled wedding because of Elias's actions.
  • Lampshaded by the Chekhov Chill drink and the "chilling" hazing ritual it's used for (a Bland-Name Product of Smirnoff Ice and "icing") in flashbacks in "Trevor's Pants." Sam and Jay sell Elias's watch to one of Trevor's old work "bros" and in the process learn that said bros dumped his body rather than reveal that he died by mixing illegal drugs at a party. Sam gets Trevor's revenge by hiding a Chekhov Chill and a note from Trevor in the drawer where the drugs had been stashed for his friend to find. The man is forced to buy Sam and Jay's silence by offering double the watch's value and chugging the Chill.
  • The letter found in the secret stash of liquor, provides a lead to who killed Alberta as it referred to a person called T. During a podcast, Sam and Jay along with Tod worked out that the T in the letter could mean Alberta’s sister Theresa. Alberta then comes to a horrifying conclusion on if her own sister murdered her. However her conclusion is false because the T stands for Hetty’s son Thomas who was in secretly love with her boyfriend Earl.
• Christmas Episode: The Season 2 two-parter "The Christmas Spirit".
• Cliffhanger: Season 2 ends with a light showing that one of the ghosts was sucked off, but nobody knows who. The season 3 finale reveals it was Flower.
• Cliffhanger Copout: Discussed in the season 3 premiere following the season 2 finale revealing a ghost had been sucked off. The ghosts initially suspect that it was just a minor character like a basement ghost or Steph. However, ultimately averted: It was a main character, Flower.
• Closed Circle: All ghosts are trapped within a certain area around where they die. Each circle's exact area isn't said to be equal or if it could change over time.
  • The manor ghosts can move in the house and on the grounds but no further than the property line of the estate. "Possession" shows that any ghost that attempts to cross the property line is turned around by an invisible barrier that leads them back inside. This is how Hetty is freed from inside Jay's body; when she tries to drive to Paris, she is repelled by the barrier and knocked off Jay's body, while Jay narrowly avoids crashing into a tree.
  • Other ghosts are shown to be stuck in the local newspaper office, or to a diner.
  • A more extreme example happens to Hetty's husband, Elias. After having a vault built inside the mansion, the builder locks him in and absconds. Even after he dies, the vault happens to be constructed of material that even ghosts cannot phase through, so until the vault is reopened in the present-day, Elias spends his afterlife with just himself and his rotting corpse.
  • "The Perfect Assistant" introduces Jessica, a "car ghost" who died in a car crash and is bound to the vehicle where she died and a five-foot radius around it.
• Clue of Few Words:
  • In season 1 episode 8 "D&D, Trevor waits for Jay to go into the shower so it steams up the bathroom mirror and writes on the mirror "She lied." As this lacks any context to what Sam might have been lying about, a disturbed Jay asks, "About what?" Trevor is less than pleased at having to write more words.
  • In the second Halloween episode, Sam gets locked into the ghost-proof and air-tight secret vault. Jay remembers a previous condensation trick, fogs up the mirror and waits. Unfortunately, Trevor tries to by succinct, writing "SAM SAFE." Jay mis-interprets until Trevor changes it to "SAM in SAFE".
• Comically Small Demand:
  • When Sam finally demands a compromise from the ghosts to allow everyone to coexist in peace in the house, she asks what each of the ghosts want. The requests range from the removal of a portrait of a spouse (Hetty), to watching specific television programs, to just saying "hello."
  • The redcoat ghosts who live in the ramshackle shed on the property invade the main house and refuse to leave... unless Sam and Jay's contractor refits the door of the shed.
• Comically Lopsided Rivalry: Isaac speaks of Hamilton as a rival of his but also drops hints that Hamilton barely knew who Isaac was.
• Composite Character:
  • Whilst Trevor largely fills the role that Julian occupied in the British series, being the youngest and most morally ambiguous of the ghosts, his obsession with Sam is very similar to Thomas's obsession with Allison.
  • Thorfinn largely fills the role that Robin did, being the oldest of the ghosts and being the most puzzled with the outside world. However, his interest in Viking documentaries calls to mind the Captain's love for military documentaries. He also shares a bit of Julian’s backstory as both of them were absent fathers to their child. As a ghost, were able to “see” their child as an adult.
  • Isaac shares qualities with the Captain (both being military men who are closeted gays), with Thomas (both become jealous upon learning that a contemporary whom they loathed is famous and well-remembered while they themselves have been relegated to obscurity—Lord Byron to Thomas and Alexander Hamilton to Isaac), with Mary (both emit a strong odor when a living passes through them), and with Julian (both are mainly known for their ignoble deaths—Julian in a salacious sex scandal and Isaac by dysentery). He also shares a part of Humphrey’s backstory as both were trapped in an Arranged Marriage.
• Condensation Clue:
  • In "D&D" the ghosts realize they can have Trevor do this in the bathroom mirror to communicate with Jay while he is showering. Jay is not happy about this invasion of privacy.
  • In "Halloween 2: The Ghost of Hetty's Past," after Sam is accidentally locked in the ghost-proof (and air-tight) vault, Trevor writes on the powder-room mirror to Jay, "Sam Safe," trying to alert him. When Jay doesn't get it, Trevor adds "In" safe, and Jay realizes the danger. He gets to Sam just as she is starting to lose oxygen.
• Continuity Nod:
  • In "Halloween" the cops who come to investigate the gazebo burning down are the same ones who caught Sam and Jay setting the canoe on fire in "Viking Funeral".
  • Sam tells Sasappis about her strained relationship with her mother as seen in “Sam’s Mom”, in “Ghostwriter”.
  • While trying to give commands to Sam and Jay's Alexa in "Attic Girl", Thorfinn asks if there will be another season of It's Getting Hot in Here.
    • "Dumb Deaths" has the crew working on the titular show wear It's Getting Hot in Here production T-shirts, as they also worked on that show. Thorfinn exclaims that "We walk among gods!"
  • The events of "Possession" are brought up in "The Christmas Spirit", as Bela wants to have Trevor possess her date Eric just as Hetty possessed Jay. The fact that Trevor almost hocked up with Bela is briefly mentioned in “Ghost Father of the Bride”.
  • As Isaac and Nigel are about to kiss underneath the mistletoe in "The Christmas Spirit", Isaac puts his hand on Nigel’s face to avoid the kiss in the same manner as Alberta did to avoid being kissed by Pete in “The Liquor License”.
  • The events that involved Isaac and Nigel in “The Christmas Spirit” are mentioned again in “Trevor’s Body” as Jenkins reveals that after their failed kiss under the mistletoe, he flirted with Nigel. It turned out that Nigel flirted with him because he was disappointed that he didn’t have his kiss with Isaac.
  • Jay and Isaac mentions Freddie’s departure in “Ghosthunter”, when checking in Isabel in “Isaac’s Book”.
  • In “Isaac’s Book”, after Sam tells the truth to Isaac that the publishers declined to publish his biography, she mentions that he killed Nigel with his precursor to the sniper rifle in “D&D” and the fact that now he is dating him.
  • The events of "The Vault" are brought up in "Weekend From Hell", as Hetty’s husband Elias returns to the mortal realm.
  • Trevor mentions that the reason of his missing pants ^{Justification} he gave them to Pinkus so he wouldn't have to run back to New York City naked out in the cold in “Trevor’s Pants” was a hero move in “Alberta’s Descendant”.
  • While Hetty and Trevor are discussing their affair in “Alberta’s Descendant”, they mention their hook-up at the end of “The Christmas Spirit, Part Two”.
  • Jay mentions in “Alberta’s Descendant” the food critic getting horny, due to Elias walking through her, while eating his lamb chops in the previous episode “Weekend From Hell”.
  • In “Whodunnit”, Alberta mentions that Thorfinn was stupid enough to wear his metal helmet during a thunderstorm in “Viking Funeral”.
  • There are several call backs in the season 2 finale as it mentions David Woodstone dumping Trevor’s body in “Trevor’s Pants”, the fact that Thomas Woodstone murdered Alberta, as revealed in the previous episode, Sasappis dating Jessica in “The Perfect Assistant”, “The Family Business” and “Ghosthunter”, Sasappis stating to Isaac that washing hands prevents dysentery like one of his troops in “D&D” and Hetty having an orgasm due to a washing machine in “Alberta’s Podcast”.
  • In the season 3 premiere, Jay mentions the time that Flower made him go high in “Weekend from Hell”.
  • Towards the end of “Man of Your Dreams”, the events of “Halloween 2: The Ghost of Hetty’s Past” are mentioned as Sam brings up the fact that Halloween is right around the corner. This gives Thorfinn the idea to bring back Flower via seance.
  • The events of “The Christmas Spirit, Part 2” are mentioned in “He Sees Dead People” as Eric claims that after he was electrocuted, he can see ghosts.
  • In "The Owl," Thor threatens to burn down the barn. He mentions the time he accidentally burned down the gazebo in "Halloween."
  • The argument Pete and Carol have on whether or not doughnut holes come from the same machine as doughnuts on the day he died, is mentioned again in “Halloween 3: The Guest Who Wouldn't Leave” as Carol unexpectedly turns up at Sam and Jay’s Halloween Party.
  • The fact that Trevor’s body wash fished out of the lake and the face palming incident in “The Liquor License” were mentioned in “The Silent Partner”.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: According to Sam's research, the Woodstones who built the house were 19th-century versions of this trope. They accumulated their wealth through illicit means and they were full-on robber barons who slept on gold. Hetty concedes to the other ghosts that the latter did happen, but only once.
• Creepy Basement: The basement where the boiler is located is noted by Sam to be creepy, and that is even before she and the viewers learn that it is inhabited by the ghosts of cholera victims.
• Darkhorse Victory: The episode "Viking Funeral" has Alberta and Isaac run against each other for the title of "Ghost Representative". Isaac tries to win by enlisting the votes of the plague ghosts, only for them to vote for one of their own, leading to "Creepy Dirk" becoming the winner instead.
• Dead Guy Junior: Pete died when his daughter Laura was just a little girl. When she had a son, she named him Pete.
• Deadpan Snarker: Pretty much everyone in the cast, living and ghostly alike, is capable of being this at some time or another. Jay and Sasappis are probably the most frequent examples.
• Deal with the Devil: In "Weekend From Hell", Elias, on a brief furlough from Hell, tricks Pete into selling his soul to help his grandson (who was never in danger) just to get Hetty to sign a forgiveness declaration that would get him out of Hell.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Part of the humor of the show comes from the ghosts' very different opinions on things than would be commonly accepted in the present day.
  • For instance, Hetty believes that cocaine can still be used freely in a medicinal way (rather than its current usual use as a narcotic and occasional use as a legal anesthetic in operations on the eye and some dental surgery), and (until she is convinced otherwise) believes that women should not vote.
  • Even more recent ghosts of Trevor and Pete take things they did as livings in new cultural light. Where they once enjoyed Ghostbusters, now as ghosts themselves they see it as a horrible representation of some poor unfortunate people. As ghosts take the form of their living's final moments and that is unchanging, Alberta is horrified to consider what caused Slimer to look as he does.
  • Alberta is convinced everyone will hate her if they find out she got her professional start by Removing the Rival, having her sent to jail so she could take her place in a show. However, as Sam points out, the context changes things a lot from a modern perspective. The rival was an Alpha Bitch who was picked over Alberta solely because she was thin and conventionally beautiful, despite Alberta being way more talented. Alberta, despite working her ass off and having an amazing voice, was never given a fair shot in show business because of her size. With awareness of unfair beauty standards and discrimination based on looks being far greater in the twenty-first century, Sam correctly guesses that modern people hearing this story are much more likely to take Alberta's side, seeing her not as a cheater, but as an underdog leveling the playing field.
  • Hetty's disdain for the Irish can be Played for Laughs because they're no longer discriminated against in America. Doubly so for Thor's hatred of Danes.
  • In "Dumb Deaths", Trevor advises Isaac to avoid mentioning the Revolutionary War in front of Nigel and instead switch the conversation to something not controversial. Unfortunately, the examples he gives — The Cosby Show and Woody Allen movies — are now controversial due to their creators' sexual misconduct coming to light.
  • "Trevor's Body" reveals that Trevor themed his bar mitzvah around Mel Gibson. This was before Gibson's infamous anti-semetic rant during an arrest.
• Demonic Possession:
  • In "Possession", Jay gets shocked trying to fix a lamp fixture and falls on Hetty, who ends up inside Jay's body. Jay alternates between being himself and being controlled by Hetty, which causes confusion when a wedding planner comes to check out the house as a possible wedding venue. Isaac explains that he once unwittingly possessed a man under similar circumstances, and needed to be exorcised. The dilemma is solved once Hetty tries to escape in Jay's car and is pushed out of Jay's body by the barrier that holds the ghosts within the property.
  • In "The Christmas Spirit", Bela wants her date Eric to be possessed by Trevor, so she tries to recreate the events that led Jay to be possessed by Hetty. Sam stops them before they can carry it out, but in later trying to fix the lights again, she gets shocked and falls on Thorfinn. A second attempt to have Eric get possessed ends up briefly killing him.
• Diagonal Billing: Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar share top billing, with McIver's name lower and to the left and Ambudkar's name higher and to the right.
• Didn't Think This Through: In "Halloween", when Jay and Samantha learn that it was Thorfinn who accidentally burned down the gazebo, though the ghosts blamed the local kids who egg the house, Jay and Samantha decide to punish the all of the ghosts by denying them TV, to their initial despair. Samantha then realizes that this isn't exactly working out as without the TV to occupy them, the ghosts all focus on watching her and Jay while the two are relaxing on the couch.
• The Diva: Alberta, who is convinced that she was murdered rather than accept that she died of something so mundane as a simple heart attack. Justified, as it turns out she was right.
• Doom It Yourself: Jay tries to do some repairs but his skill is lacking. The basement ghosts comment on his inability to repair the hot water heater.
  Basement Ghost: God I know we're dead but he's trying to kill us.
• Double Take: Sasappis gives one in "Halloween." He digs himself deeper while trying to insist that he did have sex and was married to a woman and sex occurred forty-three times between them, when Thorfinn affirms his story because he, Thor, was watching said sexual intercourse. Sasappis thanks him before going, "Wait, what?"
• Dragged Off to Hell:
  • In "The Vault" it is revealed if a ghost is vile enough and unrepentant to ever changing, then it is quite possible for a red portal to open beneath them and take them, presumably, to Hell. Prior to this episode, no ghost at the Manor had witnessed it or known it could happen.
  • In "Weekend From Hell", Elias tries to drag Pete along with him when he has to return to Hell.
• Dramatic Gasp:
  • Isaac in "Flower's Article" when Flower confesses that she stole the money from her commune's bank robbery. He notes that he's the only one gasping.
    Isaac: Oh, no one else is gasping? Well, I guess if you don't gasp at that, you're simply not a gasper.
  • The gag is repeated in "Trevor's Pants" when Sasappis reveals that Trevor's "bros" hid his body instead of calling for help. Isaac gasps twice in a row to try and get the others to join in.
    Isaac: Oh, come on, that was gaspworthy! There's something wrong with you people.
  • In "Alberta's Podcast", Sam gasps at the revelation that Alberta ratted out the club headliner Clara to the police so she could take her place. Isaac later enters and comments that he sensed a good gasp somewhere. Later, as the ghosts discover that Clara was at the house the night Alberta died, thus making her the chief suspect in her murder, they all gasp, with Isaac complementing them on a good gasping.
• Dramatic Irony: In “The Silent Partner” Thorfinn mentions that it’s sad that Flower had moved on. However the ending of the last episode reveals that she is actually stuck in a well.
• Driven to Suicide: In "Holes are Bad," after Elias' disappearance, Hetty was facing the consequences of their repeated law-breaking in the businesses. With no one to turn to, she used the cord of the newly installed telephone to take her own life; she thought that her son Thomas would have a better life inheriting the family money and house, which would have been seized as penalty.
• Dying Declaration of Love: In "Viking Funeral" when it appears Thorfinn is about to be "sucked off" Flower runs up to him and confesses her love for him. After it is revealed to be a police car's searchlight, Flower says it was the heat of the moment and they agree to return to being friends.
• Electromagnetic Ghosts: Thorfinn was struck by lightning, so he can make the lights flicker.
• Even the Guys Want Him: The first time Jay sees a picture of Trevor, he is stunned by how good looking he is/was. He describes Trevor's jawline and cheekbones in admiring detail. Granted, this is because he's angry and shocked that the ghost who's been hitting on his wife is so attractive, but Trevor is still flattered by the compliments.
• Everyone Has Standards: Thorfin, Hetty, and Trevor have all had their moral shortcomings, but Elias is too much for them.
  Thorfinn: This guy’s evil, and I used to pillage for a living.
  • Alberta's reaction to Elias flirting with her: "Mmm-mmm, ain't happening" with a sneer on her face. As much as she and Hetty may argue, she's not doing that to her friend.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: In Halloween 2, as Hetty is giving Sam the idea to perform a seance to liven up the party, she mentions that she did it with some friends while she was alive. She then goes on to say that it worked and the lights flickered, and the smell of death pervaded the room... before realizing it was just Thor and Isaac messing with her.
• Extremely Short Intro Sequence: The opening is only several seconds long, a contrast to the rather longer British version.
• Fake Relationship: In "Sam's Mom", Pete ends up claiming that he has a girlfriend from the cholera pit, even though he actually doesn't have a girlfriend at all. He thus gets one of the basement ghosts (a woman named Nancy) to pose as his girlfriend to keep up the ruse.
• Fantastic Racism: The ghosts take offense to terms like "ghosted" because they think it puts ghost-kind in a bad light. They also find movies like Ghostbusters horrifying because they don't like being presented as being evil beings that wish humanity harm.
• "Fawlty Towers" Plot: Sam has to continuously lie to other living people that she cannot see ghosts. Obviously, the lies get more extravagant and the plot gets more convoluted when it could be solved by Sam just owning up about her power. Justified by the fact that admitting to seeing ghosts is something that would get her written off as crazy at best.
• Fishing for Sole: In Trevor's Body, the plot is kicked off when, as part of an enhanced experience at the B&B, Jay and two guests go fishing and catch Trevor's skull.
• Flashback: A number of episodes have flashbacks, mainly to show the various ghost's key moments in life, or to show how they died.
• Foreign Queasine: In "A Date to Remember", Jay cooks a traditional Viking dinner for Thorfinn and Flower to smell on their date. One of the dishes is ram testicles. When Thorfinn has trouble describing what they tasted like, Sam asks Jay to eat them and describe the taste. He does not enjoy it.
• Foreshadowing: The intro contains various objects that reference a future episode plot for each of the main ghosts.
  • Season 1: A scout guidebook^note Pete's personal one from "Pete's Wife", an old portrait of a man^note Hetty's husband Elias who appeared in "The Vault", a spyglass^note In "D&D", Isaac attached one to a rifle to make a sniper scope but for the purpose of gazing at Nigel from afar until he sneezed, pull the trigger and accidently murder him, a feather^note The one in Sasappis' hair which was brought attention to in "Ghostwriter", a money clip^note What Trevor gave to a newbie intern in "Trevor's Pants" alongside the titular pants (and boxer shorts) so he can catch a taxi and avoid running to the city in only a t-shirt during a cruel hazing ritual, a daisy^note References Flower's old nickname her boyfriend gave in "Flower's Article" who then founded Daisy's Coffee from the money they stole in her honor, a Viking helmet^note Specifically a metal one that caused Thorfinn's death via lightning strike in "Viking Funeral", a moonshine bottle^note The cause of Alberta's death when someone poisoned it as revealed in "Alberta's Fan"
  • Season 2: A fishing rod^note In "Trevor's Body", the plot begins with Trevor's skull being fished out of a lake, a picture of a tree^note In "The Tree", Sasappis carved the number of times Shiki talk to him in the aforementioned tree and was adamant of letting the neighbours cutting it down, a plate of donut holes^note The reason behind why Pete was distracted the day of his death in "Dumb Deaths" from the argument he had with his wife over eating the last of them and then whether they were punch out from donuts or made separately, a miniature stagecoach ^note In "The Liquor License" Benjamin Franklin only invited Isaac to the Masonic loge because he wanted him to do various tasks using his carriage, a bottle of laundry detergent^note Hetty uses the mansion's broken washing machine for self gratification, a dagger ^note Thorfinn gave his son Bjorn a dagger that belonged to his father before he left him for the new world in "The Baby Bjorn", a condenser microphone ^note Alberta is seen singing into one in the opening of "Alberta’s Podcast" and a teddy bear^note "Dumb Deaths" opens with Flower’s death when she tried to hug a bear.
  • Season 3: A basketball^note Jay dreams of playing basketball in "The Man of My Dreams", a taxidermied owl^note Thorfinn thinks Flower became an owl in "The Owl", an old portrait of a woman^note It's a portrait of Hetty, shown on "He Sees Dead People", a butterfly^note "Holes Are Bad" reveals that Flower fell down a well chasing after one, a book on "Poltergeists and Apparitions"^note referencing Saul the poltergeist in "The Poulterguest", a toy dinosaur^note Isaac becomes obsessed with them starting in "Hello, Brother", a "Woodstone Rewards Program" brochure stand^note used by Trevor's brother in "Hello, Brother" and a bowl of gold-wrapped toffee.
• Funny Background Event: When Samantha and Jay call the police after their gazebo burns down in "Halloween", as the officers ask if they have seen anything unusual, Crash the headless greaser walks by in the background.
• Gasshole: Isaac died of dysentery, so he can manifest himself as a strong odor. This will happen when a living walks through him.
• Geas: Apparently, any ghost who tries to discuss details about What Is Next should they somehow return from it will melt, although describing it in vague details like "perfect" is acceptable.
• Gender Flip: Pete died teaching archery to a group of girl scouts. In the UK version, the scouts were boys.
• Genre Savvy: When the maid shows up through a seance, Jay bases the solution on the plot of the movie Big.
• The Gilded Age:
  • The flashbacks in “He Sees Dead People” are set in 1875.
  • The flashbacks in “Holes Are Bad” are set in 1895, the year Hetty died.
• Go into the Light:
  • Played straight in the series opener when Sophie Woodstone immediately ascends to little fanfare and when Sam's mom makes peace with her daughter.
  • Subverted with Thorfinn. After Thorfinn's funeral, a bright light goes over him and he assumes he is about to get "sucked off" into the afterlife. The light then turns out to be from a police car parked right beside the funeral.
• A Good, Old-Fashioned Paint Watching: The ghosts are doing this at the start of "Viking Funeral". They decide that watching Sam and Jay would be more interesting to watch. Once Jay and Samantha finish their discussion, the ghosts return to paint watching.
• Halloween Episode:
  • "Halloween" (Season 1) takes place over, yes, Halloween, which the ghosts do not enjoy (since they see it as mocking their existence and they can't do the fun stuff that the living do on the holiday). The main plot is about everyone dealing with some troublesome children who try to mess up the mansion on that day.
  • "Halloween 2: The Ghost of Hetty's Past" (Season 2) has the gang trying to liven up Jay's Halloween party by holding a séance, which brings back Hetty's former maid Molly, who in life had a sexual relationship with Hetty's husband Elias.
  • "Halloween 3: The Guest Who Wouldn't Leave" (Season 3) has Sam and Jay try to throw another Halloween party to impress some old friends, which is complicated by the ghosts wanting to hold another seance to bring back Flower. Things get even more complicated when Pete's widow Carol is invited by mistake, and then dies and becomes a ghost. Things get further complicated when two of Sam and Jay's friends, Sasha and Nico, believe that the couple killed Carol and want to kill them because they know too much.
• Heh Heh, You Said "X": The ghosts discuss the concept of moving on to the afterlife as being "sucked off." Trevor is the only ghost who seems to understand the dirty meaning of the phrase and snickers every time it is spoken. ^note Pete might know what it means, as he rolls his eyes on one occasion. Though he may just be reacting to Trevor's giggling.He urges Sam not to explain the joke to the others since their ignorance is one of his few pleasures as a ghost.
  • Relatedly, when Elias is banished to hell by Hetty, Alberta later describes what happened by saying "he went down on us!" Sam once again seems concerned, and Trevor cuts in with "hey, if that's what she wants to call it..."
• Hippie Name: The resident hippie ghost is named "Flower".
• Historical Domain Character:
  • Benjamin Franklin is featured in the flashbacks of “The Liquor License” and in Isaac’s nightmare in “The Christmas Spirit, Part Two”.
  • Al Capone is featured in the flashbacks of “Whodunnit”.
• Historical In-Joke:
  • After Isaac demonstrates his invention to his troops, he instructs them not to shoot at the enemy until you see the green of his eyes, before correcting to their. It’s a play on Colonel Prescott’s alleged order, “Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes,” at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
  • Isaac states that Benjamin Franklin frequently electrocuted himself to get attention. It’s probably a reference to his famous kite flying experiment during a thunderstorm.
• History with Celebrity:
  • As they discuss the vault, Trevor mentions the time Geraldo Rivera opened up Al Capone's vault; Alberta mentions that Capone was "clingy."
  • Alexander Hamilton is frequently mentioned, due to Isaac’s hatred of him. He states that Hamilton pretended that he didn’t know him at a party and then got his name wrong several times over the years.
  • Isaac had an acquaintance with Benjamin Franklin as he invited him to a Masonic loge only because he wanted him to transport a desk to John Jay and give other Freemason a ride back their home, using his carriage. He also appears in Isaac's dream, paying a visit and agreeing with Beatrice calling him a "big gay liar".
• I Resemble That Remark!:
  • When discussing Sam's ancestors while checking out the mansion, Jay and Sam mention that Hetty and her husband were Robber Barons who made their money off indentured servants and shady business deals. When accused of sleeping on a bed of gold, Hetty gives an annoyed huff and says she only did it once... then smiles wistfully at the memory.
  • When her maid insults her, Hetty takes it as attempted flattery.
• I See Dead People:
  • After her accident, Samantha is able to see and hear the ghosts. At first Jay convinces her that she's just hallucinating them due to a concussion, but then she goes to the doctor and he tells her that people who go through a Near-Death Experience are often able to see ghosts. Samantha only believes him when he turns out to be a ghost.
  • It appears that Sam was able to see ghosts just before her Near-Death Experience. At the bottom of the stairs Sam sees Jay next to her. At the same time in the background near the top of the stairs both Pete and Trevor can clearly be seen just before Sam passes out.
  • This also applies to any ghosts who possess Sam. Normally, ghosts who possess living people can't see other ghosts, but Thorfinn has no problem seeing other ghosts when he's inside Sam.
  • "Alberta's Fan" demonstrates that young children can occasionally see ghosts as well, although they eventually lose that ability when they grow older. Hetty realizes that she used to fall asleep to Thorfinn's lullabies when she was growing up in the mansion as a young girl.
  • Jay's sister Bela's boyfriend, Eric, fakes that he can see the ghosts after being electrocuted during Christmas; Turns out he is lying to keep the spark alive with Bela (pun intended).
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In "Ghost Hunter", Sasappis convinces Sam and Jay to buy Freddie's old car so he and Jessica, the ghost bonded to the car, can be together. Jessica, however, misses the open road, so Sasappis decides to forsake his own relationship with her so she can be happy and convinces Sam to resell the car.
• I Wished You Were Dead: Hetty tells her husband "You can go to Hell!"—right before he does, which leads Hetty to think that might be her power. She immediately tries it on Trevor—but fortunately it turns out not to be. Though it does make the other ghosts more wary around her for a while.
• Incredibly Lame Fun: Pete actually enjoys watching the paint dry. He also tries to count how many Star Trek characters he knows.
• Innocent Innuendo:
  • In "Viking Funeral," Hetty mentions that having the funeral might allow Thorfinn to complete his Earthly visit and go to heaven, which she describes as getting "sucked off." Sam, who tries to correct her to "moving on," gets stopped by Trevor, who tells her, "Please don't, it's one of the only pleasures I still have."
  • Becomes a Running Gag in "The Vault", when Elias's plummet into Hell rouses an immediate cry of "He just went down on us!" from Alberta. This new expression is adopted by the others, to Trevor's further amusement.
• Intangibility: Just like in the original British series, ghosts can pass through most solid objects (except that they can stand up, sit down, or lie on the floor or the furniture, and they cannot pass through whatever the secret vault is made of). However, passing through living people and creatures is very uncomfortable and painful for them. They're also not intangible to each other, being capable of physical altercations or even having sex with one another. The exception (so far) is the metal that Elias had made into the vault. Once discovered, the ghosts can't phase into it, and Elias was trapped within, with his rotting corpse. The confusing mechanics of this does get lampshaded.
  Sam: Why does that happen?
  Trevor: We don't know, Sam. Why do we go through the walls but not fall through the floor? It's not like we got a manual.
  Pete: Ugh, would love a death manual.
• Invisibility: The Ghosts can only be seen by Sam, and occasionally, by young children. There are some minor inconsistancies, such as having their images reflected by mirrors and glass door panels. They also cast shadows when walking in front of a room light or outside in the sun. The budget probably doesn't allow for these anomalies to be digitally removed, but as most viewers won't notice, it's probably not worth the effort.
• The Internet Is for Porn: When Pete asks what the internet is, Trevor responds that it's "an invention used to look up stock prices and porn."
• It Runs in the Family: Despite being several generations removed, Sheryl inherited much of Hetty’s judgmental streak, and her cousin David inherited Elias’s immorality and penchant for drugs and debauchery.
• Ivy League for Everyone: Isaac attended Dartmouth College and Trevor attended The University of Pennsylvania.
• Jacob Marley Apparel: The ghosts all wear the clothes that they died in, or in Trevor's case lack thereof. This extends to any injuries they had at the time of death, such as Pete's arrow in his neck and the bear claw marks on Flower's back shoulder. It also appears to extend to the latter's drug-induced impairment.
• Kids Play Matchmaker: In "Trevor's Body", Trevor learns that his parents divorced after he died. Feeling responsible, he has Sam get them back together and succeeds in getting them to have sex; but in the end, the two were never compatible and agree to part ways again, though they do acknowledge that they don't blame Trevor for the divorce.
• Late to the Realization: In "Halloween 3: The Guest Who Wouldn't Leave", it takes a long while for Carol to realize that she died and became a ghost. Likewise, Sam also doesn't realize that Carol is a ghost and talks with her without realizing that the other guests are seeing her seemingly talking to no one.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • In "He Sees Dead People," when Eric uses a fake French accent as "Jean-Clause," Sam remarks, "That accent, how would anybody believe that?"
  • In "The Owl," once it's confirmed that Flower is the ghost who ascended, Jay remarks "Wow! One of the main eight."
• Lighter and Softer: This series focuses significantly less than the original on the ghosts’ tragic lives and horrifying deaths. Also, Sam shows far less emotional strain from the demands of dealing with the ghosts than Alison does and has had much better luck in her hotel-running dreams.
• Locked in a Freezer: Hetty's husband commissioned a secret vault to be built in the mansion, ostensibly to hide more of his wealth. But when it was completed, the builder conned him and locked him in the vault. Elias eventually died in there, but even his ghost couldn't escape the vault until it is reopened in the present-day.
• LOL, 69: In "Family Business", Sam and Jay figure out that it was Trevor who changed the room capacity on the R&B website because he changed it from four to sixty-nine.
  Jay: Trevor, dude! You knew that would track back to you.
• Loony Fan: In "Alberta's Fan", a jazz historian visits Woodstone to do some research on Alberta. He seems normal at first, but then he smells Alberta's clothes multiple times and shows everyone the toenail clipping he bought online. Then he reveals the Alberta tattoo he has on his back.
• Lower Half Reveal: Although the audience knows Trevor is pantless as soon as he comes on screen, Sam initially sees him when he's standing behind a couch, meaning it's quite a shock to her when she finds he's missing his pants. In the episode "Trevor's Pants," the cold open shows Trevor from the waist-up, then the camera pans down to reveal that he's wearing pants after all.
• Magic Feather: In "Ghostwriter", Sasappis tells Sam how he was assigned to be his tribe's storyteller for the spring ritual, but was too nervous. His father gave him an eagle feather to give him courage. Unfortunately, he died before he could fulfill his duties. He then gives the feather to Sam so it can help her make the website for the bed-and-breakfast. However, since it's a ghost feather, it just rematerializes back on his hair; he assures Sam that it's still symbolically hers.
• Maintain the Lie: In "Isaac's Book", Sam can't bring herself to tell Isaac that her book on his life was rejected by the publisher, so she tells him that it was accepted. She and Jay think it's harmless, since only the ghosts know, but then Trevor posts it on her Facebook page, and Sam has to keep up the illusion. When an old classmate of Sam's whose cousin works at the publisher comes to the mansion, she is unable to keep up the lies and confesses.
• Manipulative Bastard: Jenkins manages to briefly end Isaac and Nigel’s relationship in “Farnsby & B”. He manages to do it again indirectly in “Trevor’s Body”, when Pete tells Isaac Jenkins’ confession about his affair with Nigel on Christmas. Fortunately, Nigel and Isaac make up on both occasions.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!":
  • In "Pete's Wife", said wife is invited to the mansion, having remarried Pete's old best friend and announces she has a secret that she wants to finally get off her chest. Sam, Jay, and all the ghosts except Pete pick up on the implication and ask her to keep it to herself to spare his feelings.
  • In "Alberta's Fan", said fan is found on the floor suffering from a severe case of food poisoning, and everyone freaks out at the prospect of him dying and possibly coming back as another ghost they would all be stuck with for eternity.
• Mattress-Tag Gag: When Pete talks about how much of a bad boy he is, he says he once tore the tag off a mattress.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Thor is a Viking who was stuck by lightning and is now able to mess with electronics as a ghost.
  • Susan (Flower’s real name) is Hebrew for Lily, another type of flower.
  • Henrietta (Hetty) means home ruler. A fitting name for the matriarch of Woostone Manor.
• Montages:
  • “The Heir” ends with one using footage from previous episodes as Sam reflects on how she considers the ghosts as her family, despite the fact that they can be demanding and childish.
  • “The Owl” has a series of one during Flower’s memorial service, as the ghosts and Sam reflect on their memories of her.
• Medical Horror: Sam cannot go to the local Starbucks as it is built on the site of a former hospital for the criminally insane and is beyond terrifying for her.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Thorfinn died from being struck by lightning, which fans have long speculated is what happened to Robin in the original series.
  • There were indications that Alberta’s sister poisoned her. Fans have long speculated that Kitty was poisoned by her sister in the original series.
• New-Age Retro Hippie: Flower is a 1960s style hippie, complete with her having used hallucinogens.
• No Honor Among Thieves: Members of Flower's commune robbed a bank intending to use the money for a good cause. However, they could not agree what to use the money for and after many fruitless discussions, Flower's boyfriend talked her into taking the money and leaving the commune. After Flower's death he used the money to start a coffee business that did use the money for many good deeds.
• "No. Just… No" Reaction: Prior to accepting there are ghosts in the house, Jay passes by his laptop with Trevor trying to type on the keyboard. When a letter is typed over and over again, Jay starts shaking his head and walking away.
  • Played very straight when Jay, trying to fix up the mansion, accidentally makes a giant hole in the wall between Flower's and Hetty's rooms. Flower eagerly begins chatting with Hetty, to which Hetty replies, "...you know what, no. No, no, no..." and walks away.
• Not Himself: Jay in "Possession" is possessed by Hetty, causing him to act strangely just as a wedding planner comes to inspect the house and try Jay's menu for the reception.
• Not-So-Imaginary Friend: Sometimes children can see ghosts. Adults tend to dismiss this as the child having an imaginary friend.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: In "Dinner Party," Sam and Jay have to contend with obnoxious neighbors (the Farnsbys) who pop by to say hello. After the two commit a social faux pas, the Farnsbys give an unsubtle hint that they will delay a permit from the local historic preservation board (which Henry Farnsby just happens to the head of) to turn the house into a B&B hotel by enforcing an obscure ordinance that they themselves passed. The main plot of the episode centers on Sam and Jay organizing the titular dinner party in order to woo the Farnsbys into fast-tracking their permit. It seems to go well... until the Farnsbys try to blackmail Sam and Jay into paying them $20,000 in exchange for passing their permit. Sam and Jay turn this right back at the Farnsbys after the ghosts inform Sam that the neighbors illegally tore down the mansion's carriage house to build a pickle ball court, turning the ordinances against Farnsbys.
• Old-Timey Ankle Taboo: The opening of “He Sees Dead People” shows Hetty’s father is outraged when he finds out that she had her portrait taken with her showing an ankle. However Hetty protests saying that it’s only art.
• Only Sane Man:
  • Sasappis is the only ghost who doesn’t have any extreme personality quirks (his extreme obsession with pepperoni pizza aside).
  • Flower was this in her commune, during the rare moments when she wasn’t high.
• Otherworldly Communication Failure: Played for Laughs.
  • In the episode "D&D" the ghosts are upset that Sam lied to Jay about them not enjoying their game of Dungeons & Dragons. Trevor, the only ghost that can move objects and therefore somewhat interact with humans, writes "she lied" in the steam in the mirror while Jay is in the shower. But, when Jay sees it, he just says "About what?" much to Trevor's frustration.
  • In the stinger of the episode "D&D" Sasappis has Trevor write to Jay, "Make Pizza." Given the strain it is to write so much, Trevor notes he isn't going to try and write "pepperoni" on the mirror as well. And Jay is stating this is not cool and really creepy now.
  • A third instance happens in "Halloween 2: The Ghost of Hetty's Past" where Trevor tries to tell Jay that Sam is trapped in the ghost-proof safe, except he chooses to write "Sam safe" instead of "Sam vault" because he was trying to be succinct. Jay almost walks away thinking nothing is wrong until Trevor corrects the message to "Sam in safe."
  • A flashback had Hetty's son asking his deceased mother if he should marry his girlfriend. Hetty wanted to tell him not to, and Thorfin tried to help by making the lights flicker, which Thomas took as a sign to marry her.
• Pants-Free: Trevor died naked from the waist down. His shirt covers his genitals most of the time... unless he raises his arms, to the horror of the others.
• Poltergeist: Trevor is the only one of the ghosts who can move objects, although it takes all his concentration just to barely nudge them.
• Polyamory: Flower has been in at least two polyamorous relationships — one while in the cult and another while in a commune. Perhaps Thor, who has mentioned orgies being a part of Viking celebrations.
• Pooled Funds: When a vault is discovered under Woodstone, Jay talks about diving into gold coins like Scrooge McDuck.
• Previously on…: Used early on to recap the previous events.
• Real After All:
  • In "Halloween 2: The Ghost of Hetty's Past", Jay and Sam have a fake seance to liven up their Halloween party. Even the ghosts think it's hokey, so they are shocked when it acutally works and brings back a spirit (Molly, Hetty's former maid) from the Great Beyond.
  • In "Ghost Hunter", Freddie buys a ghost trap from Latvia, which Sam and Jay dismiss as some sort of toy. The ghosts are wary of it, and their fears are realized when Thorfinn and Flower are sucked into the device upon touching it.
• Red Herring: In "Whodunnit", several clues point to Alberta's sister Theresa as the one who killed her with tainted liquor, especially a note that came with the bottle signed with the initial T. For a while, suspicion shifts to none other than Al Capone, who was spurned by Alberta and was seen poisoning the bottle by the basement ghosts, but later it turned out that Capone planned to use the bottle on himself to commit suicide, but was stopped by Theresa, putting them back to square one. Then Hetty confesses that she knew the real killer — her son Thomas, who was in love with Alberta's boyfriend Earl and decided to kill her out of spite.
• Reverse Psychology: Upon learning the ghosts would have to share rooms in "Thorrapy", Sasappis tricks Trevor into bunking with Thorfinn this way, knowing fully well the Viking has violent night terrors.
  Sasappis: [After Sam suggests he moved in with Thorfinn] "And I'll be the first to say that I do want that very badly. I mean who doesn't want a room with Thor? You know he's got the biggest room and more importantly that TV—"
  Trevor: "I call it! I'm rooming with Thor."
  Sasappis: "Darn it."
  [One restless night later]
  Trevor: [Barges into the kitchen] "I know that I'm already dead but, kill me."
  Sasappis: [Chipperly walks in] "Gooood morning! Man that coffee smells delicious."
  Trevor: "Wait a minute. You never wanted to room with Thor in the first place did you? You trick me, you knew about the nightmares!"
• The Roaring '20s: The flashbacks in “Alberta’s Podcast” and “Whodunnit” is set at the height of the Harlem Renaissance.
• RPG Episode: In "D&D", Samantha and the other ghosts gets roped into a game of Dungeons & Dragons by Jay. Samantha doesn't enjoy it however and lies about the ghosts not enjoying it to get out of playing it, much to the ghosts' displeasure. It eventually becomes important in solving an argument between Isaac and fellow Revolutionary War ghost Nigel.
• Running Gag:
  • Sam talking to one or more of the ghosts and realizing that another living person is in the room and overheard her, forcing her to awkwardly revise her statement after the fact.
  • Isaac being the only one to gasp whenever something dramatic happens.
  • Flower mentioning the time she robbed a bank and asking if she's ever brought that up.
  • Trevor's very poor track record when it comes to picking stocks or just making recommendations in general. He either tells of a business he invested in during his life and is ignorant to the fact it has deflated in value, or not investing in a stock and now it is extremely profitable.
• Scout-Out: Pete was a member of a group called the Pinecone Troopers.
• Secret-Keeper: Because of how ridiculous it sounds, Sam and Jay are reluctant let anyone else know about Sam's ability to see and interact with ghosts. Bela, Jay's sister, becomes the first other Living apart from the couple to learn of their existence and Sam's ability to interact with them.
  • The assistant they hire, Freddie, sees the laptop keys moving by themselves (really Trevor typing on them) and quits because he tells Sam and Jay he doesn't want to work in a haunted house.
• Sense Freak: When Hetty is stuck inside Jay's body, she indulges in food and becomes infatuated with Cheetos.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Although Jay can't see him, he and Trevor have this dynamic. Trevor often points out Jay's more sensitive traits and how disappointing he is to his '90s Alpha male sensibilities.
  • Trevor and Pete couldn't be more different. Pete is the sensitive family man who believes 'the friend zone' is just a way to make friends, and Trevor is a manly horndog.
• Sexy Whatever Outfit: When Trevor talks about Halloween, he mentions a woman dressed up as a sexy version of Bobby Boucher from The Waterboy.
• Shout-Out:
  • Sam calls Hetty "Downton Abbey" and Trevor "Wolf of Wall Street" when she is listening to their demands in "Hello!".
  • Pete's Newhart fandom (and Sam's ignorance of the show) becomes a plot point in "Dinner Party".
  • In "The Vault," when Sam, Jay and the ghosts find the secret vault that Hetty's husband built, Jay says that if it's full of gold coins, he's going to do a "Scrooge McDuck".
  • In "Halloween 2: The Ghost of Hetty's Past", Jay compares having a "reverse séance" to send back the spirit of Hetty's maid Molly to the plot of Big. He even compares the old feather duster needed for the séance to work to the Zoltar machine from the movie.
  • Sam tells Jay to “use the force” when encouraging him after he can’t remember what he cooked while high, due to walking into Flower, in “Weekend From Hell”.
  • In "Pete's Wife" Jay compares inviting Pete's living wife to the Woodstone to time travel movies, citing rules such as not interacting with anyone and not sleeping with one's mom.
    • Later in the same episode Jay convines Sam to fix the mess she had made by ignoring his previous advice by citing Jurassic Park.
• Spooky Séance: Sam and Jay hold a séance for their Halloween party in "Halloween 2: The Ghost of Hetty's Past", hoping the ghosts will use their powers to make it interesting. The séance ends up working, however, summoning the ghost of Molly, the maid who cheated with Hetty's husband.
• Staircase Tumble: Sam gained the ability to see the other ghosts by tripping over a vase moved by Trevor and tumbling down the stairs.
• Stalker with a Crush: "Alberta's Fan" has a historian visit Sam and Jay in hopes of learning more about Alberta and solving her 'murder'. Alberta is thrilled at first until it becomes clear that he's less a historian and more creepy loser with an obsessive crush, to the extent of having a huge tattoo of her face on his back and keeping one of her toenails in hopes of some day cloning her so they could be together. When he returns in "Alberta's Podcast", he shows Sam a computer-generated photo of their child.
• Stalker without a Crush: Because the ghosts pass the time by observing the livings, they routinely observe Jay and Sam if they are eating or having a disagreement for the entertainment. They also inform Sam of Jay eating all of her Oreos, including one that fell on the floor.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Sassapis and Jessica. After Freddie sells his car, Sam and Jay buy it back so Sass can still be with Jessica. However, since they already have a better car, the car that Jessica is bound to is mostly just going to sit in the yard. Since Sass can't ask her to be okay with being trapped in a 5-foot radius in the yard and she can't ask him to hang out with her in the yard for hours and miss stuff happening in the mansion, they decide to end their relationship and have Jay resell the car.
• Start My Own: In "A Date to Remember", Hetty is slighted that Nigel asked Nancy the basement ghost to his tea party before her, so she decides to throw a rival party and invite all the other ghosts, leaving Nigel with no one except Isaac at his party.
• Stealing from Thieves: Flower and her fellow hippies robbed a bank, but they were too disorganized to put the money to any kind of use, so Flower and her boyfriend stole it from them.
• Stranded Invader: Thorfinn was a Proud Warrior Race Guy who is always talking about how much he enjoyed massacring people (especially the Danish). He was part of a Viking expedition to North America, when his friends left without him, leaving him to wander the Hudson Valley alone until he was struck by lightning.
• String Theory: Jay sets up a "murder board" in "Whodunnit" to figure out who killed Alberta. He mentions having trouble finding red string for the board.
• Suicide as Comedy: Averted. Although the series usually doesn't shy away from using the main casts' deaths as comedic fodder, both the reveal and subsequent topic of Hetty's suicide are portrayed in a completely solemn tone. The episode where it's revealed even concludes with an end card providing the number of the suicide prevention hotline.
• Superpower Lottery: Several of the ghosts have unique supernatural abilities, seemingly related to their personalities or their manner of death. Whether these powers are useful (Trevor's poltergeist finger), disgusting (Isaac's stench), or potentially disastrous ( Elias's horniness-induction) varies widely.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: In "The Perfect Assistant", Sam and Jay hire an assistant named Freddie. Across three episodes, nothing goes right for the poor guy, to the point that he gets fired one time and is driven to quit another time over stuff he didn't even do. By the end of "Ghost Hunter", where he becomes convinced Woodstone actually is haunted, he quits for good.
• Take That!: In "Weekend From Hell", Elias mentions that one of the tortures inflicted in Hell is having Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping" playing on a loop.
• The Thing That Would Not Leave: The title of the season 3 Halloween Episode is "Halloween 3: The Guest Who Wouldn't Leave". Said guest is Pete's widow Carol, who dies and becomes the latest ghost in the mansion.
• This Is Unforgivable!: In "Whodunnit", Hetty confesses that she knew all along that her son Thomas was the one who killed Alberta. Alberta feels betrayed that Hetty, who had been like a sister to her, kept that information to herself for nearly a century, especially since she briefly believed that her own sister Theresa had murdered her.
• Throat-Slitting Gesture: Sam calls on one of the kids who prank the house every Halloween, and his mother takes him to apologize. But as soon as the mother's back is turned, the kid does the slashing gesture to indicate that payback is coming.
• Too Dumb to Live:
  • Some of the ghosts died by less than intelligent means.
    • Both Flower and Pete died in ways that were so stupid that a TV show called "Dumb Deaths" wanted to do an episode about them. Flower got so high, she tried to hug a bear. Pete gave dangerous weapons to children then stood in front of them. If that wasn't stupid enough, it was later revealed that the reason he didn't give the safety lecture before handing out the arrows was because he was preoccupied with a dumb fight he had with his wife about donut holes.
    • Isaac ignored a subordinate's warnings about the dangers of dysentery. Later, when he finds out how Alexander Hamilton died, he takes great pleasure in believing his old Sitcom Arch-Nemesis was this trope.
    • Elias commissioned a secret vault, then he not only refused to pay the man who built it, he slept with the man's wife. As a result, he got locked inside his own vault and suffocated.
    • Trevor mixed a bunch of unlabeled drugs.
    • Jessica drove drunk.
    • Stephanie stayed to make out in the car with her prom date even after hearing a radio bulletin about an escaped chainsaw killer in the area.
    • Alberta drank moonshine left by a stranger. When Thorfin pointed this out, Alberta replied that he wore a metal helmet in a lightning storm.
      Alberta: We all got here somehow.
  • David Woodstone accidentally sterilized himself in 1993 by dunking his balls in a pot of scalding hot coffee on a dare.
• To Make a Long Story Short:
  • After Stephanie wakes up from her long slumber since her last appearance in “Attic Girl”, she asks the other ghosts what did she miss since she was last awake. They tell her some of the events of “Alberta’s Podcast”, “Weekend From Hell”, “The Christmas Spirit”, “Trevor’s Body” and “The Baby Bjorn“ in a few short words.
  • When Bela asked what did the ghosts get up to since she last say Jay, he informs her by explaining the events of “Man of Your Dreams”, “The Heir” and “The Owl”. Alberta gets annoyed that he didn’t even mention her day in the limelight episode “Whodunnit”.
• Too Much Information: Jay develops an interest in whether or not ghosts can have sex. Sasappis is eager to share, but Sam runs out of the room before he can reveal too much, to Jay's disappointment.
• Turn of the Millennium: The flashbacks of “Trevor’s Pants” are set in November 2000; the night where Trevor and his buddies went to party at Woodstone Manor. Later on, Trevor passes away.
• Unexpected Inheritance: Sam inherits the house from her great-aunt Sophie, whom she has only met once before, because she is the closest next-of-kin. Sophie's own son predeceased her.
• Unknown Rival: Isaac was insanely jealous of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton barely remembered meeting him.
• Unusual Euphemism: The ghosts refer to being whisked away to heaven as getting "sucked off" while someone sent to the other place is said to have "gone/went down on" the group. Sam finds this awkward, while Trevor begs her not to correct anyone because snickering at the other ghosts' ignorance of the double meanings is one of the few things bringing him joy in the afterlife.
• Van Helsing Hate Crime: Invoked in the episode "Halloween" after Trevor, Pete and Alberta watch Ghostbusters on TV and become uncomfortable with how the ghosts in the movie are treated.
• The Viking Age: The flashbacks in "Viking Funeral" and "The Baby Bjorn" are set in this era.
• Viking Funeral: This is what Thorfinn wanted to have done with his bones in "Viking Funeral" after they are dug up. This is complicated however, when Sam and Jay find out that they are worth a fortune. They eventually decide to give him one after finding out that it could lead to him being "sucked off".
• Wake Up Fighting: In "Thorapy", Thorfinn has a recurring nightmare, and every time he wakes from it he swings his axe. Fortunately, since the others are already ghosts, he does no harm (though Travis mentions that it does hurt).
• Wham Line:
  • In the pilot episode, when Sam and Jay return to the house with contractors in tow for the first time after the former's accident, Trevor is stunned when he realizes that Sam can see him and is able to address him directly:
    Sam: You're dressed kinda nice for a construction worker.
  • Sam goes to see a doctor about her hallucinations who muses that her blow to the head allows her to see ghosts.
    Middle-aged Doctor: It is quite rare but I've seen it before. The last time was around... 85 years ago.
    Samantha: Wait, h-how old are you?
    Doctor: Well, I was about 50 when I died...
• Wham Shot:
  • At the end of "The Heir", the season 2 finale, Sam and Jay are outside looking at the mansion and Sam talks about how much the ghosts mean to her. And then she sees what appears to be one of the ghosts getting "sucked off" to Heaven.
  • The last shot of "Halloween 3: The Guest Who Wouldn't Leave" reveals that Flower, who was believed to be the ghost that got "sucked off", is actually trapped in a well.
• What the Hell, Hero?: The ghosts call Samantha out when she argues what she and Jay matter more because they are alive. The ghosts are furious and remind Samantha of the torment they all suffer; unable to touch, to be heard or seen (prior to Samantha), and sitting in on the dinner parties gives them a short time they can feel like they are human once more.
• Whodunnit to Me?:
  • Alberta is convinced she was murdered and asks Samantha to solve her murder, even though the other ghosts say she just had a heart attack. In "Alberta's Fan", we learn she was right; her moonshine was poisoned.
  • The episode “Whodunnit” is built around this trope as the ghosts who were there when Alberta died along with Sam and Jay try to solve Alberta’s murder.
• Wimp Fight: Ghosts cannot really affect each other much. When Isaac and Pete try to engage in a brawl with the Redcoat ghosts, the two sides end up just flailing at each other and doing no damage. Even Flower, who's a pacifist, would like to see more violence in the fight.
• Worthless Treasure Twist: Trevor thinks he can help Sam by letting her get access to his top three stocks: Circuit City, Enron and Blockbuster Video.
• Writers Cannot Do Math: Sam's status a relative to Sophie Woodstone is really shaky in relation to her status as a Hetty's descendant. She calls Sophie her great aunt, but also calls David Woodstone (Sophie's son) her uncle. This would either make Sophie her grandma or David her grand cousin. Even if we assume that the latter is true and Sam isn't being literal when she calls him uncle, season 2 identifies Hetty as Sam's great-great-great grandaunt. As Hetty is Sophie's great-great grandmother this would actually make Sophie Sam's four cousin once removed and David her fifth cousin. This make Sam barely related to both David and Sophie and for her to be Sophie's closest living relative, not only would both David and Sophie have to be only children, but so would both of Sophie's grandparents and likely both of her great grandparents as well.
  • Possibly doubles as an In-Universe example, since Sam is a writer and apparently can't figure out that being the direct ancestor of Sam's great-aunt would make Hetty Sam's direct ancestor, not just a 4Xgreat-aunt.
• Writers Suck: In "Dumb Deaths", Hetty wants to sabotage the TV shoot at the mansion by taking out the most important thing needed to make a TV show (meaning the camera). When Sasappis asks if she means the writer, Hetty thinks he's joking.
• You Have to Believe Me!: After Bela finds out that the messages from "Trevor" have been coming from Jay's iPad, she says she can never forgive Jay and Sam. To save their relationship, Sam admits to her that she can see ghosts. After Bela refuses to believe her, Sam has Thor flicker the light, Alberta sing so she can hear, Isaac walk through her, and Pete look in Bela's bag to tell her the contents. She finally believes when she holds fingers behind her back and the ghosts tell Sam how many there are.

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