Psychic TV: Employing the Dead to Connect the Living
It's not enough that television psychics talk to the dead. Now they have to disturb the living.
That line, best left uncrossed, is the gambit of "Cross Country," John Edward's new show on WE, the Women's Entertainment network. Mr. Edward, a stage medium who used to channel spirits in the safety of a TV studio on his syndicated show "Crossing Over," is now adding the pathos of shows like "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" by traveling to remote areas to commune with the survivors. ("Closure has no map," he says.) Mr. Edward is so intent on sprucing up relations between the departed and their loved ones that his series could also be titled "Queer Eye for the Dead Guy."
And "Cross Country" is the classy version. There are at least two other series that showcase psychic road trips. In March, cable's Sci Fi Channel showed the debut of an even more down-market new series, "Psychic at Large," in which Char Margolis, a self-described "spiritual-intuitive," roams around in her car, using her special powers for fun and high jinks. Ms. Margolis may have an inside advantage: she looks a bit like Agnes Moorehead in her "Bewitched" days. She haggles for a used car by demanding $1,000 off the list price for every relative of the car lot manager she can intuit correctly. "Apple?" Ms. Margolis ventures. "Akbah. Very close!" the woman replies. Ms. Margolis also does some psychic readings on a trip to Palm Springs for a book signing of a work she self-published ? which must be a little like sending oneself flowers the day after a night alone in bed.
Amazingly, "Dead Famous: Ghostly Encounters" is beginning its third installment on the Biography Channel with the hosts Gail Porter, a Scottish-born celebrity/skeptic, and Chris Fleming, an even less famous "sensitive." The skeptic and the sensitive travel the country trying to make contact with dead celebrities like Bing Crosby and Rita Hayworth, but mostly turn breathless in dark basements while being filmed by an infrared camera. It's basically an E! channel exercise with a very weak link to the spirit world: ESP! channel. The spookiest element, however, is Ms. Porter, a former television presenter and nude model for men's magazines, who serves as a harbinger of celebrity derailed: drug abuse and eating disorders ravaged her health, and she now wears a head scarf because alopecia left her bald.
It used to be that the closest thing to a psychic on television was Carlton the Doorman on "Rhoda." Now, of course, they are everywhere, from cable shows like "Psychic Detectives" to network dramas like "Medium" and "Ghost Whisperer" in which mysteries are solved by second sight, not evidence (paranormal, dear Watson). Mr. Edward's last series, which was seen on broadcast stations and Sci Fi, ended in 2004. He returns to television having received a message from the other side of the ratings. Viewers are growing accustomed to seeing miracles happen on location.
Mr. Edward's style remains unchanged, but he has added a new element of travel and family drama. The episode begins in a theater, where Mr. Edward peppers his audience with word associations until one sticks. In the first episode, mention of a sudden death and the name "Nicky or Nicholas" bring Audrey to her feet. She explains that she lost a son, Adam, in a fire and that his half-brother, Nicky, died in the same fire. Mr. Edward, who was raised on Long Island, has an engaging manner, defusing his spooky insights with prosaic, rapid-fire guesses (he sounds more like an auctioneer than a mystic) and humor. And there is always a promise of consolation: he assures the grieving, guilt-ridden mother that her son is not angry with her.
Then comes the "have hunch, will travel" segment. Mr. Edward takes to the road to help surviving relatives connect with one another. It turns out that Audrey's daughter survived the fire and lives in Providence, R.I. Mr. Edward stops at Audrey's house in Orlando, Fla. "This is just another aspect of honoring their journey," Mr. Edward tells the camera as he steps out of his car. "And giving you guys the behind-the-scenes scoop about what actually took place." Mostly, however, the behind-the-scenes segment allows Mr. Edward to reunite a tearful mother and daughter on camera, as well as persuade the daughter to return to the site of the fire for the first time since it took place 10 years before. It's a reality show makeover for the emotions: the deceased serves as the catalyst for a poignant television moment between the living.
Mediums are painful to watch because they play with trusting people at their most vulnerable. "Cross Country" takes the channeling right to people's doorsteps: a psychic reading with home visits.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/arts/ ... ref=slogin
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