The Ghost Writer

I was reading a Variety issue from 1990 that had a listing of the television ratings for the 1989-1990 primetime season. Naturally, I was drawn to the lowest entries and not surprised to see the relatively new Fox Broadcasting claimed the last five spots. Coming in at 692nd place (out of 695 entries) was the intriguing sounding The Ghost Writer (not to be confused with the 1989 movie Ghost Writer). Looking it up, I was surprised to see it had one of the most absurd premises as it was a sitcom starring Anthony Perkins as a horror writer who lives in spooky house and encounters the dead. Consider me intrigued. And thanks to the magic of the internet, I was able to dig up more info and actually see it.

ABC announced The Ghost Writer as a potential mid-season replacement in August 1988. It was created by Alan Spencer, who had given the same network Sledge Hammer. In a LA Times profile of Spencer that same month, he said the ABC execs were befuddled by the concept, but grew to like it when they saw the box office returns of Beetlejuice (1988). Favorite quote from the article: "I wanted to be the first on the air with a series about the living dead, but Thirtysomething beat me to it." Dubbed a "scarecom" by a network exec, it shot in the fall of 1988 under the New World Television banner. By the spring of 1989, articles began to pop up about Perkins and company still waiting to hear from execs if the pilot would be picked up. I guess they got their answer at some point as the pilot was sold to Fox and dumped in a 9:30 slot on Wednesday, August 15, 1990; a timeslot that was so random that it garnered a 2.7 rating for that coveted 692nd place. To compound matters, its lead in was a sitcom called Molloy, one of two teen shows featuring Mayim Bialik airing at the same time (the other being Blossom on NBC).

Perkins stars as Anthony Strack, a best selling horror writer who has recently married the younger Elizabeth (Leigh Taylor-Young) after the death of his first wife. Together with Elizabeth's daughter Cindy (Julie Sorci) and his death-obsessed son Edgar (that weird kid Joshua Miller), they make the perfect blended (Addams) family. Trouble arises when Elizabeth moves the portrait of Anthony's first wife on the anniversary of her death, resulting in her returning from the grave. I'm sure "Norman Bates in a sitcom" sounded better on paper...actually, no, I'm not sure about that. This is a totally bizarre concept for a sitcom, but I think it could have worked in some way. However, the pilot doesn't show that way as it is filled with bad death puns in every other sentence. Example: The climax has Anthony confronting the skeleton of his dead wife (an actually cool realized prop) and she confronts him about getting remarried with this exchange:

Wife: "What's she got that I haven't got?"

Anthony: "A pulse."

Wah, wah, waaaaah. This could have worked if it was shot like Spencer's earlier Sledge Hammer, but they opted to go with a live studio audience scenario like The Cosby Show, resulting in forced claps and hooting and hollering. Also, Perkins is very jittery in his performance and I'm sure you can figure out why. Perhaps the most shocking thing about the show is that in its death-joke filled 30 minutes that they somehow managed to NOT work in a Psycho joke. Mother would not be proud.

I have to admit that this might have been a good series. Perkins with his devilishly contained grin could have made for a interesting series. It's been a while since I've seen this, and I'd love to see it again. The plot was about a horror writer who had moved his family into a haunted house as his first wife returns from beyond the grave. Sort of campy and tongue in cheek, but why it didn't work is anyone's guess.

This pilot for a never-materialized series (another reviewer is incorrect in referring to it having a run of only 2 episodes....this, the pilot, was the ONLY episode ever made. It was never picked up or approved as a weekly series.) is a lot of corny, goofball fun. It was a perfect situation for Anthony Perkins, and the rest of the cast is hysterical throughout, often stealing scenes right out from under Perkins, especially Joshua Miller as Edgar, and Pam Matteson as Miss Blasco (who seems to echo Madeline Kahn had Kahn been playing the character). It would have been interesting to see what other stories would have been created had this delightful concept been given a chance.

This was one show that never had a chance, but deserved one. "Ghost Writer" starring the late great Anthony Perkins, was a comedy in a class by itself. It had dark humor ingeniously incorporated with really bad jokes.

The premise focused on a novelist (Perkins) who was caught in a bad case of writers block. Desperate and ready to give up, be thinks suicide is the only way out. Before he his able to complete the deed, he is visited by a plethora of unearthly beings. These included a dead bride, a "something" under the stairs and a host of other ghostly helpers. And in turn the ideas begin to fly.

Though its run was only 2 episodes, those few who were able to view it greatly enjoyed it. It was a chance to see Perkins in a comedic role where his inherent creepiness could shine through brilliantly. Had it been given a chance and had Perkins lasted the run, I think this could have been one of the cult TV classics of all time.

Late in Anthony Perkins' career he starred in this failed TV pilot, excruciating to watch three decades later. BTW, the IMDb storyline someone submitted is incorrect and misleading.

His line readings are stilted, mainly delivered deadpan. For contrast his wife (Leigh Taylor-Young) and sexy housekeeper (Pam Matteson, whose acting career never took off) overact miserably. The intended black humor, mostly one-liners, is punctuated by a preposterous laugh/applause track, one of the worst.

Premise of Perkins as a hit horror writer living with a blended family and second wife, but haunted by his first wife's ghost might have worked if played straight, but the incompetent writing here is strictly factory-reject. Production values including SPFX are meager.