PRVanAken

The first season of this show had elements that made it seem like an amateurish production. Most of it was due to using ordinary people to do the re-enactments and some low budget ghost effects. Both, I would assume, were due to budget constraints. With season two, however, things have gotten better. They have been able to hire professional actors for the re-enactments, and the special effects have improved somewhat. I am surprised by the level of acting ability of the season two episodes. Of course, you know it's just acting (not the actual event), but it's just such an improvement over the stilted and unnatural performance of their season one cast. Some of those actors in season two are very good; I assume they are all Canadian, since the production company is in Canada. There is a large pool of fine under-used actors in Canada to choose from. Apparently, the production company of this show have taken advantage of that. I'm happy that a Canadian show seems to have been able to catch on with viewers. I live in Toronto. By the way, this show now has a narrator who sounds just like Anthony D. Call, the narrator that very long running American production called A Haunting.

The only saving grace about this show is the Tennessee accents of the Ghost Asylum team. But, you get over that and then try to get into the ghost hunting they do, but you come up short.

The ghost trap stuff they do is an adolescent fantasy. In fact, the whole show has an adolescent flavor to it. I've watched many episodes, well maybe five, and really tried to get excited about it. But, I couldn't. I found the team leader's showing off his buff physique to be offensive, pathetic. He can can hardly walk normally, he's so stiff. Sure, he's probably a super guy, but man, that bodybuilder stuff is ridiculous. Well, I guess better than being obese like the rest of the crew.

As a long time fan of the original Channel 4 UK Time Team, the PBS version is poor by comparison. They try to bring a punk flavor to it by using people that look "cool". Too bad. They look very uncool because you know it's the producer's effort to suck up to a youthful audience. The end result is embarrassing ...not to mention that North American archaeology is really boring. And, I mean, really boring.

If you'd like to see a good program about North American archaeology, look up Channel 4 (UK) Time team episode where they dig at Maryland. It was a great show, as was the whole 19 years of that series.

The original Time Team had serious participants. The PBS version has clownish participants and stultifying boring dig results.