Ghosts Showrunners discuss the Season 3 premiere

Bertrand Calmo/CBS

Spoiler alert! This post contains details from the CBS season 3 premiere ghosts.

It has been a long time since we met the inhabitants of Woodstone Palace.

When is season 2 on CBS? ghosts It's over, leaving the audience completely in suspense, as one of the ghosts finally moves on. Or as other ghosts call it, “It sucked.” Just like the audience, Jay [Utkarsh Ambudkar] badge [Rose McIver] They are also not privy to who left the mansion, as they only saw a flash of light from their car to indicate that someone was gone.

The season 3 premiere wastes no time solving this mystery. After a quick headcount, Jay and Sam discover that it is Flower who has finally crossed over to the other side. Bad news for Thor who was madly in love with Flower. Meanwhile, some others have complicated feelings about her passing, because although they may miss their friend, they're waiting their turn, too.

The rest of the episode grapples with the fallout from Flower's disappearance, as they all try to figure out their own ways of grieving.

Executive producers and showrunners Joe Port and Joe Weissman spoke with Deadline about the consequences of Flower's departure as well as what to expect from this shortened season of the series. ghosts.

DEADLINE: When did the idea to absorb a ghost come about?

Air port: Towards the end of last season, we just came up with this idea and thought it would be a really cool, fun way to end the season, as a step forward for next year.

DEADLINE: So how did you settle on the idea that it would be Flower?

Joe Weisman: I mean, we had a lot of conversations after we were picked up. Before the room started, we didn't know exactly who it would be, but we definitely had candidates in mind. And then just by talking about it, we wanted to be someone who had an impact, someone who had an impact. We landed on Venus [who we thought] It would be interesting if the ghost disappeared. Because it will create a lot of storylines. Many people will have different reactions. Thor clearly loves Flower and would be very destructive. The other ghosts will be jealous of her because she hasn't been there for long. So it felt like we created a lot of stories.

DEADLINE: There was a moment where I thought maybe she wasn't really gone. Did you play with the idea of ​​ghosts that you thought were being lured, but were actually doing something, like part of a comedy?

harbor: Once we established that it was Flower that was leaving, I think we wanted to reveal that early in the episode so that we could spend the episode dealing with the fallout of that and examining how it affected everyone in the house in the premiere.

DEADLINE: So does this mean Flower won't be back? Or is there a possibility of her return?

A wise man: certainly. Interestingly, when a ghost is sucked into the show, he's not dead. They're all dead already. So we had ways in previous episodes to bring in ghosts that had been absorbed [come] Back to stories and more. We tell stories using flashbacks, etc. So, yes, in theory, there would be ways to see the ghost that's gone.

DEADLINE: One of the longer running parts, which never gets old, is that Jay is unaware of the ghosts. There are multiple moments in this episode where that happens. How do you keep this thing running without getting tired?

harbor: Jay not being able to talk to 80% of the cast is a challenge, but it's also definitely an opportunity because it brings a certain tone [of comedy]. Sam does a lot of play-by-play for Jay in the scenes, and she only gives him some highlights. So sometimes, it turns out he missed a lot. I think Joe and I…we read people saying, “Oh, he should get these powers and he should be able to see ghosts.” First of all, we think that would take away a lot of the humor, as you're pointing out, and we also think that this seems very weird, as it sounds, and not real. I've never met anyone who can see ghosts. So it seems strange that two people in the same household would randomly develop this gift.

DEADLINE: I recently read an interview where Asher Grodman teased that Jay might be able to see ghosts this season. Can you expand on that, in light of what you just said?

A wise man: I think what he's talking about is a version of that, but not the same. Without going into spoilers, it's different from what Sam does.

DEADLINE: This is a shortened season, mostly due to strikes. How did this impact your creative choices, since you only had 10 20-minute episodes to work on?

harbor: The first season, we did 18. Then we did 22 last year and we hope to get to 22 in the future. I think the way we look at it is we usually split the season in half. So, this year, we followed the path of what the first half of the season would be. We always end the first half of the season with some big developments. This is no different.

DEADLINE: Can you talk a little more about the production timeline and how it evolved after the hits?

A wise man: Well, first of all, everyone was very happy to be back at work. Everyone loves to work, and this is also a fun place to work. It's a fun show for thinking about ideas and writing. So everyone was excited to get back in the room… It was the same on set. No one lost a step. Everyone is very excited and happy to be working again. There are certain challenges. We shoot the show in Montreal, and we usually try to start in July. So, the weather is good most of the time we're there, but we didn't have that opportunity. So we're dealing with a little more wintry weather than usual. We still get out of the house, but we have to kind of get creative with where we go or how we shoot it. But the crew there is incredible. Our production designer is amazing, and he just came up with very creative ways to help us shoot.

DEADLINE: What else can you tease from Season 3?

harbor: I think Flower's disappearance will be a continuing story that unfolds and will have a lot of ramifications throughout the house. We'll learn some of the powers of our ghosts that we haven't learned yet, and we'll learn how the ghost died in an episode that's going to be very emotional, I think.

A wise man: There are a few arcs we follow. Isaac and Nigel have recently gotten engaged, so we'll be following them as they plan the wedding, bachelorette parties and whatnot. Meanwhile, Jay and Sam began laying the foundation for the restaurant. They are continuing to convert that barn into a restaurant. This is also an ongoing story to which we attach some stories.

harbor: We're doing another Halloween episode this season, even though we're not airing it during Halloween. We love doing them, and we use this to launch a big story.

DEADLINE: What about the new ghosts?

A wise man: Part of the fun of the show is trying to think of ways to introduce new ghosts. We have two fun ways to do this. We will see a love interest for Alberta this year, which we are very excited about.

DEADLINE: Do you find that you introduce new ghosts out of necessity into the story, or do you also sometimes think of an interesting character you want to write?

harbor: It's both of those things. We thought of a particularly clever way, in our opinion, to have a ghost visit the property that season. Once we found out we had that character, we thought he would make a love interest for Alberta. This became the story of his visit.

ghosts It airs Thursdays on CBS at 8:30pm ET/PT.