Hell’s Kitchen for Hunters: Ghost Hunters Academy
November 8, 2009 by Cynthia
In the cooking competition series Hell’s Kitchen, Gordon Ramsey fills a restaurant kitchen with wannabe chefs then proceeds to tear each of them a new one when they screw up time and time again. It’s a tough way to learn a lesson, but you can bet that those who survive will keep their cool under pressure in the future.
That’s kind of the idea behind Ghost Hunters Academy, the latest spin-off series from the popular Ghost Hunters franchise. Spirit-chasing wannabes are shoved head-long into a ghost hunt and only the strong will survive.
In this case, strong doesn’t mean brave or even paranormally talented — it means hard-working, honest, passionate people who are interested in getting the job done even when they’re not on camera. In this group, I’d say you’re talking about one out of the five.
Ghost Hunters second’s Dave Tango and Steve Gonsalves are in charge of training the newbies. They take them to a hunt in a spiffy new camper that gives you the “living in one house” feel of other reality shows. And though Steve and Dave don’t curse or throw tantrums like Gordon Ramsey, they do express their disappointment when someone screws up.
In the first episode, which premieres this Wednesday, November 11 at 10:00 on Syfy, the group investigates Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia. TAPS has been here before with good results so it’s time to see if the newbies can find anything.
Karl Pfeiffer and Ben Smith were pretty interchangable for me. Ben is a little geekier but neither made an impression in a good or bad way. Chris McCune strikes me as a 15 minutes of fame guy. He’s not going to last long. Both girls are a problem (in a good way, because that’s what makes this show interesting). Heathyr Hoffman claims to be a medium, something the TAPS people are very skeptical about. Because she’s a medium she asks for special treatment, going so far as to sit out the site tour at the top of the investigation so she isn’t “influenced” by what she hears. That’s simply not going to work in the long run. Not with the way these guys conduct their investigations.
Then there’s the appropriately named Susan Slaughter. She’s hiding something and that lands her in hot water with the bosses by the end of the episode.
The best thing about the episode is the bullshit meter – seriously, they should have a graphic on the screen because it is deep in there. When one trainee started going on about, “wow man, that’s why you guys are the pros,” in response to a common sense tip, I thought, oh please. Then we switch to Steve talking to camera about how this guy is kissing ass big time. Hooray!
The best bit comes when Steve purposely sets out a line of nonsense to see if any of the trainees will take the bait. One does and Steve calls him on it instantly, leaving the kid floundering for an explanation as to why he agreed with something that made no sense. Lesson learned? I doubt it and therein lies the fun.
I’ve been watching Ghost Hunters since the series began and lately I’ve been feeling like it needed a shot in the arm. Ghost Hunters Academy is that shot. These fresh personalities mixed with the patented Ghost Hunters formula is making everything old look new again. And though they aren’t kicking anyone off at the end of the episode, there is that sense of competition that you get from other reality shows such as Hell’s Kitchen or America’s Next Top Model.
If you’ve become an infrequent viewer of Ghost Hunters, try this new incarnation. They’re still not photographing full-body apparitions but you never know. Maybe Heathyr the medium will redeem herself and be the first one to get a ghost to smile for the camera.
Ghost Hunters Academy premieres this Wednesday, November 11 at 10:00 on Syfy.
Dave Tango, Steve Gonsalves — Syfy Photo: Tommy Garcia
(l-r) Karl Pfeiffer, Heathyr Hoffman, Chris McCune, Ben Smith, Susan Slaughter — Syfy Photo: Michael Perez
i wanted to no have u ever thought about going to the AMITTY VILLE HORROR HOUSE THAT WOULD BE A PLACE TO GO .IT SCARED A PRIEST N HE LEFT. THAT WOULD BE ONE PLACE TO FIND EVIL SPIRITS .HOPE U WILL THINK ABOUT IT . THANKS FOR UR TIME KIM CRAIG EMAIL ME AT KIM197335@YAHOO.COM
Heather sucks she’s there to learn – not to perform.
How can I be on the new GHA show. I have been a fan cents the start. I have lived in hounted houses when i was a kid. I have allways been fasunated.
thank you for your time. fan #1 Todd.
ps. Tell Steve I said he is cool.
Well…….I HATED it. They should drop the show at episode 1
Tango sucks! Steve is the only one doing all the talking to the contestants. I think Tango needs to take a step down and compete with the rest of the contestants.
I thought the show sucked…bigtime. Steve’s acts like he is on a throne and all knowing. I just don’t buy into his “experienced” attitude. all the trainees are trying to hard and some are in it for fame. Its obvious this show is trying to hard, and its a hard sell. Nobody’s buying.
Concept of show is great. I would have like to see one contestant eliminated after each investigation. Then the last one standing becomes a finalist. Then you bring in a new group of five and do the same thing until you have five final finalists. Then you start eliminating the finalist until you have a winner. The current five you have now are not good. Don’t really want to watch them all doing multiple investigations. That girl who claims to be a psychic should have gone two episodes ago. refusing to go on tours and covering up her ears in the van. She’s on the show to be a paranormal investigator not a pyschic. be a team player or should leave the show and open up a storefront and do psychic readings. The entire group taking her on a second tour of the N. Carolina ship showed a real lack of leadership. Steve tells the group to not forget to tag and what do they do? Don’t tag. I saw get rid of them all or go to the elimination process I suggested. Thanks…
I agree with Chris. Steve treats them like children. I wish he would stop saying supposably instead of supposedly. The show is one long continuous episode of “how many times can you be chastised by Steve?” I remember when Steve started on Ghost Hunters. He was not all that and a bag of chips too. If I were those students I would tell him to kiss it.
What do you mean, when steve started. He still can’t investigate. all you have to do is watch him on ghost hunters. Tango, won’t even talk about.
Steve needs to lighten up. He tells of how a former colleague ran out of an investigation and forbids any one else to do so. But yet he runs like a little girl when he sees a spider. Gimme a break…. Susan Slaughter is a hottie…..
I’ve always liked Steve on Ghost Hunters. The phobias get alittle old though. BUt, on Ghost Hunters Academy, I think he sucks. He’s nasty, and acts like some sort of a ghost hunter all knowing god. Maybe this group doesn’t have anyone who is ghost hunter material. Then move on to another group. My question is didn’t they screen these people first? The entire medium thing, going on. Hadn’t they touched upon that BEFORE the being on the show? Or at the least, during the interviews? HOw could something like that NOT come up? TAPS isn’t to big on mediums so why then do they bring someone on who THINKS she’s a medium? I say the show sucks. Although, I LOVED Ghost Hunters in the beginning. I am starting to lose intrest in the entire thing. The TAPS attitude of, we are RIGHT and everyone else is WRONG, is getting old. Maybe all these spin offs aren’t a great idea. And, maybe there is to much on Jason’s and Grant’s plate that the show shouldn’t continue. ANd, although, I hate to think it, maybe the show has run it’s course and it’s time to move on.
You guys have to understand that these guys are rookies. When you throw them into technical cameras, computer screens, and wires on the second episode shows that you were not willing to even try to work with them which totally turned me off. You basically threw them under the bus. I’m sure when Chris was a rookie he was in their shoes but, he wants to come off as a know it all hard @ss. What’s up with that? Practice makes perfect. You can’t just throw someone into an unfamiliar world and expect them to catch on, especially on the second time they set up the hardware. Chris you need to lighten up and teach. You are a teacher and just remember you had someone one teach you. I don’t even want to watch anymore because of your negativaty.
I really do not care for the new show I would like to see a show where we bring a true person who can see and communicate with the spirits not just hear noises and think we hear sounds I would want to know if they can truly communicate with us and what they have to say and send them into the light or the other side if we could to resolve there issues Angela