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Primetime Show Reviews
"Celebrity Paranormal Project"
Review by Danielle 8/30/06
Celebrity Paranormal Project is the latest attempt to put D-list
celebrities together in unusual situations. The show airs on VH1, who has made
so many of these shows that they now refer to them as a collective “Celebreality.”
The concept of gathering a team to don personal cameras and carry around
paranormal sensing equipment like heat sensors is not new but the idea of making
the ghost hunters into celebrities adds an odd fascination much like watching a
car wreck.
The debut episode featured Gary Busey, Hal Sparks, Jenna Morasca,
Tocarra, and Donna d'Errico visiting Waverly Hills, an old sanitarium in
Louisville, Kentucky that used to treat patients suffering from tuberculosis
also known as the white plague. There is a base camp which is basically a
trailer set up with seating, electricity, all the ghost hunting gear, any items
to be used in the search that are specific to the setting, and a laptop that is
set up to relay assignments to the group. The celebrities followed the laptop
program’s instructions, which sent two celebrities of their personal choosing at
a time into different parts of the sanitarium known to be haunted. One other
celebrity was designated as the base commander and relayed all the laptop
program’s instructions via a two-way radio. The celebrities inside the
sanitarium relayed what they were experiencing back to the rest of the team via
this radio. During the assignment, the pair of two celebrities were split up so
that separate areas could be explored before the pair reunited and reported back
to base camp together.
The show’s reenactments of the reported hauntings as they were
described to the viewers were more realistic looking than the results the
celebrities were freaking out over. Some of the more memorable moments of
visible paranormal activity involved Hal Sparks’ assignments. Hal Sparks was
first assigned to the roof where the child patients were allowed to play and he
had to throw a ball across the floor in hopes of enticing a child’s ghost
(Timmy) to come out and play. After a few moments, the ball rolled back across
the floor seemingly on its own and Hal caught on camera a child size shadow
passing in front of the doorway. All teams spotted a small red child’s ball in
the hallway that kept appearing and re-appearing as they moved throughout the
building. The second time Hal chose to go in was to visit the room where a young
nurse was found hanged and, along with Jenna, used a journal and pen to channel
the nurse’s energy working through Hal to show whether she really hung herself
or had been murdered. Through Hal, the nurse drew a picture of herself hanging
from the noose and herself pointing to the word “wrong.”
After everyone had finished their assignments, the group
designated Hal as the one to have the best results and the entire group took a
circular map to the roof. They all put their hands on the map and together
recited a chant in hopes of convincing the ghosts to move on. A photo gallery
and various behind the scenes clips and extra footage can be viewed on VH1’s web
site. Each week’s episode features different groups of celebrities and different
locations. Each search starts upon nightfall and concludes the next morning at
sunrise. Each new episode premieres on Sunday nights at 10PM ET and is repeated
several times during the week.
For those into the paranormal aspect, this has not been altered
or dumbed down so to speak simply because the team is composed of celebrities.
For those who would consider tuning in simply for the drama ignited by sending
random celebrities into close quarters with their adrenalin running, that aspect
was only seen once when Gary’s domineering attitude clashed with Tocarra’s
headstrong personality.
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