David Conrad is not dead on Ghost Whisperer, and neither is his character.  After the huge amount of speculation regarding the Melinda-Jim relationship, the actor finally speaks out.  During a recent interview, Conrad was joined by the show's executive producer, P.K. Simonds, to discuss the current and upcoming changes on the series. 

“We'll always be seeing David from Melinda's side,” Simonds confirmed.  “So what you're sort of saying to the audience is that it's still Jim's soul – it still in every sense is Jim and that's who we want to see.  We're interested in seeing the soul of Jim and obviously the real reason we're interested in that is because we have David and he's an amazing actor.” 

“And one of the things that excited us about doing this story in the first place is that we knew we had an actor who could do a lot more than frankly we were asking him to do – and he's been doing an amazing, amazing job of filling out this new role – which we're really excited for the audience to see.” 

When Conrad was told about the plans for his character, he was rather surprised.  “My first reaction was kind of like something out of Prizzi's Honor or Goodfellas, where they walk up to you and they're like, ‘Yeah, you're gonna end up here for a while,'” he said.  “I was pretty sure that they were very nicely saying ‘you're done, you're off the show.'  But P.K. in a very polite, very reassuring way said, ‘I have this great plan…'  At first I was like, ‘Oh, c'mon…'  But then I was just like, ‘Great.'”

Conrad's message to disbelieving fans is this: “I mean… what they'll do is they'll say that and then they'll watch it and realize that I am there most of the time.  As P.K. said, I am still there 90 percent of the time.” 

“I think the only thing that's gone is the memory.  I think actually it's an exciting development because instead of going through the same kind of trope that we usually do, it's like a prequel.  You'll get to see them date, flirt, and fall back in love again.  And that's thrilling.  Maybe that's what's at the heart of what makes them so exciting – that chemistry between them,” he added. 

“[W]e want to remind you that people in the show see him differently when they look at him.  But aside from reminding them that – since it really is Jim's soul, we want to remind the audience of that and focus on that.  He's the same character,” declared Simonds.

As for those who aren't really pleased with how the storyline is going, they don't have to worry for long.  The Ghost Whisperer writers have plans to resolve the issue sometime soon. 

“We've plotted it out through the end of the season, so we know where we're going to go.  We don't want it to last forever.  And really what we're interested in is a journey.  You've got these two characters, who, as David pointed out… it was always our intention to do kind of an emotional prequel because now we get to see what may have played out at the beginning of their relationship,” the executive producer said. 

As of now, we just have to think about Jim's character and his sudden involvement in the supernatural element of the plot.  David Conrad offers this point of view: “I knew it all along in some way.  I thought at some point it would be very logical for my character to be tied into that aspect of the storytelling.  I kind of looked forward to it. I'd have to say that Jim probably looked forward to it because, since the pilot, he's always asked the question, ‘What's on the other side?'” 


-Maria Gonzalez, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Fearnet.com
(Image Courtesy of CBS)