If I seem a little overly harsh on the genre of paranormal
investigations it’s not only because I ain’t afraid of no
ghosts, but also to point out how easy it might have been
for Horn and Wilbanks to take this genre and create a
spoof which exploits it for all of its frailties. It might be
easy to tease the people on these shows for their seriousness and create a spoof which pillages and mocks this earnestness by over playing, or playing without respect. And
that is, categorically, what Ghostbreakers does not do.
Ghostbreakers doesn’t tease like a bully, it teases like a big
sister. In the show there seems to be a genuine respect
which makes the mockery gentle and playful without
crossing over towards the mean-spirited. This lovingness is
obvious in the almost mirror-like precision with which the
show builds itself on the framework of its spoofed model.
Never before have I appreciated editing like I have when
I watched this show. It’s a spot-on mimic that will strike a
chord with all of us trash TV junkies. The title sequence
alone was enough to convince me that the Ghostbreakers
team wasn’t messing around: this is a quality parody.
The archetypal cast is also present and accounted for.
There’s the charismatic front man adeptly played by Joey
Greco. The vague psychic vaguely – sort of – sensing
things, played by the hilarious Shanda Lee Munson. The
mostly useless but lovable muscle played by Bryan Massey.
And, the tech nerd and scarf aficionado, Gabe, played by
Gabriel Horn himself. I love this cast because no matter
how bizarre the premise of the episode became – and some
of them got extremely bizarre, retelling the Garden of Eden
in a botany lab kind of bizarre – every character had all the
charming humanity and candid approachability that keeps
reality TV alive long after its fad should have ended.
As an “improvised sitcom” there was no real script for
Ghostbreakers, just outlines scribbled on napkins in late
night coffee shops. But the result is nothing slapdash. It’s
weird, funny, and often brilliant. There’s ghost wolves, rap
videos, and Joey Greco spending an entire episode dressed
as a pirate for basically no reason. It manages to push the
bounds of ridiculousness yet somehow keeps its center and
manages not straying into the clownish or hammy.
“Muppet Horror” is how Gabriel Horn described it; that’s
Wilkbanks’s style. It’s light and funny and bizarre, but with
a creepy edge.
The whirlwind schedule by which the show was made
could have played a hand in some of this bizarreness as
well. Each episode was shot in around a twenty-four hour
period and the entire episode concept to completion would
be finished in about three days. That means they were
scouting locations, writing scripts, shooting, and editing at
breakneck speed and with little sleep. Horn attributes sleep
deprivation to some of the show’s wilder premises, like an
episode featuring a portal to another dimension contained
in a water slide.
With both the tight schedule and some initial location
issues, the show’s creators had to be flexible and, well…
creative. The show had already morphed many times since
its original conception years ago while Horn was living i n
Austin. At one point it had been a prank show and a pilot
was shot under this concept. Once the show was in its final
incarnation and the crew was ready to begin filming in
Shreveport they ran into difficulties as “real” haunted landmarks wouldn’t allow a spoof show on the premises. They
had to improvise and do it fast.
In his interview with Acoustic Drive, Gabriel Horn talked
about how filming of each episode of Ghostbreakers
meant countless hours of stuff that didn’t work and sifting through all that to find the moments that did. Finding those moments and crafting them into a seamless
end product was stressful but satisfying for the man who
admits to being a little addicted to the emotional rollercoaster.
Horn now lives in LA and has developed quite the head
for a business that many dream of being a part of but few
understand. He admits that when he first moved out West
he approached the city in much the same way as everyone
else. But he is no longer just a guy with a headshot. For
Horn, coming into his own and finding the ability to do
what he loves for a living has meant falling in love with
the process and the blue prints of filmmaking. He’s found
a passion for being a motivator and a driving force behind
the scenes, but has also learned that in a business where
everyone is a creator and everyone is concerned with their
own story and project, sometimes it pays to be the man in
the room who can focus and get things done.
The quality of Horn’s own concept finally brought to fruition can only be attributed to the talent of the man himself
and of his partners, cast and crew. Improvising an entire
show and still having it come out as something well-crafted
is no mean feat, but doing it in this way gives the show all
the spontaneity and liveliness of legitimate reality TV. The
creativity of Ghostbreakers is in its fearless blending of the
ridiculous with the genuine humanity of its characters.
Without a script, every moment feels fresh, unforced, and
allows for a parody that is both spot-on and extremely
funny.
Wilbanks and Horn are both natives to watch and so is
their show. You can find season one of Ghostbreakers
available for download at Ghostbreakerstv.com.
Acoustic Drive | 61