Ghosts is a top-notch show, but these six supernatural comedies beat out the iconic British show. The idea of the supernatural existing alongside humans is nothing new. It has been the basis for dozens of shows. However, Ghosts puts a fun twist on the idea, leaning into the absurdity that the situation could create. The human couple, Alice and Mike, have to live alongside a wide group of eccentric ghosts, creating an Odd Couple-like sitcom with an ensemble instead of two people. There are plenty of petty squabbles and laugh-out-loud quips to keep audiences entertained.
The show was so successful that it started broadcasting in the US as Ghosts UK. Ghosts is returning for a movie. Additionally, Hollywood created a US version of the show, which is fantastic and just barely below the original in rankings. While the CBS version of the story might not beat out the original, Ghosts isn’t the best supernatural comedy out there. TV shows from both Hollywood and the UK beat out Ghosts in humor, uniqueness, and character chemistry. These six series, listed in no particular order, perfectly blend the thrill of supernatural fantasy with the levity of comedy, and they’re better than Ghosts.
6 The Addams Family
The Addams Family is one of the most iconic supernatural comedies ever. It wasn’t the first, but it created an incredible legacy and laid the groundwork for shows that came after. The 60s show is a social satire that flips middle-class life on its head, suggesting that the creepy family can be happier than normal families. Ghosts relays a similar idea that humans and spirits can be a found family. However, it takes longer to get there, and the message doesn’t fully land.
The members of the Addams family feel more connected from the beginning than the cast of Ghosts do at the end of the show. The spirits in Ghosts develop friendships. However, they still feel like individuals together because of proximity. Additionally, the chemistry between Gomez and Morticia is electric, outpacing Alice and Mike in Ghosts.
On top of that, there’s also plenty of variety in the supernatural aspects of The Addams Family. Staples include the sentient hand, a witchy grandma, an uncle with electrical powers, and a Frankenstein’s monster-looking butler. Ghosts is a little safer. If you didn’t know they were spirits, they would seem like eccentric people. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean there’s more intrigue with The Addams Family.
5 Pushing Daisies
As mentioned, Ghosts’ premise is entertaining but very textbook. Supernatural beings live alongside humans; hilarity ensues. Additionally, the visual style and dialogue feel very typical of a sitcom, never straying too far from the formula. One of the shows that beats out Ghosts, Pushing Daisies, feels like it breaks all the rules, and it’s better for it.
Pushing Daisies follows Ned, a pie maker who can revive any living being, but a second touch permanently kills them. If a revived person stays alive for more than 60 seconds, someone nearby will die. Ned brings his childhood sweetheart, Chuck, back to life with plans to keep her alive. Their romance is a central storyline, as is their inability to touch. Ned also teams up with a private investigator, Emerson, to temporarily revive murder victims and learn their killers’ names, then collect reward money. The niche concept is brilliant. Creator Bryan Fuller seamlessly combines the romance and investigative procedural, while also keeping audiences laughing.
Aside from its refreshing premise, Pushing Daisies' high-contrast, color-pop palette and whimsical costumes also give it a storybook feeling. It’s much more visually dynamic than Ghosts. The show also includes narrator Jim Dale, who enhances the fairytale feeling. Because both shows both have equally quirky characters and great chemistry, the unique one wins out in the end.
4 Being Human
Like Ghosts, Being Human was an absolute hit. The supernatural comedy show, which is the perfect Buffy replacement, centers on werewolf and vampire best friends, George and John, who move into an apartment that is haunted by a ghost named Annie. The three of them are trying to blend in with ordinary human life to avoid exposure. Both TV shows include laugh-out-loud banter, deadpan humor, and roommate squabbles. The two also explore love, humanity, and found family.
However, Being Human has many benefits not present in Ghosts. Because Being Human only has three main characters at the start, the audience gets to know them much more intimately than Ghosts’ ensemble. Their personalities are more developed. The trio also has better chemistry, which remains true even when the actors for John and Annie change. When they add new main characters in the third, fourth, and fifth seasons, it doesn’t weaken the original trio. Instead, the shakeup keeps things fresh for the characters and audience.
Another big difference is the maturity of the content. Being Human never forgets that the supernatural creatures are, well, supernatural. The creatures have a brutal side to them, and there’s gore involved. There’s also a lot of nudity and cursing. For this reason, it may appeal to some audiences but not others.
3 Misfits
When it comes to supernatural comedy, Ghosts feels like it’s on the heartwarming and gentle side of the spectrum, and nearly all the way on the other side is Misfits, a sci-fi supernatural dark comedy which is gritty and chaotic. Misfits focuses on a group of young adult delinquents doing community service who suddenly get superpowers. Rather than clever, situational comedy, Misfits has crude, unfiltered gallows humor with plenty of profanity to go around.
Surprisingly, both series have the same core themes of redemption and growth through human connection. They just get there in different ways. To be fair, neither style is objectively better, as everyone has different tastes. That being said, Ghosts feels like it could have come out in the 2000s, while Misfits feels in line with a TV show from the 2020s.
Ghosts shares narrative DNA with The Office (UK) and Peep Show. The single-camera style is evocative of old sitcoms. Character growth occurs from the first episode to the last, but the stories themselves feel episodic and self-contained. The show doesn’t feel like it was made for binge-watching, but for watching one episode at a time. Meanwhile, Misfits feels more in line with modern TV. The show embraces the fact that people can be messy and morally ambiguous in a more overt way. The story is serialized. The high-octane superhero drama feels aligned with The Boys or Arrow.
2 What We Do In The Shadows
Image via HuluAlthough Ghosts’ story is entertaining, it is very clear, watching it, that the story was written for BBC One with the knowledge that it would be viewed by adults and children. As a viewer, I get the impression that the team was holding back creatively. This isn’t just about taming the content down for young audiences. The characters have great chemistry, but their personalities and actions feel a little uninspired at times. This is completely the opposite with the supernatural comedy mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows.
The story follows ancient vampires – Nandor, Laszlo, Nadja, and Colin – living awkwardly as roommates in Staten Island and struggling to adjust to modern life. The vampire rules and abilities feel unique. The story introduces energy vampires, which is a refreshing spin on an age-old supernatural species. They add other supernatural species along the way. The mockumentary interviews add a lot of humor to an already quippy show. What We Do in the Shadows isn’t afraid to veer into strange and unpredictable subplots. It feels unconstrained and unlimited.
However, What We Do in the Shadows still maintains the same heartwarming feeling as Ghosts. There’s plenty of gallows humor, but the overall tone doesn’t veer into cynicism in the same way other TV shows do. This makes it the best of both worlds.
1 The Good Place
While Ghosts is technically supernatural, it feels much more like a show about people changing each other for the better. It has heart and emotional depth. The character growth feels very natural, though never linear, as there are plenty of bumps in the road. A show that emulates these same qualities but does it better is the four-season masterpiece supernatural comedy, The Good Place. Though the word “masterpiece” gets thrown around too much, this is one of the shows that actually deserves the label.
The series centers on Eleanor Shellstrop, a woman who dies and wakes up in the good place, where she’s greeted by the town’s architect, Michael. She’s assigned a soulmate, a moral philosophy professor named Chidi. Her seemingly perfect next-door neighbors are Tahani, a rich philanthropist, and Jason, a Buddhist monk. It doesn’t take Eleanor long to realize she isn’t supposed to be there, but she decides that, with the help of her soulmate and new friends, she will become worthy of the good place.
The Good Place is a rare show that starts out with a perfect first season and stays pretty close to that level in future seasons. Like Ghosts, the characters are flawed but deeply empathetic. The show dives deep into philosophy and different perspectives. The narrative path of The Good Place always makes sense, with every twist and turn feeling earned. What’s more, the finale of the supernatural comedy series is not only the perfect way to end the show but one of the best finales of all time.
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