(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from The Ghost and Molly McGee)
Doug (vo): Well, this is the loosest interpretation of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir I've ever seen. The Ghost and Molly McGee is a Disney show that ran for two seasons. It seemed to get a decent following, good word of mouth, and some people were asking me to review it. Yeah, kind of looking at the style of it and the bright colors and the idea, I said this might be something I'd really like. Is that what it turned out to be? Yes, but in a way I wasn't quite expecting. A lot of people get the idea that this is like Disney's next Gravity Falls or Star vs. the Forces of Evil, you know, those shows that have like a continuing story. It's not really that. It has more of a Phineas and Ferb vibe. It's not quite as silly and over-the-top, it doesn't stick 100% to this formula, but it's definitely more of an episodic show than one that has like a big, dramatic story with a big, dramatic reveal...until one point. Okay, we'll get to that in a minute.
Premise[]
Doug (vo): Scratch is a ghost that's falling behind on his job. He's supposed to be haunting the living, but he doesn't really care that much about it. He's more interested in just doing whatever he wants. When the Ghost Council gets word of this, they tell him he's assigned to a curse. Enter Molly McGee, who Scratch thinks he's supposed to haunt, but in all actuality, she's so relentlessly chipper and upbeat, she's haunting him. That's right, the curse is actually her making his life a living hell because he's so lazy and pessimistic and she's so energized and optimistic.
Review[]
Doug (vo): And that's mostly it. Not a whole lot is going on in terms of story. Like, there are interesting neighbors and friends and a lot of good laughs. I mean, this is a very funny show. While I wouldn't say it has quite as many adult jokes as, say, Gravity Falls or DuckTales, the jokes are still aware that parents might be watching this too, so they throw in a few good laughs here and there. But make no mistake, this is mostly meant for a younger crowd, and there's nothing wrong with that. It does it well and in an interesting, creative way. But for the most part, nothing was really standing out that much about it.
(Various footage is shown, including footage from the episode "Howlin' Harriet")
Doug (vo): Like, the characters are good and memorable, but...how do I put this? There's an episode where Molly is looking to make some new friends and she starts putting together this chart that has all these factors that she should consider when trying to find a new friend, like how much they have in common, interests, likes, dislikes. And then she has a box called the X factor, just that one thing you can't quite explain, but separates it from everything else and makes them really special. All the people she's interacting with have stars in all the categories except the X factor, and one friend has no stars in all the categories except for the X factor. So that's the person she realizes is probably her best friend. Through a lot of the show, it's missing the X factor. I didn't dislike watching it, again, everything is done fine, but that was kind of it, it was fine. There was nothing that was really breaking the mold for me or anything that said, "I have to come back and see the next episode," which doesn't sound like that big a deal. I mean, again, this is kind of meant for younger viewers, but there is so much content everywhere now that I feel like, sadly, good isn't good enough. Entertainment has to try a lot harder now to make an impact and have people keep returning, and the show was mostly just good, except for one thing. It does a very good and unique job at teaching its lessons. Now, a lot of these lessons are not that new, honestly. A lot of the lessons seem to be relationship-based like your relationship with your friends or your loved ones or your parents or your grandparents, all that stuff. And, like I literally just mentioned with what they do with the stars, they get across their points very well.
(Footage from the episode "Festival of Lights" is shown)
Doug (vo): I've definitely seen Hanukkah talked about in media before, but it's usually the same thing, they'll talk about the traditions, a little bit of the history and then they'll just kind of ignore it. The main characters will go on some sort of crazy adventure or something and Hanukkah is just brought up once in a while, and that's it, they just kind of talk about it. Here, they have a whole episode where you actually see them celebrate it, you see them enjoy it, you see them not only talk about the traditions, but actually take part in the traditions. It didn't feel like an obligatory, "Oh, we just have to talk about this" episode, it felt like somebody really grew up with this holiday and it really meant a lot to them, and that emotion is shared with us and we see why it's so important and valuable.
(Footage from the episode "Carbon Zero Heroes" is shown, along with footage focusing on Molly and Scratch)
Doug (vo): Sometimes, they're not the best at teaching the lesson. Like, I remember one episode where they're talking about, like, trying to be environmentally safe and stop climate change and be all green, self-aware, all that stuff. I remember just thinking to myself, "Wow, they really seem invested in this and I bet they're never going to be invested in it again, it's only going to be this one episode." Like, that one did feel kind of forced. The voices of Molly and Scratch, played by Ashley Burch and Dana Snyder, are both performers I've enjoyed a ton in the past. I will admit I did find them a little grating at first. Like, these two have very distinct, unique ways of saying their lines, and when you put them together, sometimes, it can be a little much. I honestly thought at first, "Oh, no, I'm not going to be able to take this show, these deliveries are just too weird and this is going to get on my nerves." But the more the show kept going, the more they really did kind of sink in and I learned to love them.
(Footage focusing on the side characters is shown, mostly on Darryl and Ollie)
Doug (vo): Most of the side characters are the same. They start off okay and then get really, really good as it keeps going. Probably my favorite character is the little brother. He just starts off as a little troublemaker, but the more and more they want to exaggerate the kind of trouble he gets in, the funnier it gets. Like, my favorite solution to a random problem he has is, "Burn down the neighborhood and blame the previous administration." That is just so funny to me because he says it like he's done it before, or at the very least thought about it a lot. Some of the characters never quite caught on for me. I never did get into the father character that much. And there's these neighbors who they get along with, but it turns out are ghost hunters on YouTube. That's actually a really, really funny idea, but I feel like they don't take full advantage of it, and they mostly just do a romance between her and the boy. And while not awful, he does just seem like a generic love interest. Every time I look at this kid, I kind of think of the generic boyfriend that Riley thinks of in her head from Inside Out. But again, no characters are done terribly, they're just not all as equally charismatic. But most of the lessons are really good at not only developing the characters, but also changing them throughout the show. If you compare everybody from the beginning of the show to the ending of the show, they do really change.
(Footage from the series finale "The End" is shown, along with footage from The Straight Story)
Doug (vo): And that leads me to maybe the biggest surprise of the show, the last episode. Now, I'm not going to go into spoilers on this, don't worry, but at some point, they do bring up the question, "What was Scratch like when he was alive?" And this is probably the closest you get to like a continuing story. Like, they do have one or two returning characters and dilemmas and problems that pop up, but this is the one major thing they're not going to answer until the very last episode. And when you get there, it is masterfully done. Years ago, I talked about a movie called The Straight Story where the ending completely transformed everything. Like, the film was actually kind of unbearable, but when you got to the end, you found out why it was that way and it completely transformed everything. This show isn't at all unbearable, but I'd say it was okay for the most part. But when you got to the end, you suddenly see what the entire show was doing. It's so organically worked its way up to this finale, and I legit didn't see it coming. It had some good twists and turns in there and they stick their bittersweet ending. They don't do the thing where they make it look like it's going to be sad, but then, "Oh, wait, it's happy now, everything is fine." No, no, no. It has an idea that it's secretly been developing throughout the entire series and it follows through with it, allowing you to experience the joy, but also the sadness of it as well. Now, here's the thing, if you've never seen this show and you're like, "Well, I don't want to watch it, I just want to see what the big reveal is," you're going to look it up and it's not going to be like that big a deal. If you just read what's going on or you just watched the last episode on its own, you're not going to get what stands out about it. It really is like The Straight Story, you just have to go through the whole thing in order to experience the emotional, brilliant payoff that it's building up to. And to be fair, if you don't have the time to watch a show like this—a show that even I just said was mostly just okay—I understand that. But if you just jump to the ending and you're like, "What's the big deal?" it really is something where you just got to watch all the episodes, then you'll really get it. It can't really be told, it has to be experienced. The show works very cleverly like that, it does play the long game.
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): So is that a recommendation? Yes, but I do want to make it very clear. Whether it's for kids or adults, it is mostly aimed at a younger crowd, and that is the route it mainly stays on. But if you do stick with it throughout the entire time, it does reward you for that, and honestly, it's not a bad show at all to stick around for to get to that point. It just doesn't consistently have something for everyone like, say, Phineas and Ferb or DuckTales and so forth. But it is a good show, I do recommend it. If you watch the first few episodes, that's mainly what you're going to get throughout the majority of the show. And if you're really enjoying that, great, you're going to have a ball. If you're indifferent to it, I would still say probably give it a chance. I don't know, maybe I'm overhyping the ending and not everyone's going to get the same reaction out of it that I did, but if you do, you'll see why it was worth it. It may not necessarily be the best in the short run, but it's definitely really great in the long run.
(The last scene from the series finale where a bird is shown flying up in the sky is shown)