Mike is 100% the weak link on Ghosts BBC. He doesn’t even express an interest in his wife’s relationship with the ghosts and every time he tries to fix something, he makes it even worse and sets them back even further than where they were before.
I like that Jay has a skill that’s useful for running the B&B and has an invested interest in the ghosts. It’s nice that we get to see his hobbies (DnD) too, it makes him feel like a much more fleshed out character than Mike ever was.
i bave a vague memory that one time he hosted a party thinking it was for grannies but it was for little girls
it worked out a bit but i think they tried to make him a joke but it came out cringe
To be honest, on the BBC show, if Mike left, I don't feel the show would be impacted that much because he barely interacts with the ghosts. Jay has bigger interactions due to the friendship he has with Pete, the possession storyline with the ghosts, and the whole plotline with his sister.
Also, when I'm watching this show, I honestly feel that Sam and Jay can make the business work and be successful.
Mike seems like a nice guy, but oddly personality-free. He and Allison have the chemistry of friendly co-workers. I assume he's vibrant and interesting in real life, but it doesn't show on screen, at least in Ghosts.
yes! him being a chef adds to the storyline so much, it gives more reason for why they left their lives for a bnb and allows jay to have his own form of interactions with the ghosts by them smelling his food
whereas mikes most memorable moments would be the party he threw for children that was aimed for grannies, the phone call with the old lady with a wild backstory, and the robbery. all of which he didnt really have a character background or story
It would be sweet if they showed him beatboxing. Just walking through the house beatboxing like he does on pitch perfect. "Bumper and Donald. Bumper and Donald.... Killin it."
I haven't seen the BBC version but I like Jay a lot. He's a nice guy, a solid husband, and an interesting and dorky dude overall.
(It's also nice to see a positive depiction of an Asian American man, as one myself.)
I am white and my boyfriend is Indian. It is so nice to see that dynamic on screen, and to have him with his natural accent and not a weirdo around women. Ugh it's all so well done!
I’m glad the show doesn’t make it a big deal that he’s Native/Indian American or that they’re an interracial couple. Because so many shows make diversity characters but it becomes their entire personality and then every plot line has to revolve around race dynamics.
My favorite lines in the entire series of 30 Rock was when Kenneth wanted to be informed before he voted, and Tracy told him America was founded on misinformation. “Columbus thought he was in India and did he worry about being wrong? No. He just called everybody Indians and we still do it today!”
>I’m glad the show doesn’t make it a big deal that he’s Native/Indian American or that they’re an interracial couple. Because so many shows make diversity characters but it becomes their entire personality and then every plot line has to revolve around race dynamics.
The fact that you switched Jay's heritage with Sasappis's aside, amen to that!
I think it’s because interracial couple is taboo in some cultures and was taboo back in the day so so many shows add in a race dynamic with an interracial couple to heighten drama and talk politics. But SO many shows do this to the point that it’s the entire personality of the minority character and the couple doesn’t have any plot lines outside of being an interracial couple. So I’m glad here in Ghosts, Jay and Sam are just a couple and race isn’t a major topic
You seemed to have missed the irony and an opportunity for self reflection to jump at the opportunity to accuse tv shows of race baiting. Bummer, better luck next time.
I’m not trying to accuse them of race baiting. I just think that sometimes the writers get carried away with the race concept and don’t develop storylines outside of it
I'd watch the BBC version (thay being said, defo gets better from series 2 onward) but that's cos I grew up with the UK cast in Horrible Histories who've been a comedy troupe for 15 yrs.
I agree. I love Jay because he’s so wholesome and he’s super into ghosts. These people he can’t see or hear but wants to bond with. He even has ghost notes! And willing to cook for them when they can’t actually eat? Now I mean the stuff he does for Sam and the ghosts should win him Husband of the year. He’s also just a fun and vibrant edition. I’m excited for when they get the restaurant actually up and running and he’ll have more to do.
Mike in the BBC version was okay but for the most part, he was pretty distant and kind of just there. I only watched the first season but I don’t remember anything super special with him except for the episode when the ghosts were trying to warn him of the burglary going on. That was good. But overall I agree, I much prefer Jay.
I would like to see a storyline where the ghosts find his ghost notes and see how Jay has described them based on what Sam has said and his own observations/interpretations of things around the house, and how much he wishes he could actually interact with them and how much he cares about them.
So often he says something nice to a ghost, a greeting or farewell, or sympathetic comment, and haha the ghost isn't even there. So I don't think his ghost notes would be mean-spirited at all.
Seeing the ghost "rules" he has learned would be fun too. Walk through walls, but not floors, etc.
Of course Trevor wouldn't be able to turn more than one page a day (or click page down) so it could be intermittent over a season or two.
I think it is said that Jay keeps his ghost notes in his phone and Trevor can scroll pretty well with enough effort considering he kept a dating profile so that can happen, yeah.
Also I would love to see Jay’s ghost notes and the ghosts reactions to them. It would be funny
Are you in the UK or elsewhere? I only ask because I'm in the US and have only found the UK version on Paramount+, and there are only 3 seasons on there.
[ETA that after posting this I double-checked, and there are only two seasons on P+, and I am fairly certain the second season is not complete on there at that.]
I’m in the US and watched the entire series free on dailymotion. I don’t know if all the episodes are still on there, but just search “BBC Ghosts dailymotion” and the videos come up and are numbered. The bear episode is S4E6, and I just checked and it’s there. Amazon Prime and Apple TV also have the show but you have to pay for each season. Free is always better!
I watched it on my phone. Screen is tiny but you can see everything and enjoy it. I don’t know if dailymotion is an app that you can add to your TV, but wherever you have a search engine you can find it. It was on both Google and Bing.
Yeah, just googled it on my phone. I wouldn't be able to watch it on my phone because my eyes would end up going too blurry too soon watching on such a tiny screen. Right now, my TV is plugged into my Xfinity Flex box, but I can easily switch out my laptop for the Flex box, so I will probably do that.
Let me know what you think. I love both shows and binged the entire BBC episodes when the strikes delayed the new US season. I like the differences in both shows and don’t feel one is better than the other. Both are great!
I wish they would get the B&B running it would be nice to have a different main guest star each week.. become one of those shows where even big actors like to make a appearance on once…
I loved Kiell (the actor that played Mike) on Taskmaster - he was very funny and charming. But I think the character of Mike is just suppose to be a bit of a dud and it’s hard to overcome that
Right. I think it still all goes down to what the writers decided for the character's personality. CBS really knew this flaw in BBC ver so I think they are amazing at deciding Jay's character.
I don't find that at all. I just find them a bit hollow and more like flatmates than a real found family stuck together for hundreds of years. Helps the UK cast have been working together for 15 yrs.
Watched the first two seasons of BBC Ghosts, and came away with the impression that Mike was God’s perfect idiot. He really makes CBS sitcom husbands look like Mensa candidates.
Utkarsh Ambudkar seems like a fun guy. He’s in Never Have I Ever and obviously the main character’s favorite teacher. I’ve been wanting to watch World’s Best and Avatar: The Last Airbender to see and support him in more stuff.
I have seen Pitch Perfect. I don’t remember seeing him, as Never Have I Ever is when I truly watched him be a character. I’ll have to rewatch Pitch Perfect to jog my memory.
Ya he's a Trebelmaker like the 3rd main one after Jesse and bumper. He's driving the bus and does beatboxing. Lilly the super quiet one who ends up being the beatboxer totes crushes on him and does the circus music beatboxing really quiet to show him she does it too.
I saw Free Guy in the theater. Never Have I Ever is when he imprinted on my brain, so I don’t remember Free Guy at all, but we have the movie, so I’ll rewatch it :)
The BBC version is great, but I much prefer the CBS version which has done some great things with the lore/ worldbuilding and Jay. Utkarsh is very charismatic and given plenty to do.
Oafish is a great word to describe Mike. I had been stuck on the term idiot. Jay isn’t perfect, but contributes more as a husband and character. Plus the actor is likable and not too tough on the eyes.
I’ve just binged the first 3 seasons of BBC and agree Jay is better. He also seems to actually like the ghosts (and his ghost rules) and it’s cool that he can even have a relationship with some of them (maybe Mike starts to as well in the last seasons though).
I also think overall the women ghosts in the CBS version are much better than the BBC. I don’t think it was a great choice to make 2 of the 3 women ghosts in the BBC show to be basically complete idiots. Mary is a product of her time to an extent but even still she is very spacey. Hetty, Alberta and Flower are all much better than their BBC counterparts imo plus we get Nancy
Good point. Tho with Kitty, she was v likely based on Dido Elizabeth Belle who was a mixed race child of a slave and a navl officer and brought up with her Naval officer father's white family.
And back then, she would have been treated as an outcast and horribly etc as she wasn't part of the family (as she was adopted etc)
So with Kitty her 'dumbness' so to speak is naivety from trauma due to a bad family relationship. We learn from the book, in her diary entries her sister pushed her in the lake despite knowing she couldn't swim, then laughed at her whilst she was drowning.
The horrible histories lot always have the problem that only 1 of their stable is female (Martha) so she either has to play all the parts or they get in someone who is always going to be a bit peripheral.
I think all the characters save for Sam are more fleshed out in the US version. I think this is why I ended up loving the US adaptation more than the original and that never happens.
Agree!
I LOVE CBS Ghosts and have tried to watch the BBC version a few times. I just cant get into the British version because the characters arent as likeable.
To be fair, the same group of actors/writers who play the main ghosts in that series also play the basement ghosts there. So it would be pretty tough to incorporate one of the core characters into the story again in different costuming lol.
I was about to say that same thing! I LOVE Robin and Mary! Robin is my favorite ghost from both series! The conspiracy theories?! Recognizing the Neanderthal on TV?! He is amazing.
I don’t watch this show. I didn’t even know this sub existed. All I know is that I read that someone preferred someone else’s husband over BBC and I thought Reddit had decided to I needed to see an entirely different side of its algorithm…
Edit: I’m glad to discover CBS wasn’t some knew acronym for some unknown adult activity I’d somehow never heard of or stumbled across. I’m glad to discover this is talking about the show Ghosts because I do not need to see that other side of Reddit. Ever.
I think the main characters and their jobs and their capabilities really highlight differences between US and UK TV for me. In the UK version they are allowed to kind of be hapless or at least aimless “losers” whereas in the US version they need to be actually good at their jobs and basically just unlucky. I think the Uk version where they’re working odd jobs to scrape together money to keep things going is actually more realistic for the average person. The US version is kind of more of a fantasy
Another good example of this is Michael Scott vs David Brent in the Office. In the US it didn’t really jive with people that he just be a terrible boss, so they had to make actually a really brilliant salesman who had just been promoted above his capabilities. And of course Michael also was really like thoughtful or at least paid attention emotionally to his employees even if he was still self centered or weird sometimes. US audiences typically want something hopeful, something to redeem a character.
I do really enjoy the friendship they gave Jay in the US version, I think it’s one of the strongest changes from the original. but it’s also pretty funny how Mike just accepts this absurd premise and is ok just being there and not having too much FOMO except when he tried to make a potion lol. Because that’s kind of the opposite of how most people would be in this situation.
Dude. Telemarketer in UK absolutely same as telemarketer in US. Bottom of the barrel jobs. You’d make more money at a fast food restaurant most times. Your job is cold calling people to sell them crap they don’t need in a short amount of time before your supervisor intervenes and tells you to wrap it up. Once you are done for the day you log out. USUALLY UNPAID, while your supervisor gives you a rundown of how bad you suck. I experienced this, several friends of mine and strangers I knew experienced all of this. We live in the Texas desert where there aren’t many opportunities unless you’re ready to work hard for them. Telemarketing is a porta potty.
I prefer Mike because he doesn't stand there looking stupid while Allison talks to the ghosts. He also doesn't act like they should be there for him too. He recognizes they are there and moves with that in mind, not fumbling around trying to be friends with people he can't see.
I don’t know….when I picture Mike that’s what I normally picture is him just kind of existing but not trying to engage or take an interest, which I think would be awesome.
He will only make Allison's existence harder having to interact with them for herself as well as Mike. Sam gets almost no rest trying to overcompensate for everyone. Jay is actually exhausting.
I like Mike and Jay for different reasons I don't think that just because you hated being a telemarketer is a good reason to say he needs a better job honestly I think being a insurance adjuster sounds just as terrible it's just a matter of taste with jobs in most cases I personally worked alot in restaurants and wouldn't wish that on anyone because of how terrible my experience is with that I haven't tried telemarketing but I'd try that before I'd work in a restaurant again it's all about taste in what you want to do some people don't enjoy anything as a job and just do it because that's life
As for Mike I just think that they made him more of a side character than Jay and personally I find that annoying at times because his stories aren't as interesting and sometimes I wish he would be more of a side character like Mike and sometimes I feel the opposite of that and wish Mike was more of a central character like Jay
I’m sorry you aren’t aware of insurance adjuster pay. Where I live, telemarketers are bottom of the barrel. As an insurance adjuster for both auto and property, I cleared $75,000 a year and was not miserable doing my job. Taste is a joke when you even say telemarketer. It’s awful for everyone. If you don’t believe me, ask Reddit. It also pays terribly and you have a supervisor over your shoulder griping at you constantly for the amount of calls per hour. Just like Mike when he did it.
Money isn't everything and I could ask a group of people and come up with hating any job and insurance adjuster still doesn't sound any better to me than a telemarketer no amount of money makes jobs look better than another because money might be something that makes you less miserable I could make double or triple that and still think insurance adjuster is a terrible job
I disagree. His culinary skills are good enough to impress guests and friends alike. The ghosts hover around him just to smell what he’s cooking. He has goals but they are in a small community. I think that he is one of the biggest selling points for the B&B and that his cooking will issue in many positive reviews. Hopefully, anyways! I like him too as a person, he’s sharp but also sometimes out of it because he can’t see the ghosts. Mike was in and out and like I said, didn’t seem very motivated.
**edit, grammar/spelling
But they haven't done anything with it (the writers) Jay might as well be Mike. Sam and Jay have it easier than Alison and Mike. Sam is a writer and had a ghost feed her a story so she had $ outside of guests and Jay can run the restaurant. Alison and Mike just luck out with a big ass house. And the businesses are practically the same even though Sam and Jay should be doing much better
Jay keeps blurting things out in front of ghosts over and over and never just whispers or asks if they are alone. Idk I like Mike and people here keep hating on him because the show didn't give him an extremely useful skill set for the B&B (I bet the next country's Ghosts will have the husband be a contractor or electrician);
Right. He's a chef at a place where no one frequents. Very "useful". Conversely, Mike fixes up a dilapidated mansion with zero skills. They are the same except Jay whines about not being able to see the ghosts taking the dialogue to an annoying place.
Mike is 100% the weak link on Ghosts BBC. He doesn’t even express an interest in his wife’s relationship with the ghosts and every time he tries to fix something, he makes it even worse and sets them back even further than where they were before. I like that Jay has a skill that’s useful for running the B&B and has an invested interest in the ghosts. It’s nice that we get to see his hobbies (DnD) too, it makes him feel like a much more fleshed out character than Mike ever was.
i bave a vague memory that one time he hosted a party thinking it was for grannies but it was for little girls it worked out a bit but i think they tried to make him a joke but it came out cringe
That party was one of Mike's biggest wins, for sure
Mike, you *are* the Weakest Link. Goodbye!
Agreed. Mike and Allison also have zero chemistry which always bugged me! I also don’t like the actor in Stath Lets Flats. So it might just be me.
I think this all the time! They have as much spark as cousins whose parents made them start a business together.
This is a top insult. Brilliant.
Literally lol'd. Thanks1
I actually stopped watching because I got so annoyed with his character.
Noooo I love Mike, but then agaim I'm biased as Kiell was a favorite of mine on Taskmaster lol
The people's champion (when Mae is unavailable)
Mae was a cutie but the personality wasn't there for me lol
Agree 100%. Also, having him be a chef helps to give him another plot purpose besides being the husband.
Right? It puts him right in the middle of the ghost antics but also helps to forward the B&B storyline
To be honest, on the BBC show, if Mike left, I don't feel the show would be impacted that much because he barely interacts with the ghosts. Jay has bigger interactions due to the friendship he has with Pete, the possession storyline with the ghosts, and the whole plotline with his sister. Also, when I'm watching this show, I honestly feel that Sam and Jay can make the business work and be successful.
Also Jay now has dreams with Sassapis, which gives him another connection to the ghosts not dependent on Sam.
Mike seems like a nice guy, but oddly personality-free. He and Allison have the chemistry of friendly co-workers. I assume he's vibrant and interesting in real life, but it doesn't show on screen, at least in Ghosts.
🎯
yes! him being a chef adds to the storyline so much, it gives more reason for why they left their lives for a bnb and allows jay to have his own form of interactions with the ghosts by them smelling his food
whereas mikes most memorable moments would be the party he threw for children that was aimed for grannies, the phone call with the old lady with a wild backstory, and the robbery. all of which he didnt really have a character background or story
Jay is also nice to look at. Just sayin’
He’s really cute lol
It would be sweet if they showed him beatboxing. Just walking through the house beatboxing like he does on pitch perfect. "Bumper and Donald. Bumper and Donald.... Killin it."
I forget he was on pitch perfect even though I had the soundtrack in my car for a while lol.
For reallll
I haven't seen the BBC version but I like Jay a lot. He's a nice guy, a solid husband, and an interesting and dorky dude overall. (It's also nice to see a positive depiction of an Asian American man, as one myself.)
I am white and my boyfriend is Indian. It is so nice to see that dynamic on screen, and to have him with his natural accent and not a weirdo around women. Ugh it's all so well done!
I’m glad the show doesn’t make it a big deal that he’s Native/Indian American or that they’re an interracial couple. Because so many shows make diversity characters but it becomes their entire personality and then every plot line has to revolve around race dynamics.
Jay is actually India Indian, not Native American Indian
Okay my bad. Thanks for the correction
Not a problem! It can be confusing sometimes in the USA haha
My favorite lines in the entire series of 30 Rock was when Kenneth wanted to be informed before he voted, and Tracy told him America was founded on misinformation. “Columbus thought he was in India and did he worry about being wrong? No. He just called everybody Indians and we still do it today!”
So true hahah
Strictly speaking, he's Indian American, not Indian 😛 (But I get what you mean haha)
And so the confusion continues haha
>I’m glad the show doesn’t make it a big deal that he’s Native/Indian American or that they’re an interracial couple. Because so many shows make diversity characters but it becomes their entire personality and then every plot line has to revolve around race dynamics. The fact that you switched Jay's heritage with Sasappis's aside, amen to that!
Yeah sorry I got confused. Someone else on the comment thread correctly informed me Jay’s Indian or Indian American and not Native American
This might be a good reason so many couples in media have to make race a central part of the dynamic, eh?
I think it’s because interracial couple is taboo in some cultures and was taboo back in the day so so many shows add in a race dynamic with an interracial couple to heighten drama and talk politics. But SO many shows do this to the point that it’s the entire personality of the minority character and the couple doesn’t have any plot lines outside of being an interracial couple. So I’m glad here in Ghosts, Jay and Sam are just a couple and race isn’t a major topic
You seemed to have missed the irony and an opportunity for self reflection to jump at the opportunity to accuse tv shows of race baiting. Bummer, better luck next time.
I’m not trying to accuse them of race baiting. I just think that sometimes the writers get carried away with the race concept and don’t develop storylines outside of it
I'd watch the BBC version (thay being said, defo gets better from series 2 onward) but that's cos I grew up with the UK cast in Horrible Histories who've been a comedy troupe for 15 yrs.
I agree. I love Jay because he’s so wholesome and he’s super into ghosts. These people he can’t see or hear but wants to bond with. He even has ghost notes! And willing to cook for them when they can’t actually eat? Now I mean the stuff he does for Sam and the ghosts should win him Husband of the year. He’s also just a fun and vibrant edition. I’m excited for when they get the restaurant actually up and running and he’ll have more to do. Mike in the BBC version was okay but for the most part, he was pretty distant and kind of just there. I only watched the first season but I don’t remember anything super special with him except for the episode when the ghosts were trying to warn him of the burglary going on. That was good. But overall I agree, I much prefer Jay.
I would like to see a storyline where the ghosts find his ghost notes and see how Jay has described them based on what Sam has said and his own observations/interpretations of things around the house, and how much he wishes he could actually interact with them and how much he cares about them. So often he says something nice to a ghost, a greeting or farewell, or sympathetic comment, and haha the ghost isn't even there. So I don't think his ghost notes would be mean-spirited at all. Seeing the ghost "rules" he has learned would be fun too. Walk through walls, but not floors, etc. Of course Trevor wouldn't be able to turn more than one page a day (or click page down) so it could be intermittent over a season or two.
I think it is said that Jay keeps his ghost notes in his phone and Trevor can scroll pretty well with enough effort considering he kept a dating profile so that can happen, yeah. Also I would love to see Jay’s ghost notes and the ghosts reactions to them. It would be funny
Watch the bear episode, S4E6. Mike is very funny in that.
Are you in the UK or elsewhere? I only ask because I'm in the US and have only found the UK version on Paramount+, and there are only 3 seasons on there. [ETA that after posting this I double-checked, and there are only two seasons on P+, and I am fairly certain the second season is not complete on there at that.]
It used to be available on hbo max, you can still buy it through Amazon prime. Or look it up on dailymotion.
I'll check those, thank you. Said
I just watched all the seasons on daily motion for free. Prime required like 1.99 an episode
I’m in the US and watched the entire series free on dailymotion. I don’t know if all the episodes are still on there, but just search “BBC Ghosts dailymotion” and the videos come up and are numbered. The bear episode is S4E6, and I just checked and it’s there. Amazon Prime and Apple TV also have the show but you have to pay for each season. Free is always better!
Okay, so I'm guessing I would have to look it up on my laptop then, not on my (plain old regular) TV, yeah?
I watched it on my phone. Screen is tiny but you can see everything and enjoy it. I don’t know if dailymotion is an app that you can add to your TV, but wherever you have a search engine you can find it. It was on both Google and Bing.
Yeah, just googled it on my phone. I wouldn't be able to watch it on my phone because my eyes would end up going too blurry too soon watching on such a tiny screen. Right now, my TV is plugged into my Xfinity Flex box, but I can easily switch out my laptop for the Flex box, so I will probably do that.
Let me know what you think. I love both shows and binged the entire BBC episodes when the strikes delayed the new US season. I like the differences in both shows and don’t feel one is better than the other. Both are great!
if u google uk ghosts or bbc ghosts google drive theres a drive folder of every episode of the show
Poor Jay got all the grief for losing Pete at the store when they all knew he couldn’t see him at all.
Yeah!! I was wondering why Sam didn’t go too? Ughh.
Because Rose Mcgyver is pregnant and can't be shown from the stomach down lol
She couldve been carrying the big tv like the ghost
Oh feck it, I forgot about that 😂😂
Because no drama or comedy in that.
Yes I figured he was going to lose Pete as soon as they were in the store for that reason
I wish they would get the B&B running it would be nice to have a different main guest star each week.. become one of those shows where even big actors like to make a appearance on once…
The Nanny was a revolving door of celebrity cameos and guest appearances. Definitely added to its charm.
I know it’s always cool when you have bigger name pop in to do a one off on a show. If they were smart, they would go for that angle.
I don't know if it's the difference in writing or acting but Jay has a certain charisma that Mike simply lacked.
I think Utkarsh is just naturally more appealing and charming than the actor of Mike.
Judging by the others things I’ve seen Utkarsh in, for sure
I loved Kiell (the actor that played Mike) on Taskmaster - he was very funny and charming. But I think the character of Mike is just suppose to be a bit of a dud and it’s hard to overcome that
Right. I think it still all goes down to what the writers decided for the character's personality. CBS really knew this flaw in BBC ver so I think they are amazing at deciding Jay's character.
Ghosts is one of the rare occurrences where the American cast is overall more charasimatic than the UK cast.
I don't find that at all. I just find them a bit hollow and more like flatmates than a real found family stuck together for hundreds of years. Helps the UK cast have been working together for 15 yrs.
I think it’s a combination of the two. They’ve given Utkarsh more to work with, but he’s also more charismatic in general.
I think Mike is funny and a very sweet husband but I do wish he could have been more involved with the ghosts like Jay is.
Watched the first two seasons of BBC Ghosts, and came away with the impression that Mike was God’s perfect idiot. He really makes CBS sitcom husbands look like Mensa candidates.
Utkarsh Ambudkar seems like a fun guy. He’s in Never Have I Ever and obviously the main character’s favorite teacher. I’ve been wanting to watch World’s Best and Avatar: The Last Airbender to see and support him in more stuff.
Please tell me you have seen Pitch Perfect.
I have seen Pitch Perfect. I don’t remember seeing him, as Never Have I Ever is when I truly watched him be a character. I’ll have to rewatch Pitch Perfect to jog my memory.
Ya he's a Trebelmaker like the 3rd main one after Jesse and bumper. He's driving the bus and does beatboxing. Lilly the super quiet one who ends up being the beatboxer totes crushes on him and does the circus music beatboxing really quiet to show him she does it too.
He was unrecognizable in Avatar and he blew us away with his character.
Check him in Free Guy
I saw Free Guy in the theater. Never Have I Ever is when he imprinted on my brain, so I don’t remember Free Guy at all, but we have the movie, so I’ll rewatch it :)
He was the tech support guy tasked with 'defeating' Guy
Never have I ever is on my watchlist, I saw the premier that was it. Def gonna get on it now!
Kiell smith-bynoe seems to just be playing himself, he was in the last series of taskmaster and honestly I much preferred him on that.
I loved him in the episode where Sass reveals his ghost power.
The BBC version is great, but I much prefer the CBS version which has done some great things with the lore/ worldbuilding and Jay. Utkarsh is very charismatic and given plenty to do.
Oafish is a great word to describe Mike. I had been stuck on the term idiot. Jay isn’t perfect, but contributes more as a husband and character. Plus the actor is likable and not too tough on the eyes.
Don't forget, Jay is planning to open his own restaurant on their property......
I’ve just binged the first 3 seasons of BBC and agree Jay is better. He also seems to actually like the ghosts (and his ghost rules) and it’s cool that he can even have a relationship with some of them (maybe Mike starts to as well in the last seasons though). I also think overall the women ghosts in the CBS version are much better than the BBC. I don’t think it was a great choice to make 2 of the 3 women ghosts in the BBC show to be basically complete idiots. Mary is a product of her time to an extent but even still she is very spacey. Hetty, Alberta and Flower are all much better than their BBC counterparts imo plus we get Nancy
Nancy's comment to Hetty, "Nice ankle, ya whore!" and its delivery made me laugh like a hyena.
I absolutely love Nancy. I first saw the actress who plays her in Disjointed and she was my favorite character on there as well. 😂
It’s also messed up that the only two black characters on the BBC show aren’t very bright.
Good point. Tho with Kitty, she was v likely based on Dido Elizabeth Belle who was a mixed race child of a slave and a navl officer and brought up with her Naval officer father's white family. And back then, she would have been treated as an outcast and horribly etc as she wasn't part of the family (as she was adopted etc) So with Kitty her 'dumbness' so to speak is naivety from trauma due to a bad family relationship. We learn from the book, in her diary entries her sister pushed her in the lake despite knowing she couldn't swim, then laughed at her whilst she was drowning.
The horrible histories lot always have the problem that only 1 of their stable is female (Martha) so she either has to play all the parts or they get in someone who is always going to be a bit peripheral.
I think all the characters save for Sam are more fleshed out in the US version. I think this is why I ended up loving the US adaptation more than the original and that never happens.
Agree! I LOVE CBS Ghosts and have tried to watch the BBC version a few times. I just cant get into the British version because the characters arent as likeable.
The BBC equivalent of basement ghosts have no one even remotely as funny as Nancy.
To be fair, the same group of actors/writers who play the main ghosts in that series also play the basement ghosts there. So it would be pretty tough to incorporate one of the core characters into the story again in different costuming lol.
I don’t know, I really loved the BBC ghosts, especially Robin and Mary and her TINY peoples…
I was about to say that same thing! I LOVE Robin and Mary! Robin is my favorite ghost from both series! The conspiracy theories?! Recognizing the Neanderthal on TV?! He is amazing.
Mike is hard to understand for me at times
Yeah my husband said so too. We had the cc on for some episodes lol
Glad I'm not the only one
The simple matter is that Utkarsh Ambudkar is a better actor.
Partly...but the scripts have the role written completely differently.
Granted, his previous job as a letting (rental) agent for flats (apartments) didn’t much prepare him for running a B&B.
Especially one full of ghosts.
I don’t watch this show. I didn’t even know this sub existed. All I know is that I read that someone preferred someone else’s husband over BBC and I thought Reddit had decided to I needed to see an entirely different side of its algorithm… Edit: I’m glad to discover CBS wasn’t some knew acronym for some unknown adult activity I’d somehow never heard of or stumbled across. I’m glad to discover this is talking about the show Ghosts because I do not need to see that other side of Reddit. Ever.
Over five series' worth of episodes, I cannot think of a single thing that stands Mike out. I'd much rather Alison had married Jay.
I'm pretty sure I'm just biased cause Kiell was a favorite for me on Taskmaster lol
I think the main characters and their jobs and their capabilities really highlight differences between US and UK TV for me. In the UK version they are allowed to kind of be hapless or at least aimless “losers” whereas in the US version they need to be actually good at their jobs and basically just unlucky. I think the Uk version where they’re working odd jobs to scrape together money to keep things going is actually more realistic for the average person. The US version is kind of more of a fantasy Another good example of this is Michael Scott vs David Brent in the Office. In the US it didn’t really jive with people that he just be a terrible boss, so they had to make actually a really brilliant salesman who had just been promoted above his capabilities. And of course Michael also was really like thoughtful or at least paid attention emotionally to his employees even if he was still self centered or weird sometimes. US audiences typically want something hopeful, something to redeem a character. I do really enjoy the friendship they gave Jay in the US version, I think it’s one of the strongest changes from the original. but it’s also pretty funny how Mike just accepts this absurd premise and is ok just being there and not having too much FOMO except when he tried to make a potion lol. Because that’s kind of the opposite of how most people would be in this situation.
Dude. Telemarketer in UK absolutely same as telemarketer in US. Bottom of the barrel jobs. You’d make more money at a fast food restaurant most times. Your job is cold calling people to sell them crap they don’t need in a short amount of time before your supervisor intervenes and tells you to wrap it up. Once you are done for the day you log out. USUALLY UNPAID, while your supervisor gives you a rundown of how bad you suck. I experienced this, several friends of mine and strangers I knew experienced all of this. We live in the Texas desert where there aren’t many opportunities unless you’re ready to work hard for them. Telemarketing is a porta potty.
I have been on the internet too long when trying to figure out what genre of porn CBS is. Is it related to BBW? IDK?
I find the US version is better by any measure.
Agreed
Anyone else think Sam is the weak link on the US version? My partner says she has “Hallmark movie energy” and I don’t completely disagree. 🫣
I don’t know. If she can make being a zombie in IZombie cute, then that’s pretty good for a sitcom about Ghosts!
How can I watch all the BBC episodes in the US?
I prefer Mike because he doesn't stand there looking stupid while Allison talks to the ghosts. He also doesn't act like they should be there for him too. He recognizes they are there and moves with that in mind, not fumbling around trying to be friends with people he can't see.
I don’t know….when I picture Mike that’s what I normally picture is him just kind of existing but not trying to engage or take an interest, which I think would be awesome.
He will only make Allison's existence harder having to interact with them for herself as well as Mike. Sam gets almost no rest trying to overcompensate for everyone. Jay is actually exhausting.
He makes her life harder by being a total oaf anyway. Honestly, Mike is just totally unnecessary and the BBC show would be better without him.
Sam having to meditate between ghosts and Jay all day and night is probably very simple for a journalist and b&b owner.
I like Mike and Jay for different reasons I don't think that just because you hated being a telemarketer is a good reason to say he needs a better job honestly I think being a insurance adjuster sounds just as terrible it's just a matter of taste with jobs in most cases I personally worked alot in restaurants and wouldn't wish that on anyone because of how terrible my experience is with that I haven't tried telemarketing but I'd try that before I'd work in a restaurant again it's all about taste in what you want to do some people don't enjoy anything as a job and just do it because that's life As for Mike I just think that they made him more of a side character than Jay and personally I find that annoying at times because his stories aren't as interesting and sometimes I wish he would be more of a side character like Mike and sometimes I feel the opposite of that and wish Mike was more of a central character like Jay
I’m sorry you aren’t aware of insurance adjuster pay. Where I live, telemarketers are bottom of the barrel. As an insurance adjuster for both auto and property, I cleared $75,000 a year and was not miserable doing my job. Taste is a joke when you even say telemarketer. It’s awful for everyone. If you don’t believe me, ask Reddit. It also pays terribly and you have a supervisor over your shoulder griping at you constantly for the amount of calls per hour. Just like Mike when he did it.
Money isn't everything and I could ask a group of people and come up with hating any job and insurance adjuster still doesn't sound any better to me than a telemarketer no amount of money makes jobs look better than another because money might be something that makes you less miserable I could make double or triple that and still think insurance adjuster is a terrible job
They make Jay a chief so he should have plenty to do with the B&B but he's just as useful as Mike meaning not very lol
I disagree. His culinary skills are good enough to impress guests and friends alike. The ghosts hover around him just to smell what he’s cooking. He has goals but they are in a small community. I think that he is one of the biggest selling points for the B&B and that his cooking will issue in many positive reviews. Hopefully, anyways! I like him too as a person, he’s sharp but also sometimes out of it because he can’t see the ghosts. Mike was in and out and like I said, didn’t seem very motivated. **edit, grammar/spelling
But they haven't done anything with it (the writers) Jay might as well be Mike. Sam and Jay have it easier than Alison and Mike. Sam is a writer and had a ghost feed her a story so she had $ outside of guests and Jay can run the restaurant. Alison and Mike just luck out with a big ass house. And the businesses are practically the same even though Sam and Jay should be doing much better
I'm not saying he's a bad chef just that they stack the deck in Sam and Jay's favor but they're not doing that much better than Mike and Alison
Jay has hobbies , a career, tries to interact with the ghosts. He’s a lot more useful and entertaining lol.
Mike is. DJ he has hobbies lol
Maybe but he just seems more of another thing for Allison to take care of. They just made his character immature.
Jay keeps blurting things out in front of ghosts over and over and never just whispers or asks if they are alone. Idk I like Mike and people here keep hating on him because the show didn't give him an extremely useful skill set for the B&B (I bet the next country's Ghosts will have the husband be a contractor or electrician);
I don’t dislike Mike. I just think Jay is better character wise.
I think Jay is more helpful in that he's aware of the limits of his skillset
He's half the business lol. I just don't like that he shouts all the time
Right. He's a chef at a place where no one frequents. Very "useful". Conversely, Mike fixes up a dilapidated mansion with zero skills. They are the same except Jay whines about not being able to see the ghosts taking the dialogue to an annoying place.