Grant, Jason, and the TAPS crew continue their record-breaking third season with a slew of spine-tingling investigations! From a seemingly haunted church to a World War II battleship, there is never shortage of supposed... more » paranormal activity for the Ghost Hunters to seek to explain. Join the team as they investigate the mansion of a murdered Rhode Island governor and a haunted city hall. Then, go west, to an insane asylum in Seattle, a former Spanish fortress in San Francisco, and to Los Angeles for a tale of two Charlies ? Manson and Chaplin that is! First, it?s up to the site of the Sharon Tate murder and then to Charlie Chaplin Studios which has been the source of many an interesting story of ghostly happenings both on and off screen! Plus a plethora of additional investigations and bonus footage never before seen on TV!« less
"The team bickering that plagued season 1 & some of season two is down played in season 3. Jason & Grant's team works more like a well oiled machine. If you are new to the series, you should start with either of the season 3 sets. Watch the earlier seasons afterward to see how it started.
There is one ghastly episode: the "Manson House". Those who are old enough to remember the Charles Manson massacres in the 1960's may find this bringing back bad memories. Even Jason & Grant looked disturbed by the gruesome details.
The top-notch episodes in this half of the season are:
U.S.S. LEXINGTON & WARWICK CITY HALL
THE JIM HENSON STUDIOS & THE "MANSON" HOUSE
NORTHERN STATE HOSPITAL & UNDERGROUND TUNNELS
SAN FRANCISCO PRESIDIO & LULLABY LANE
THE GIBBONS HOUSE & MOORE THEATER
A PRIEST HOUSE & SPRAGUE MANSION
LYCEUM RESTERAUNT & HAWTHORN HOUSE
WAVERLY HILLS SANATORIUM & ATHOL HOUSE
GHOST HUNTERS REVELATIONS
Bonus Material:
Deleted Scenes
Additional Investigations
While not quite as memorable as season 3's set #1, this set is still well worth getting. It is nice to see the team hunting ghosts instead of themselves."
I never grow tired of this show
E. Bevans | Puyallup, WA United States | 02/25/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Like other people who have written reviews, this is absolutely my favorite program to watch. I can't wait for Wednesday night to see the show, even if its a rerun. I've watched other 'ghost hunter' shows (such as Most Haunted) but it doesn't even compare to this. Grant and Jason are awesome, along with Steve, Brian, Tango, Kris and Dustin. I do enjoy Brian - he's a little quirky, but it adds to the chemistry of the people. Hope this is on for years to come!"
Great Show, Awful DVD Quality
M. Thurow | Oshkosh, WI | 05/14/2008
(2 out of 5 stars)
"The Show is Great, what I could see of it!!! I purchased a copy here on Amazon and it froze so many times on disc three I thought I had a bad set, you know bouncing through the mail and all, then I purchased one at Target same issues on disc three, discs one and two had a few spots too. This is a quality issue with the discs seeing that I have now two differant copies from two differant retail outlets. I thought Big Vision may have learned from Season Two's sound issues but it seems that although Ghost Hunters is very good and well worth the watch, but not worth the frustration of the quality issues and lack of advertised "additional Investigations", also the quality is so poor the deleted Scenes on Disc three don't even play. Stay Away until Big Vision corrects the quality."
Where The Show Starts To Go Downhill
Brad | 12/11/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"There are a few episodes in Season 3 Part 2 that are worthwhile, but for the most part Season 3 was tame and increasingly uninteresting.
This is the start of where the show takes a turn away from the reality TV tone, to a more produced, calculated "Jason and Grant investigation follow-through" direction. This would be fine, if it weren't so mundane.
Instead of keeping characters like Brian Harnois on the team, they go for personality lacking people such as Tango, increasing the focus on what is the somewhat snobby, phobia-ridden (yet incredibly uninteresting on his own) Steve, and eventually adding Kris (female) whom, I have no idea what sort of value or background or skills she brings to the group (apparently she likes to do research, but those skills never seem to be shown much). They apparently work well together, there's no in-fighting, drama, and any comedy seems to be staged, and comes-off as fairly lame.
In other words, no drama to track any longer, just long-winded, often mundane investigating in nightvision, with the cameras stuck on Jason and Grant's heads most of the time.
The K-2 sessions are very interesting, and are first filmed in this series (Manson House and Underground Tunnels I believe) but beyond that, they really don't catch a lot of impressive evidence at all, compared to the first two seasons.
TAPS seems to be moving away from IR video evidence, focusing on EVP's, "cold spots," EMF and temperature fluctuations, the K-2 meter, and Thermal Imaging video. Evidence they capture is not replayed very much, or focused on, and they do not go into much detail about the public places they investigate. They typically interview one person who shows them around for a few minutes, then they go lights-out.
The focus on de-bunking seems forced and is often just as mundane as watching them sit around feeling cold spots. Spending 10 minutes trying to figure out how a door might close or open, if car headlights are the cause of possible lights seen in a room, or talking to a doll, is mind numbing.
Gone is the personal touch the first two series had, maybe because of the insane celebrity worship and freaky folks this subject matter attracts (one woman stalked and tried to sue them over TAPS non-profit status). I am not sure, but the show is now almost entirely dedicated to following them through investigations, with evidence being shown once or twice at the end to the client. Steve and Tango really aren't that funny and the staged clips of them reviewing evidence isn't nearly as honest or genuine as the first two seasons when Harnois was involved. You know, Steve making fun of Tango's red headphones, saying they're pink, and refusing to use them. (and that specific example could be from Season 4, can't remember, but you get the idea hopefully)
While I can't say anyone who liked the show from the start wouldn't like Season 3, I just see no reason to buy it on DVD, ecspecially for $20, for just half a season. These DVD's in the past were produced poorly, with an infamous sound issue on Season 2-Part 2, leading to it being re-called. So beyond that I don't really trust the DVD's themselves. The episodes I would care to watch again, I have DVR'd.
Season 4 is a bit better in terms of evidence, but falls deeper into the stale abyss of mundane personalities and robotic characters playing to the camera.
I suppose some of this was inevitable as the show gained popularity, but some if it avoidable and I am disappointed at the direction Jason and Grant have taken with their "empire."
No longer every day plumbers, the show has lost it's personal touch, relatability, and is out of touch with people who do this in their spare time without the publicity. The team drama is very real for people who do this, due to the nature of the subject and how people work together.
It would be nice to also see how people deal with their team work problems and balance their personal lives who do this. The show used to be just as much about that, as investigating - which 90 percent of the time is not very exciting on it's own.
"
Now don't get me wrong...
nowyat | 03/09/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I love Jason and Grant. I really love those moments when Jason confronts a headless floating torso and the only expression he shows is the slight twitching of an eyebrow. And when Grant says, "That's just disturbing..." I tingle all over. That's my idea of fun. But the show has lost SO many members along the way... By the end of part two of season three one rather gets the feeling it's just Jason, Grant, Steve and some lady who I think is an actress. Let's get some real people back on the team. I miss the variety of wacky yet intelligent personalities. I miss the old enthusiasm. I miss the plumbing. If they believed that what they saw was a ghost, well, that was good enough for me. ;)
P.S. Also, the Manson episode was a little morally iffy. If we believe they were tormented souls, can't they at least bless the house by some religion or other? Do you just leave these people in hellish limbo after filming stops? And if we don't believe in ghosts and it's just a tv show, well, it's not really ethical to make money off a relatively recent murder."