This Week: Literally Nothing I Can't Tie Back to Doctor Who

Mikey Heinrich: OK, so lately my only real night of appointment TV is Ghosts and Elsbeth which air Thursdays on CBS. And by night, I do mean that I get around to streaming them sometime Friday or Saturday.

Regardless, this week the new episode of Ghosts was titled "I Know What You Did Thirty-Seven Summers Ago" and the new episode of Elsbeth is titled "I Know What You Did Thirty-Three Summers Ago" and apparently, according to every online source I can think to look at, it's just a complete coincidence.

What are the odds that two episodes with those two titles would coincidentally air back to back on the same night on the same network?

Are we in the Matrix now??

An Honest Fangirl: I know that movies will come out with the same topic at the same time (See Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down), but this is the first time I heard it happening with episode titles!

Billie Doux: It happened once a long time ago with two shows I was reviewing, but I'm blanking out on which ones. Maybe it'll come to me.

Mikey Heinrich: There's a whole swathe of Reddit that's convinced that there was a planned Ghosts/Elsbeth crossover that was going to happen but fell through. I can't even imagine what that would have looked like.

An Honest Fangirl: I have only watched a few episodes of Ghosts (it's my mom's favorite show so I'll watch when I'm visiting at home) but from what I know of the Elsbeth commercials, I can totally see it. The vibes work.

Mikey Heinrich: If it did, I would totally watch it. I can tell you that.

Billie Doux: I'm not a sitcom person but I enjoy Ghosts, and I'm talking about the US version. The UK version was okay, but it felt – I don't know. Meaner? Darker? More negative? The US version makes me laugh and gives me a lift. Can't ask for more than that.

Haven't watched Elsbeth yet but I should.

An Honest Fangirl: Billie, my mom also reported the same experience. She tried the UK version and didn't like it nearly as much!

Victoria Grossack: I've also enjoyed Ghosts (US). My only problem is my inconsistent access due to changing continents.

Billie Doux: The show is just well written and acted and different. The characters are distinct and well realized and fun. Except it feels like they almost never make good use of their lead, Rose McIver, who was amazing at playing so many different characters in iZombie.

Juliette: Ghosts must be super popular because my YouTube videos about it get way more views than anything else! XD My favourite is actually the German version, but I like all of them. The German one balances the spookiness of the British one with the warmth of the American one really well.

Mikey Heinrich: It's pretty impressive how successful they've been with franchising. Has any show ever had versions in so many countries?

Particularly when all of the commercials for the US version kind of go out of their way to hide the fact that the show is funny as much as possible.

Also, I agree. The humor in the UK version is much more mean spirited. It's an interesting comparison.

An Honest Fangirl: It feels like comedy shows do the best when it comes to making a bunch of different, international versions. Comedy and reality shows. I know The Traitors has like three different versions, and I'm pretty sure that Taskmaster has like four. Speaking of, Taskmaster is hilarious. All of them are, although I am partial to the UK one.

Mikey Heinrich: Haven't heard of Taskmaster, but I have wanted to check out The Traitors for Alan Cumming.

Fun fact, the entire concept of selling the basic concept and format of TV shows to other countries for them to do their own version was pioneered by Beryl Vertue. She's the reason that the British show Steptoe and Son was remade in America as Sanford and Son. Likewise the British show Till Death Us Do Part was remade as All in the Family.

She was also Steven Moffat's mother-in-law, because there's literally nothing that I can't tie back to Doctor Who.

And speaking of, as a British TV producer and a woman, she owes some debt for her career to Verity Lambert.

An Honest Fangirl: Oh, Taskmaster is great. It's basically a bunch of comedians doing absolutely ridiculous tasks, like fitting a cat-sized horse statue through the smallest gap possible. Players then get points, and are usually mocked by the Taskmaster himself, Greg Davies. I regularly cried laughing.

Billie Doux: I don't always prefer the American version. Much preferred the British version of Being Human.

Mikey Heinrich: Russell Tovey IS terribly dreamy :)