ghost hunters halloween live special

The Ghost Hunters name is starting to rival CSI and Law & Order in the spinoff department. What else do all three of these franchises share? There's just as much hard paranormal evidence in the last two as appears in the first.

Please don't misunderstand me -- since I've gone off on this topic before. I'm not saying ghosts don't exist. I'm not saying there's no afterlife. I don't begrudge any scientific investigation into parapsychology or realms described as paranormal. I'd just like any of the endless march of "ghost-based" shows to dig up one scintilla of proof that they found something and, therefore, deserve to be on TV every week.

The latest entry is Syfy's Ghost Hunter's Academy -- sort of Most Haunted meets The Rookies from the 70s. Each week, ghost hunting "professors" (the show's conceit, not mine) Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango welcome first-time paranormal investigators onto The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) team.

Part of my Halloween tradition is to watch the Ghost Hunters Halloween Live special, broadcast (live, of course) from some spooky place somewhere in the country. Tonight, the crew is at the Essex County Hospital in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, along with some recruits from the new Ghost Hunters Academy, which premieres Wed., Nov. 11 at 10/9c.

It's pretty cool because you can log into the Syfy Web site and watch the live feeds on several cameras positioned around the hospital in dark tunnels and ancient rooms. There's even one in the morgue. If you see something suspicious, you're supposed to hit the "Panic Button" and the team will go check it out like hungry hound dogs.

I'm not sure what's so intriguing about all of this, but it's pretty fun. Maybe it's the interactive nature of viewers helping the team search for ghosts. Is anyone else watching? Have you seen anything spooky on the live-feed cameras? I haven't, but I'm still looking!