'Ghosts' Season 4 will bring new characters, holiday specials and big changes

SAN DIEGO – Finally, Utkarsh Ambudkar is going to see dead people.

For three seasons of the CBS supernatural comedy “ Ghosts, ” his character’s wife has been able to converse with colorful specters but he hasn't. That changes in Season 4 (premiering Oct. 17), and Ambudkar was excited to get the news.

“Yes! I wish I was strong enough to throw this table right now,” Ambudkar said at a Saturday “Ghosts” presentation at Comic-Con , the pop-culture conference happening at the San Diego Convention Center. “I finally get to talk to people at work.”

“Ghosts” centers on Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Ambudkar) as a couple who move to upstate New York when they inherit a rundown mansion and decide to turn it into Woodstone Bed & Breakfast. Sam has a near-death experience, allowing her to interact with the assorted colorful ghosts who inhabit the place.

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The new season, which just started filming in Montreal, will add a pair of new personalities – dead and living.

Mary Holland is joining the cast as Patience, the ghost of an ultra-judgmental Puritan woman abandoned by gay Revolutionary War phantom Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones). In the Season 3 finale, the feral Patience emerged from her dirty place of unrest to kidnap Isaac, and fans will see what she has in store for him in the Season 4 premiere.

Holland’s “funny, she’s quirky, she’s off. She’s perfect for Patience,” said “Ghosts” executive producer Joe Port. Román Zaragoza, who plays Sasappis, a Lenape Native American, has already filmed a scene with Holland: “I’m just in awe of her.”

The other new guest star is “Breaking Bad” alum Dean Norris, who plays Sam’s father Frank. They haven’t stayed close since Frank divorced Sam’s mom when she was 10, but he arrives for a visit to Woodstone with his new girlfriend. Sam has secretly resented her father for decades because he’s been absent from her life, and those emotions come to a head when a new ghost leads her to finally have a father/daughter chat.

Executive producer Joe Wiseman’s 16-year-old daughter had been binge-watching “Breaking Bad” and suggested Norris to play Sam’s dad. “He’s playing this gruff, no-nonsense Dean Norris-type role,” Port said.

“Ghost” creators also revealed that the third episode of the new season will be Halloween-themed and heavily involve Patience. “A Puritan ghost will have a big effect on the house and might not be the biggest fan of Halloween,” Port said.

There’s also a one-hour Christmas special planned for the holiday season that will introduce Jay’s family. “There’s 19 of them, so it’s going to be a full house,” Ambudkar said. “I think it’ll be really stressful for Sam, actually. It’s going to be a major chance for Sam to prove herself to Jay’s family or more importantly for Jay’s family to accept the unconditional love they have for each other.”

The new season will also feature the opening of Jay’s restaurant, which prompting Ambudkar to joke that “Ghosts” is “going to become that incredibly funny comedy known as ‘The Bear.’ ”

The Comic-Con panel also gave actors a chance to talk about their favorite episodes, including an emotional one during Season 3 where uptight spirit Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky) reveals that she killed herself with a phone cord and then uses it to help save fellow ghost Flower (Sheila Carrasco) when she's stuck in a well.

Wisocky said she and other stars talked with mental-health professionals because of the sensitivity of the topic. Since the episode aired, fans have come up and talked with her about their own experiences.

“That feels really extraordinary to have that kind of communication with an audience, especially with an absurd half-hour comedy,” said Wisocky, whose character, the original lady of Woodstone manor, “learned a powerful moment about empathy. She was more vulnerable than she’s ever been with this group of people.”

That said, “I don’t know if she’s going to be a good person now,” Wisocky added. Wiseman revealed that there’s been a “gradual thawing” of Hetty’s defenses and she’s going to step up and help her great-great-great-great-niece operate the B&B while Jay is busy with his restaurant.

Added Wisocky: “I predict I might be more in her way and more bossy about how she runs her business.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988 or visiting 988lifeline.org

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Ghosts' Season 4 will bring new characters, holiday specials and big changes