Phantom Investigators

Last updated
Phantom Investigators
Phantom Investigators.jpg
Created byStephen Holman
Josephine T. Huang
Directed byStephen Holman
Josephine T. Huang
StarringCourtney Vineys
Alecsander Kocev
Andrew Decker
Amber Ross
ComposersJD Reilly, Josh Myers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producersIlene Staple
Stephen Holman
Josephine T. Huang
ProducersIlene Staple
Josephine T. Huang
Kevin Murphy
Running time30 minutes
Production companies Columbia TriStar Domestic Television
(W)holesome Productions
Adelaide Productions
Original release
Network Kids' WB
ReleaseMay 25 (2002-05-25) 
August 17, 2002 (2002-08-17)

Phantom Investigators is an American children's animated TV show that aired on Kids' WB in 2002, premiering on May 25 and ending on August 17 for 13 episodes. [1] It was created using a special mixture of stop-motion (used for the main cast and the other citizens), puppetry (used for many of the supernatural creatures that are encountered), and live-action (used mainly for ghosts). [2] The show was created by Stephen Holman, known for his work on Joe Normal for MTV's Liquid Television and Life with Loopy for Nickelodeon's KaBlam! which ran during all the duration.

Contents

Synopsis

The show revolved around four 13-year-olds who attend Lugosi Junior High School in San Francisco. The group is known as The Phantom Investigators, or "P.I.s" for short, who solve supernatural mysteries that occur all over town ranging from ghost hauntings to demonic encounters. While leading double lives as P.I.s, the group must also balances everyday issues such as homework, personal hobbies, and friendships.

Characters

PI

Companions

Others

Episodes

Phantom Investigators only ran for 6 weeks before Kids’ WB pulled it from their schedule and replaced it with X-Men: Evolution. Holman would say in a 2019 podcast interview that its cancellation came in spite of it being the top-rated program in its time slot because it failed to catch on with the demographic the network wanted. Kids’ WB was looking to attract and maintain a strong viewership with young boys. Phantom Inspectors was attracting more and more girls and losing the boys each successive week. After the cancellation, Sony cut the funding to the show killing any chance of finding a new network to take it on. The remaining episodes eventually aired outside of the United States, first debuting on Teletoon in Canada.

  1. Birthday Presence (airdate: May 25, 2002) - The most popular kid in school suddenly finds himself being haunted as he plans his annual birthday bash.
  2. The Year of the Snake (airdate: June 1, 2002) – Tamagotchi like virtual pets become the fad around town but seem to have a hold over whoever plays with them.
  3. Stall of Doom (airdate: June 8, 2002) – One of the bathroom stalls at Lugosi Junior High contains a gateway to the Nether Realm that is sucks in students.
  4. Were-Dog (airdate: June 15, 2002) – While disguised as a dog, Casey gets bitten by a werewolf and ends up unable to change back.
  5. Demon Driver (airdate: June 22, 2002) – The team investigates an old car that was built with possessed parts and turns its driver into a reckless maniac.
  6. Omega Pizza Pi (airdate: June 29, 2002)– Pizza deliverers are being terrorized by the ghosts of a 1960s fraternity under the control of a pizza-based demon.
  7. Thank Wad – Wad is given 24 hours to prove he's worthy of restoration to his former status by dealing with a serious situation seriously, otherwise he'll remain a chewing gum sprite forever.
  8. Ghosts on Film – The ghost of an actor from an old black and white movie believes they are a space tyrant and exits through a VCR looking to conquer the real world.
  9. Skating the Plank – A local skateboarder makes themself a skateboard from remains of pirate ship and is then haunted by the ship's captain.
  10. From Egypt with Love – A mummy contacts the Phantom Investigators to help him to cross over into the afterlife.
  11. Haunted Dreams – As Kira considers quitting the team, a girl comes to them suffering from haunted dreams.
  12. The 5th P.I. – A new kid at school leads the P.I.s to think they found a new member, but he ends up being a Nether Realm cop intent on arresting them.
  13. Secrets Exposed! – Someone from Navarro's past returns and leads to some revelations about him and his connection to the Phantom Investigators.

Related Research Articles

Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Notable paranormal beliefs include those that pertain to extrasensory perception, spiritualism and the pseudosciences of ghost hunting, cryptozoology, and ufology.

<i>Ghost Hunters</i> (TV series) American paranormal reality television series

Ghost Hunters is an American paranormal and reality television series. The original series aired from October 6, 2004 until October 26, 2016 on Syfy. The original program spanned eleven seasons with 230 episodes, not including 10 specials. The series was revived in early 2019 and aired its twelfth and thirteenth seasons from August 21, 2019, to May 27, 2020, on A&E, after which it was cancelled and then revived for its fourteenth season only months later on Discovery+, which started airing on October 31, 2021. Season 15 began October 1, 2022 on Travel Channel. Season 16 of Ghost Hunters is set to release on Travel Channel on April 6, 2023.

The Smurl Haunting refers to claims made by Jack and Janet Smurl of West Pittston, Pennsylvania, U.S., who alleged that a demon inhabited their home between 1974 and 1989. The Smurls' claims gained wide press attention and were investigated by demonologists who encouraged the family's supernatural beliefs, and clergy, psychologists, and scientific skeptics who offered more parsimonious explanations. The Smurls' version of their story was the subject of a 1986 paperback titled The Haunted and a 1991 made-for-TV movie of the same name released by 20th Century Fox.

Paranormal television is a genre of reality television that purports to document factual investigations of the paranormal rather than fictional representations seen in traditional narrative films and TV. Over the years, the genre has grown to be a staple of television and even changed the programming focus of networks like the History Channel and the Travel Channel. By highlighting beliefs in topics ranging from Bigfoot to aliens, paranormal television continues to elevate popular interest in the paranormal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed and Lorraine Warren</span> American paranormal investigators

Edward Warren Miney and Lorraine Rita Warren were American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of alleged hauntings. Edward was a self-taught and self-professed demonologist, author, and lecturer. Lorraine professed to be clairvoyant and a light trance medium who worked closely with her husband.

<i>Ghost Stories</i> (Japanese TV series) 2000 anime series

Ghost Stories, also known as Ghosts at School, is a Japanese series of children's novels written by Tōru Tsunemitsu. It was published by Kodansha, starting in 1990. The series is a collection of popular school ghost stories in Japan, rewritten specifically for a young demographic. A four-part film series based on the books was produced from 1995 to 1999. Additionally, it was adapted into a television series in 1994 and an anime produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex in 2000. A video game was also produced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occult detective fiction</span> Crossover between mystery and horror fiction

Occult detective fiction is a subgenre of detective fiction that combines the tropes of the main genre with those of supernatural, fantasy and/or horror fiction. Unlike the traditional detective who investigates murder and other common crimes, the occult detective is employed in cases involving ghosts, demons, curses, magic, vampires, undead, monsters and other supernatural elements. Some occult detectives are portrayed as being psychic or in possession of other paranormal or magical powers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Nickell</span> Skeptic and paranormal investigator (born 1944)

Joe Nickell is an American skeptic and investigator of the paranormal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghost hunting</span> Investigating reportedly haunted locations for ghosts

Ghost hunting is the process of investigating locations that are purportedly haunted by ghosts. Typically, a ghost-hunting team will attempt to collect evidence supporting the existence of paranormal activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghosts in Bengali culture</span> Overview of the devils and ghosts in Bengali culture and folklore

Ghosts are an important and integral part of the folklore of the socio-cultural fabric of the geographical and ethno-linguistic region of Bengal which presently consists of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura. Bengali folktales and Bengali cultural identity are intertwined in such a way that ghosts depicted reflect the culture it sets in. Fairy tales, both old and new, often use the concept of ghosts. References to ghosts are often found in modern-day Bengali literature, cinema, radio and television media. There are also alleged haunted sites in the region. The common word for ghosts in Bengali is bhoot or bhut. This word has an alternative meaning: 'past' in Bengali. Also, the word Pret is used in Bengali to mean ghost. In Bengal, ghosts are believed to be the unsatisfied spirits of human beings who cannot find peace after death or the souls of people who died in unnatural or abnormal circumstances like murders, suicides or accidents. Non-human animals can also turn into ghosts after their death. But they are often associated with good luck and wealth in Bangladesh.

<i>Ghost Adventures</i> American paranormal reality television show

Ghost Adventures is an American paranormal and reality television series that premiered on October 17, 2008, on the Travel Channel before moving to Discovery+ in 2021. An independent film of the same name originally aired on the Sci-Fi Channel on July 25, 2007. The program follows ghost hunters Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, Billy Tolley, and Jay Wasley as they investigate locations that are reported to be haunted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zak Bagans</span> American actor

Zachary Alexander Bagans is an American paranormal investigator, actor, television personality, museum operator, and author. He is the principal host of the Travel Channel series Ghost Adventures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chip Coffey</span> Self-proclaimed psychic and medium

Chip Coffey is an American self-proclaimed psychic from Elmira, New York, currently living in Atlanta, Georgia. He appeared as a medium on various paranormal television programs, primarily Paranormal State and Psychic Kids. On Psychic Kids he acts as a mentor towards children who claim to have psychic abilities, primarily seeing ghosts. Coffey's claims of being able to communicate with the dead have been subject to criticism by skeptics. In 2019 it was announced that Coffey will be joining Travel Channel's Kindred Spirits as the third official cast member alongside Adam Berry and Amy Bruni for the fourth season in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Fleming (TV personality)</span> American television host

Christopher Fleming is an American medium, paranormal researcher, television personality, and public speaker. He has written numerous articles and produced various print and online publications on the topics of paranormal activity and psychic phenomena.

Extreme Paranormal is an American paranormal documentary TV special that premiered on Monday, October 26, 2009, on A&E Network at 10pm EST. It aired as a two-part 1 hour special for Halloween and followed the missions of three paranormal investigators that go to extremes in order to make contact with spirits during their investigations.

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl is an ongoing supernatural horror web series that is currently broadcast on YouTube. The series was created by Paige McKenzie, Nick Hagen, and Mercedes Rose, and is produced by Coat Tale Productions. The series first launched in 2010 and its premiere episode was uploaded on December 10, 2010. The Haunting of Sunshine Girl quickly rose in popularity and between December 2010 to October 2011 the show received more than 4.3 million total hits. The average length of the episodes is about two minutes but can run less depending on the episode and content.

<i>Bunnicula</i> (TV series) American animated television series

Bunnicula is an American animated television series from Warner Bros. Animation developed by Jessica Borutski, produced by Borutski and Maxwell Atoms, and broadcast by Cartoon Network and Boomerang. The show is loosely based on the children's book series of the same name by James and Deborah Howe. It is a dark comedy about a vampire rabbit named Bunnicula who drinks carrot juice instead of blood to strengthen his super abilities in new paranormal adventures.

<i>BuzzFeed Unsolved</i> Investigative web series

BuzzFeed Unsolved is a documentary entertainment web series created by Ryan Bergara for BuzzFeed that ran from February 4, 2016, to November 19, 2021. It first appeared on the YouTube channel BuzzFeed Blue and was later given its own flagship channel BuzzFeed Unsolved Network.

References

  1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 454. ISBN   978-1538103739.
  2. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 611–612. ISBN   978-1476665993.