Lately my wife has become a fan of a paranormal, mostly ghost-related cable TV show. This is an odd relationship that I have yet to fully understand.

My wife is one of the most down-to-earth people I know. I don't think she would say that she believes in ghosts outright--rather, I think she would say that she keeps an open mind. Her interest could be best described as "moderate". She doesn't spend hours on the Internet looking up ghost stories. She is not the kind of person who goes to séances, or hold late night vigils in haunted places. She will never interrupt an ordinary conversation by blurting, "I was reading about the Redfield haunting last night and think it bears a few similarities to the Hopkinsville case."

In other words, she's not like me, or what I once was. I was once very interested in the paranormal.  Her interest clashes with my own approach to the unknown, which is either one hundred miles an hour, throw-away-the-brake, or cynical, world-weary apathy.

The show follows a number of college students investigating hauntings, demonic possession, and poltergeist activity. The students travel across the country investigating "only the most severe" cases of the paranormal, usually involving spirits or even demons. Typically they travel to a location, meet with the residents experiencing the paranormal, do historical research, and then try to capture evidence of the phenomenon while doing something like a séance, except with cameras and tape recorders.

The youngsters on the show are young and enthusiastic. The organization's director is the oldest, most experienced in matters unexplained, and the narrating host of the show. Next is the technical whiz who sets up surveillance equipment. Then there is an occult specialist. Finally, there are always at least two others that have no assigned role other than to interview people and look things up at the local newspaper archive. (That, um, used to be me.)

I watch the show with the suspicious eye of the farmer whose daughter is making eyes at the suave hobo who has been invited to dinner. What I was seeing on TV didn't match up to my experiences, at all. I have been observing paranormal research groups for years, and been in some myself. There are strange things and inconsistencies about the show that raise red flags, so much so that I kicked the show--and most importantly the credibility of the show--to the curb after the first episode.

The truth is that most of the time, paranormal research is a lot more boring than most people think it is. The paranormal, if it exists, is a fickle thing that has no on and off switch, and if it does, nobody has the slightest idea how to turn it on. Anyone who says they do is selling something. By the time honest researchers show up, the ghosts, Bigfoot, UFOs et al. have usually long since split the building.

Somehow, for some reason the unexplained is apparently clamoring to present itself to this group...in ways that don't lend themselves to skeptical inquiry or concretely confirm the existence of paranormal phenomena. Something recordable, but predictably ambiguous almost always happens.

Another problem I have with the show is that I've never seen any of the team show any real fear. There are opportunities galore in ghost hunting to wear your "creeped out" face, but even in the infra-red camera, where you might forget that no one can see you, no one ever does. This is especially true when you think you are fighting a demon or some other evil, like these kids occasionally claim they are. Perhaps I'm more from the Don Knotts school of ghost hunting, but doesn't the prospect of a getting on the bad side of a demon frighten anyone? Anyone at all?

Finally, I take issue with their EVPs, or Electronic Voice Phenomenon. The theory behind EVP is that ghosts may be able to communicate in ways that are not readily apparent in moment-by-moment reality. You record a one-sided question and answer session with ghosts, and you may hear answers in the playback. Some EVPs, if real, sound quite compelling. But most are not. EVPs are highly suggestive--any odd sound can be explained away as made by some spirit trying to communicate. But none of the ones I've heard from the show are particularly compelling. In fact, some are just terrible and undermine their credibility.

I tend to look at the paranormal with a fairly serious eye. I've seen the paranormal treated with schlock gloves so often, I can't help but cast a jaundiced eye at any mention of it at all. I'm also sensitive to misrepresentation or even fraud. When I was involved in the paranormal, I believed that it all Meant Something, and that, however improbably, I was going to make a dent in the mystery.

My wife readily admits that there are times when the show seems blatantly fake, such as the strange, otherworldly noises that in one episode came from the ubiquitous "indian burial ground". We usually roll our eyes together at least once an episode. Still, my wife feels compelled to watch. Despite my distaste for the show, we always end up watching it together. I haven't missed an episode. The most important point about the show, at least to my wife, is that it's entertaining.

There, we are beginning to agree. I'm trying to lighten up and enjoy the show, although that would be much easier if they just fessed up and admitted it was fiction, or a heavily edited version of the truth. If I could prove they were fabricating events I could have a reason not to enjoy it, but I can't, so I might as well enjoy the ride, and make snarky, muttering comments every ten minutes along the way, at least until my wife gives me the Evil Eye.

Secretly, I'm just a little bit pleased she'll watch ghost shows on TV with me, even if I have to occasionally hold my nose to ward off the smell of bullshit.