Indian American actor Utkarsh Ambudkar will soon be seen on CBS playing the male lead in its new pilot comedy “Ghosts,” to be released this fall. Ambudkar will star alongside actress from Down Under Rose McIver (“Power Rangers” and “iZombie”).
According to Deadline, based on the British series, the single-camera comedy is about Samantha (McIver) and Jay (Ambudkar), a cheerful freelance journalist and up-and-coming chef from the city, respectively, who throw both caution and money to the wind when they decide to convert a huge rundown country estate they inherited into a bed and breakfast — only to find it’s inhabited by the many spirits of deceased residents who now call it home.
The spirits, who come from many different periods of time and walks of life (or death) are a close-knit, eclectic group that includes a saucy Prohibition-era lounge singer, a pompous 1700’s militiaman, a ‘60s hippie fond of hallucinogens, an overly upbeat ‘80s scout troop leader, a cod-obsessedViking explorer from 1009, a slick ‘90s finance bro, a sarcastic and witty native from the 1500s, and a society woman and wife of an 1800’s robber baron who is Samantha’s ancestor, to name a few, according to the synopsis. As the dearly departed deal with the fact they are trapped in a bed & breakfast and cannot be heard or seen by the living, in walks the happy couple armed with renovation ideas.
The show then takes a cue from “Beetlejuice” and the spirits decide they want to scare the couple out of the bed & breakfast. But the plan goes awry and one of the ghosts accidentally knocks Samantha into a coma. When she wakes up, she can see and hear the ghosts. “If the spirits were anxious about the commotion a renovation and bed & breakfast will create in their home, it’s nothing compared to when they realize Samantha is the first live person who can see and hear them,” says Deadline.
Ambudkar will play the husband, a talented chef with a love of nerdom. “New Girl” alums Port and Wiseman will pen the script and exec produce the comedy, which hails from Lionsgate Television, BBC Studios and CBS TV Studios. Mathew Baynton, Jim Howick, Simon Farnaby, Laurence Rickard, Ben Willbond, Martha Howe-Douglas, Monumental TV’s Alison Carpenter, Debra Hayward and Alison Owen, and BBC Studios’ Angie Stephenson also exec produce.
Prior to this Ambudkar has been cast in a recurring role in Indian American actress/producer Mindy Kaling’s coming-of-day comedy on Netflix, “Never Have I Ever,” and has starred as the mongoose Chikku in the Disney Junior animated series “Mira, Royal Detective” (2020).
He also recently voiced a conniving real-estate rat in the live- action/computer-animated slapstick comedy, Tom and Jerry (2021), based on the titular cartoon characters of the same name. He has also appeared in the comedy film “Pitch Perfect” (2012) as Donald, and in the television shows “The Mindy Project” (2013) and “The Muppets” (2016), among others. A man of many talents, Ambudkar, a former VJ for MTV Desi and a rapper, singer, turned heads at the 92nd annual Academy Awards in Hollywood with his freestyle rap. Ambudkar has also long been a part of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s (“Hamilton”) improvisational hip-hop group called Freestyle Love Supreme.
“Ghosts” will air this fall on Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST on CBS and the CBS app.