CBS Vampire Sitcom ‘Eternally Yours’ Is a Genial Riff on ‘Ghosts’: TV Review

The CBS sitcom “Eternally Yours” is not officially a spinoff of the network’s hit series “Ghosts.” But, functionally, that’s the pitch. Another story of supernatural roommates from the same creative team, “Eternally Yours” swaps out specters for vampires. With only a single, 22-minute episode sent to critics, it’s too early to tell whether “Eternally Yours” will differentiate itself from the de facto parent show. It also may not be trying to — and fans of “Ghosts,” of which there are many, may not mind.

Joe Port and Joe Weisman, who developed “Ghosts” from the British original and now showrun the American remake, technically conceived of (and pitched!) “Eternally Yours” first. Still, the version that’s made it to air has so many obvious echoes that this bit of trivia remains just that: trivial. Unlike ghosts, vampires have physical form and can interact directly with humans; like ghosts, vampires live forever, allowing for a humorous juxtaposition of characters from many points in time in one unhappy household.

Here, our cast of characters is led by Charles (Ed Weeks) and Liz (Allegra Edwards), a couple who’ve been together since he sank his fangs into her 500 years ago but whose marriage has now curdled into endless bickering. (The throat clearing she once thought a cutesy quirk is now an unbearable nuisance.) Joining them in their Seattle coven — they admit “Twilight” was onto something with the year-round cloud cover in the Pacific Northwest, if not the “stay together forever” thing — is Jesse (Parker Young), a personal trainer straight out of the ‘80s who uses a spray tan to show up in mirrors. Jesse’s human wife, Phyllis (Rose Abdoo of “Hacks”), has a brain made of Swiss cheese from the constant mind wipes. That hasn’t stopped them from having two teenage, half-vampire sons, which begs some questions about vampire physiology but allows for some solid jokes about superpowered adolescence.

Clearly, “Ghosts” isn’t the only influence at work here: Any vampire comedy, especially one about co-habitation, (night)walks in the footsteps of “What We Do in the Shadows,” the mockumentary turned six-season FX show. But where “Shadows” was absurdist and made frequent use of handheld cameras, “Eternally Yours” is a broadcast comedy in its bones. In lieu of testimonials, there’s a “How I Met Your Mother”-esque voiceover from Max (Jaren Lewison), a human who’s horrified to discover his girlfriend Emma (Helen J. Shen) has good reason not to introduce him to her parents. Emma is Charles and Liz’s adopted daughter, because while vampires can procreate with humans, they can’t with each other. Don’t look for consistent logic from a show that lets Weeks and Edwards keep their respective British and American accents despite playing Romanians!

“Eternally Yours” gets a few good gags into the pilot: Charles and Liz once got couples’ therapy from Sigmund Freud himself in a cutaway flashback, and Charles’ nihilism in the face of eternal, often miserable life is an amusing trait. (He slips and tells one human that “you get to die.”) But the show needs more time to carve out its own identity, both vis-a-vis “Ghosts” and in the crowded field of vampire media. Luckily, if there’s one thing vampires have in spades, it’s time to kill — get it?

“Eternally Yours” will premiere on Oct. 8 at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.