‘Ghosts’ Star Rose McIver To Direct Episode; Jay’s Parents Revealed

“Ghosts” star Rose McIver will sit behind the camera to direct an episode of the hit CBS comedy, it was revealed Saturday during the show’s panel at New York Comic-Con. The episode, which starts filming soon and will air in 2025, reps the first time McIver will helm a TV series.

On “Ghosts,” McIver plays Sam, who inherits an old, haunted mansion that she and husband Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) turn into a bed and breakfast — much to the chagrin of the ghosts that Sam can communicate with. This year, on the show’s one-hour Christmas special, viewers will get to meet Jay’s parents for the first time.

Sakina Jaffrey (“Billions,” “The Mindy Project”) and Bernard White (“The Matrix,” “Silicon Valley”) have been cast as Jay’s parents, Champa and Mahesh, in the two-part episode, which airs on Thursday, December 19.

In the episodes “A Very Arondekar Christmas Part 1” and “A Very Arondekar Christmas Part 2,” according to the logline, “A leaky water heater mishap threatens to ruin holiday plans as Sam and Jay prepare to host Jay’s hard-to-please dad Mahesh (Bernard White), difficult-to-impress mom Champa (Sakina Jaffrey) and sister Bela (Punam Patel).”

Here are more details on the characters: Champa “is Jay’s mother, who dotes on Jay, but has much less patience for her daughter-in-law Sam, whom she blames for Jay moving far away from them. Champa runs the family’s text chain, known as the ‘Core Four,’ which Sam is desperate to be allowed onto.”

As for Jay’s father Mahesh: “Although he secretly respects his son’s culinary talents, Mahesh still holds out hope that Jay will become an engineer instead of relying on the high-risk businesses of the B&B and the restaurant.”

McIver and three of the ghosts — Brandon Scott Jones (Isaac), Sheila Carrasco (Flower) and Román Zaragoza (Sassappis) — appeared on the NYCC “Ghosts” panel, moderated by “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil.

“Ghosts,” which is back for Season 4 and airs Thursdays at 8:30 on CBS, also stars Richie Moriarty, Danielle Pinnock, Asher Grodman, Rebecca Wisocky and Devan Chandler Long.

Joe Port and Joe Wiseman are exec producers, along with Richie Keen, Matthew Baynton, Jim Howick, Simon Farnaby, Laurence Rickard, Ben Willbond and Martha Howe-Douglas, Alison Carpenter, Debra Hayward, and Alison Owen (Monumental Television) and Angie Stephenson (BBC Studios). CBS Studios is behind the show, in association with Lionsgate Television and BBC Studios Los Angeles Productions.

McIver’s other credits include “iZombie,” as well as the Netflix movies “A Christmas Prince,” “The Royal Wedding” and “The Royal Baby.”