These days the term 'reality show' can cover a multitude of things from the interminable clones of American Idol to glorified game shows like The Amazing Race. Wishing, perhaps, to capitalize on the popularity of the genre, SCI FI Channel has also labeled its spooktackular paranormal investigation series Ghost Hunters reality TV. That seems ironic, given that the show may be dealing with phenomena that are unreal. Whatever the appropriate genre for Ghost Hunters, though, the show has had many viewers hiding behind the couch since it presented it first real-life ghost story back in 2004. In the great tradition of popular reality shows, it has gone on to be a franchise that now encompasses Ghost International and the upcoming Ghost Hunters: New Generation.

The original Ghost Hunters features members of TAPS, a.k.a. The Atlantic Paranormal Society. This group of volunteers investigates supposed hauntings in a variety of locations across the United States, including famous buildings and the homes of ordinary folk. In Ghost Hunters the team comes equipped with the latest spectre detection equipment and approaches investigations in as serious and objective a manner as TV will allow.

Up front and centre in the TAPS team are Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. You could call them the real-life Sam and Dean Winchester. Like other members of TAPS, these two have other careers (aside from working for SCI FI). As well as being nationally famous investigators of the supernatural they are plumbers. They are also long-time friends. Their common personal and professional experience is no doubt the source of the banter that, together with the scare factor, is a big part of Ghost Hunters' appeal. That banter was very much in evidence at a recent roundtable organized by SCI FI Channel to promote the fifth season of the show, which premiered on March 11. In Hawes and Wilson gave fans of hint of what is to come, merchandising opportunities, their appeal to women and why investigating the paranormal can be heart-rending work.

Question: What do we have to look forward to on Season 5?

Jason Hawes: Absolutely nothing. No, honestly, I think this is a great season. We've investigated a lot of places. You know, we've also gone back to getting a lot of residential cases as well, which I think is always important. We got some strange things this year. And not just that, we even kind of shake things up a little bit. Grant and I bought an inn that was reported to have been haunted for the last 70, 80 years. We had the GHI [Ghost Hunters International] guys come in and investigate that ... just so there was no bias three. And I really think it's going to be interesting. I've been having a blast this year.

Grant Wilson: I'm really excited for this season. It's…for some reason we had a good time. The crew is really running well. [We’ve] got a good team and we brought in a lot of new equipment that we're using, which I think everyone's going to appreciate. And like Jas said, we're getting into more of the homes again. But we're still doing the big locations. Obviously not necessarily big all the time but well known. The Betsy Ross House, things like that, and some great cases. I'm really excited for this season. I think it's going to be one of the best so far.

Question: What are some of the locations?

Jason Hawes: Well we did - like Grant was saying, the Betsy Ross house, which is in Philadelphia. We did another (Hanom) House, which is a residential place right outside of Philadelphia. We did Star Island which has a heritage. Right Grant?

Grant Wilson: I have no idea.

Jason Hawes: Sorry, we don't even watch our own show because we lived it. But we did Star Island which is an island about 10 miles off the coast of New Hampshire, which was a religious community at one time. They've had a lot of activity - a lot of claims of activity going on there.

Grant Wilson: One of the coolest cases that we're looking forward to showing is we investigated at the Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the world. And they have a traveling Titanic exhibit, I guess, with actual artifacts from the Titanic. And everywhere that goes, every museum that it goes to, supposedly activity follows. So we caught up with it in Georgia and I had just an interesting time there dealing with the Titanic artifacts. And we actually got to get in the tank, the six million gallon tank, with some whale sharks and swim with them.

Question: Some of the information they provided us with says that your show has even more female viewers than guys. Do you have any theories as to why that is?

Jason Hawes: No. I got no answer. You know what I mean. That's great though. It's a great thing to have happen.

Grant Wilson: Maybe it's all for Steve.

Jason Hawes: Well I think it might be a combination of factors. I mean most of the crew we deal with are guys. But it seems like in our travels in this field over the last 20 years, it seems like the women are a little bit more accepting of the field.

Grant Wilson: No, they're not - no.

Jason Hawes: Yes, it's true Grant. When it comes to the field, more of the times we get called in, we're getting called in by the female owner of the location or, you know. She's the one having most of the experiences. The female audience definitely portrays what we've seen in the field, which has been [that] more females are getting involved in the field having experiences and really turning themselves into it. So ... that's what it is.

Grant Wilson: Yeah, from our standpoint, you know, we're surprised anybody watches the show. Not saying that we don't like it but just - it's just all weird for us still even five years in. You know, we still consider ourselves plumbers.

Question: And why do you think audiences enjoy a good scare so much?

Jason Hawes: Well I think everybody can really - most of the people that watch the show are watching it because we're just normal guys. We're normal guys and girls. We're a down to earth team. We're not speaking over anybody's head. We have a good time. They like to show the whole thing. Yeah, there's a scary part of it, but [there’s] the investigation part, the funky part, and there's just the part of us having fun as well.

Grant Wilson: I think a lot of people are naturally curious, you know, about this field whether they admit it or not. And to be able to just sit there in the comfort of your couch and try and kind of explore and discover the paranormal in the safety of your home while no one's looking or whatever, it makes people want to do that. You know what I'm saying?

Jason Hawes: Yeah. If through someone else's eyes, through someone else' injuries or walking in the dark...

Question: After five seasons … you're really like pop culture figures now. So I was wondering - well first off, now that you have female viewers really locked in, are we going to see like a calendar with Steve [Gonsalves] and [Dave] Tango posing with their K2 meter?

Jason Hawes: I think it's very unlikely. You know what I mean? I guess maybe only if the - only if the money went to a good charity, put it that way.

Grant Wilson: We have thought about doing a ghost swimsuit calendar where all you see are just swimsuits. You can't see who they're on because they're on ghosts, but I don't think that would sell too well.

Question: What about like action figures or other products like that? Is that coming down the line?

Grant Wilson: We've looked into it. Honestly we've just been so busy with everything else, we haven't had time to focus on it. I would love to sit down and talk with some of these companies. We've had offers doing video games and things of this nature and we just haven't moved on it. Because, you know, we're so into really just investigating the paranormal that we haven't set the time aside to sit down and discuss all these other possibilities with everyone else.

Jason Hawes: Right. We do have another book coming out this year. Or is it coming out right after the beginning of the year, Grant? I think it's this year.

Grant Wilson: I think it's the end of like fall this year.

Jason Hawes: Yeah. Our last book was a New York Times best seller, so hopefully this one will do just as well. And we'll go from there. You know, I'd love to eventually see some of the cases put together in movie format and out there on the big screen.

Grant Wilson: Yeah. There's a lot of demands for stuff. A lot of people say you should have action figures or Halloween costumes or My First EMF Detector but I don't know. Maybe we'll get to it. Not too worried about it.