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Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Conrad. Melinda's misadventures with the shades stuck between two worlds continue in this sometimes poignant and sometimes hilarious series about a woman who can communicate with the dead. 18 episodes on 5 DVDs. 2007/color/12 hrs., 54 min/NR/widescreen. .com ---- The first thing you'll notice about the third season of Ghost Whisperer: More special effects! In the opening episode, a street collapses into a black, yawning crevasse. Eternally dewy Jennifer Love Hewitt stars as Melinda Gordon, who speaks to the dead with a firm glint in her eye and an abundance of cleavage (though the costume department is a tad more discreet this time around). With the assistance of her hunky husband (David Conrad), her skeptical best friend (Camryn Manheim, The Practice), and a wisecracking professor of the occult (Jay Mohr, Saturday Night Live), Melinda helps ghosts cross over to the other side. But woven through the entire third season is Melinda's investigation into her own family secrets (featuring Martin Donovan, The site of Sex, as Melinda's mysterious her), culminating in a high-stakes season finale that's much more satisfying that season two's fairly forced conclusion. Mind you, this season is unlikely to convert viewers who prefer their ghost stories without warmhearted resolutions (almost every ghost just needs to tell someone how much he/she love him/her), but there are some clever twists and setups: A dead photographer creates pictures from the afterlife; a mother actively cultivates being haunted by her dead son because she's afraid he's too young to cross over on his own. Several episodes reveal how the town of Grandview is built on the ruins of an older city, which is--surprise!--full of unhappy ghosts. This gesture towards cultivating a mythology smacks a bit of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The X-Files, but who doesn't like a haunted underworld? The more the show leans towards spookiness and sprinkles the earnestness on lightly, the stronger it is. Fans will be pleased with the abundance of extras, which include commentaries, webisodes, making-of documentaries, backstory about Melinda, and an entertainingly snarky interview with Mohr. --Bret Fetzer