• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, April 2, 2024

The august United States Library of Congress is now set to celebrate a TV sitcom about a bunch of comedic ghosts, including the guy in the above photo with a prop arrow through his neck.

Before you ask the obvious question -- Are we taxpayers footing the bill for this salute to “Ghosts”? -- a press release announcing this hard-to-fathom link-up between one of our most revered national institutions and this CBS comedy about the undead came from CBS.

I take that to mean that CBS is paying (hopefully) for a panel discussion to be held at the Library next Tuesday, and any work related to mounting the event, including catering, audiovisual, and sweeping up afterward.

“Ghosts” is the sitcom, now in its third season, about a young couple who inherit a mansion in upstate New York where they hoped to reside peacefully -- until they discover the house is haunted by a group of hilarious ghosts, that is!

The ghosts each represent different eras in history, including: A Prohibition-era singer, a 1980s leader of a Boy Scout troop (the arrow-in-neck guy), a 1990s financier, a 16th-century Native American, and a society woman of the Gilded Age.

The five listed here will all be at the Library of Congress (are we calling it the “LOC” yet?) to participate in the panel discussion, which will include the screening of a “Ghost” episode.

No moderator of the panel discussion was announced, but it is rumored to be Casper.

The event is to be held in the Coolidge Auditorium named for President Calvin Coolidge (not actress Jennifer Coolidge, as most would assume today).

Along with all this fun, items representing each of the ghosts' time periods will be on display -- “curated,” of course -- from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The panel discussion starts at 6:30.

Tickets for the event are free and can be reserved at loc.gov/events.

Better act fast, though -- this isn't just some run-of-the-mill sitcom. This is “Ghosts,” dammit!

Here is another question: How did this sitcom, which the publicity apparatus at Paramount insists is a huge hit on the Paramount+ streamer, rate the Library of Congress treatment? Answer: Beats me.

Alongside the other public events on the LOC schedule this month, the Library's tribute to this high-“spirited” sitcom seems like an outlier.

Other current events at the Library include a major exhibition of Thomas Jefferson's book collection, reassembled in a replica of his private library at Monticello.

The Library's Jefferson holdings include the third president's collection of 6,487 books, all of which are on display.

The Jefferson books are considered to be the collection on which the founding of the Library was based. “Ghosts”? Not so much.

The Library of Congress actually has considerable TV holdings as well. Among other things, the Library has 18,000 NBC shows, according to its website.

The Library acquired the collection from NBC in 1986. I and presumably many others are still waiting for an evening with “ALF.”