Popular Television Shows Such as Medium, the Ghost Whisperer, and Supernatural Weigh in on the Afterlife

Long gone are the cult supernatural favorites Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. The supernatural has invaded television and become primetime. Some of today's hottest shows are tackling some topics that hit close to home and that is, "what happens after death?"

In the past couple decades, television shows such as Touched by an Angel and Highway to Heaven provided a clear cut answer as to what happened after death. These shows were obviously geared towards the Christian sect. These television shows were also immensely popular and not considered supernatural in any way.

Several years ago, a Cinemax original series answered this question brilliantly. The show was called Dead Like Me. The characters played reapers, as in grim, and removed the soul from the body so it could move on. While the characters themselves had no idea where the souls actually went, each soul saw something different in their "light." This all depended on their personal beliefs, whether it be Christianity or reincarnation. This television show also explored the darker side where black, smoky spirits took bad people away. This television show was cancelled after two seasons.

The supernatural is again becoming a popular television show premise. Some of the best on television today include The Ghost Whisperer, Supernatural, and Medium. In The Ghost Whisperer, Jennifer Love Hewitt can see the spirits of the dead and she helps them to finish their unfinished business so they can move on. While Supernatural deals with all aspects of the supernatural, they also deal in spirits, both good and bad. They help the good ones to move and force the bad ones to do so. In Medium, Patricia Arquette helps to solve crimes usually with the help of spirits. She also helps them to find peace.

The common theme among these shows is the moving on to the afterlife. But, what is the afterlife? Where do we go when our soul leaves the body? Is there a Heaven or Hell? Could we be reincarnated? Is this it and there is nothing else? The truth is that nobody really knows for sure. That is why it is called faith.