First of all, let me say, I am not what most regular viewers of either Paranormal State or Ghost Hunters would call a "believer". I am a skeptic, at best, who has never thought he saw a ghost, but I am curious. That being said, it is important to note that my wife and daughter, while normal, well-adjusted human beings, are hopelessly addicted to both of these television shows. I don't pretend to understand why.

The approach these two paranormal investigative crews take are quite different. The "Ghost Hunters" T.A.P.S. crew more or less approaches each investigation from the ground up. They look for any reason to do what they call "debunk" claims or sightings of ghosts or other paranormal anomalies. They would likely be more accurate to use the word "disprove" or "explain" in most cases. I have seen them explain claims of hauntings and apparitions with such simple explanations as a neighbor outdoor smoking, the smell of roses wafting through a crack in the wall, a broken stop on a faucet or a restless sibling awaking his sister, then diving back into bed as she is awaking.

To me, the belief that 99% of all paranormal activity is explainable, and mostly attributed to jittery nerves on the part of the witness, makes me think that the TAPS crew is on the right path. On the TAPS website, there is a list in the help section that unravels some common and easily debunked causes of what many people would see as paranormal activity, (ie. unshielded electrical wiring).

Many times, I see a frightened, discomfited homeowner or parent who is soothed at TAPS' humble, level-headed approach to what they do and reasonable explanations (outside of paranormal) as to what is happening in their home. I don't see that in any other paranormal television show, especially Paranormal State.

The skeptical approach that TAPS takes to each investigation, gives them an advantage in more than one manner; first of all, they seem more suited, both technologically and psychologically, to travel, investigate, and behave in an objective manner. The "experts" that always get called in to Paranormal State (That flamoboyant WEIRDO Chip Coffey and the other lady medium or whatever she is) always seem to find themselves in the bedroom of the one family member who would most likely "play along" for a haunting anyway. OF COURSE there are going to be claims of supernatural activity!

As an objective thinker, I have trained myself to always question the assumptions. The first (and in my opinion, most often wrong) assumption, that the Paranormal State squad makes is that they never actually try and understand any component of the haunting, they simply assume that the place is haunted and move forward from that point. How many times has Ryan led his band of investigators into an unhaunted house to perform a seance or ritual cleansing (hey, by the way, what the HE$% does housework have to do with hauntings anyway?). No seriously, didn't Ryan actually have one lady clean her house to help cast out some sort of spirit? Hey Ryan, I've got a ghost in the produce drawer of my fridge, and another in my downstairs toilet. I'd feel a lot better if the crew could come by, do a little clean-up...maybe exorcise the demon that's feeding on those three rotted oranges?

But really, TAPS has the whole scientific investigation thing on "lock-down". They've got the equipment, the tech geeks and the resources to travel, plus a down to earth attitude and a sense of humor. How many times have you seen a cast member smile or laugh on Paranormal State? And they're college students!

The reason that America will continue to love the TAPS crew is the same reason that Paranormal State is destined for early dismissal. Jason, Grant, Steve and the rest of the TAPS family are ordinary working people, with families and jobs and not pie-in-the-sky ideals that everything is haunted, that demons follow them state to state or any of that other bunk. As far as working-joe American is concerned, the Paranormal State squad is just a bunch of college aged, never-seen-the-real-world dreamers who play tough for the camera and have never worked a 9-5 like Grant and Jason at Roto-Rooter.

Furthermore, I watch Ryan and his crew from Paranormal State do a seance, play their dead time routine out (which I think is total bunk) and then the following day invoke the name of Jesus Christ almost casually. If they knew anything (and here I am quite often the first to profess ignorance) about the Bible, they would know that attempting to contact the "other side" is considered a grave sin. At least the TAPS squad is not running around like homosexual revivalists in the dark, waving their hands and clapping their palms to their cheeks like Chip, invoking the name of a god of whom they have studied very little, and committing sins he has expressly warned against, in his name.

That's my opinion of the Sci-Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters vs. A&E's Paranormal State. What's yours?