Paranormal Lockdown TV Show

A Paranormal Investigation Show Like Never Before

Paranormal Lockdown is a reality television show with a twist, that aired for three seasons. It garnered many loyal fans along the way, although it never became as popular as other paranormal reality tv shows.

Destined for success, with Nick Groff an original cast member and investigator on the hit show Ghost Adventures, also starred in and produced this new series.

So when he and his co-star, Katrina Weidman, locked themselves in a new haunted location every episode, there were always viewers to watch the creepy drama unfold. Even if their numbers never reached those of other shows in the genre.

The First Air Date

Paranormal Lockdown originally aired on Destination America, with the first episode coming out on March 4, 2016. And this first season would last until April 8 of the same year.

Creation and Production

This series was created by Nick Groff himself, who would take a large role in the back-end management of the show as well as starring in it.

Not surprisingly, Groff was also one of the show’s main producers. There were also numerous others involved in producing various episodes, including:

Rob Saffi
Caitlin Mae Burke
Fay Yu
Elizabeth Saint
Justin Narragon
Jay Sinrod
Caroline Symons

In terms of writing and direction, Nick Groff was credited by IMDB for writing on the series. And Rob Soffi directed all of the episodes and handled the series’ cinematography.

Cast Members

Besides guest investigators and other similar appearances, Paranormal Lockdown wasn’t known for its large cast. There were only two stars in the show.

Nick Groff

Nick Groff grew up obsessed with the paranormal, which made him perfect for his future job as a paranormal investigator. He’s also a television personality and was well-known before this series for his documentary work in Ghost Adventures.

Katrina Weidman

Katrina Weidman started in the paranormal industry with the show Paranormal State but has appeared in other paranormal series since. And in addition to being a paranormal investigator, she’s an actress and producer.

An honorable mention was James Lurie, who did the narration on about eight of the episodes. Lurie is a popular narrator who’s done work for various popular channels, but he’s also an actor best known for his work in “Buffy The Vampire Slayer.”

Primary Focus of the Show

The show’s premise was actually quite unique. It consisted of Groff and Weidman traveling to a reportedly haunted location and proceeding to spend three nights, or 72 hours, at that location to find evidence of the paranormal.

Their theory was that the longer they stayed at a location, the more likely it was that spirits would begin communicating with them. They would use various equipment, such as analog radio and EMF readers, but mostly it was a very hands-on approach.

Their ultimate goal was to experience paranormal activity and catch it on camera as proof of the paranormal. And any changes in readings or evidence captured on devices were icing on the cake, so to speak.

And because of the length of time they spent in the haunted location, they did experience quite a few instances of “paranormal activity.”

Paranormal Lockdown’s Impact on the Paranormal Community

The impact of the Paranormal Lockdown tv show was somewhat limited purely because of when it came out. By 2016, when the show first aired, many other paranormal reality television shows had already been made. So it wasn’t exactly groundbreaking.

But because of its unique premise, it did provide audiences with a different type of spooky entertainment that many found interesting. And overall, Paranormal Lockdown did have good reviews and ratings.

With any show having to do with the paranormal, its very existence did serve to convince some viewers that paranormal activity is real just because of the exposure of the topic. And it strengthened the belief of many existing paranormal fans. Although not unlike any paranormal show, it was met with some criticism, which we’ll discuss later.

Paranormal Lockdown’s Seasons and Episodes

Sadly for many fans, Paranormal Lockdown only had three seasons and 37 episodes.

The first season aired in 2016 on Destination America and ran from March to April of that year. It contained only seven episodes.
Season two began in December 2016 but ran until March 2017. This season consisted of twelve episodes, all of which aired on the TLC channel.
And the third and final season of Paranormal Lockdown returned to Destination America, starting in December of 2018. This last season consisted of eighteen episodes and ended in February 2019.

So in total, there were thirty-seven episodes of Paranormal Lockdown. There was also a two-hour Halloween special that aired in 2016.

Famous Guest Appearances

The guests featured on the show were typically other experts in the field, including some popular paranormal investigators that appeared in other television shows.

Two great examples are Amy Bruni and Grant Wilson, well-known for their popular show “Ghost Hunters.” Each of them guest-starred in two episodes of Paranormal Lockdown.

And one of the most notable experts on the show was John E.L. Tenney, known for his work in the paranormal field. He’s a researcher of strange phenomena and is known to be skeptical about his field, which makes him a respected figure in both the skeptics’ and believers’ camps.

Controversies and Criticisms of the Show

Predictably, skeptics of the paranormal had plenty of comments to make about this show and the validity of what it was promoting. But surprisingly, there weren’t many specific instances of fake experiences that were talked about. So no big scandals were present, as with other paranormal shows.

One of the show’s larger and more generalized criticisms came from Ben Radford. Radford is an investigator in his own right but also a skeptic. And his criticism of the show was that the idea of locking yourself in a “haunted” location was pointless as a challenge because the theory of “hauntings” hasn’t been proven yet.

He went on to say that the investigations featured on the show were far from scientific; and that the show provided entertainment but not much more than that.

Future Outlook

Nick Groff and Katrina Weidman have moved on to their own projects since the announcement that Paranormal Lockdown would not continue. So it looks unlikely that the two will ever reunite for future episodes, and as of now, there’s no news of a possible reboot of the show.

So sadly, fans will have to be content with episodes that have already aired. And enjoy the new pieces of content that stars are making on their own and the other types of paranormal content out there.

Because truthfully, the trend of paranormal-based reality television shows doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Partially because of the entertainment factor for everyone, skeptic or not, and partially because of the avid fan base of paranormal activity.

So although it may not come in the form of Paranormal Lockdown, there will always be similar content available to watch. And Paranormal Lockdown itself is still available to stream, so you can always binge-watch old episodes.

Final Thoughts on the Paranormal Lockdown TV Show

Overall Paranormal Lockdown had three solid seasons with good ratings that many fans of this genre enjoyed. And the stars and brains behind this show have gone on to make even more thrilling content for the field.

So even though it’s unlikely that we’ll see any more episodes of this particular show, we’ll always have the old episodes of famous ghost hunters locking themselves in haunted locations. And new episodes of similar shows inspired by that premise.

We love the premise of this show since it adds a different level of suspense to see the cast stay overnight at the location. And watching it feels somewhat more immersive since they have to spend so much time there. Plus, I always find content like this fascinating.

And if you feel the same way and enjoy paranormal content, then there are many similar shows you could check out. “Portals to Hell” is one suggestion, and it actually stars Katrina Weidman, so if you’re a fan of hers from this show, check it out!

Other popular paranormal shows are “Ghost Hunters,” “Ghost Adventures,” and “Help! My House Is Haunted”, among others.