Even in the first season of "Ghost Whisperer," Pittsburgh native David Conrad expected his character to be killed off.

"It's like a hotel. Every five years they have to tear out all the furniture and put new furniture in to sell it," Conrad said in an October 2005 interview.

He said it makes sense that the series would "need a new guy" at some point. "You bring in somebody else, like they did with Sarah Jessica Parker [and her roster of boyfriends] on 'Sex and the City.' "

So it wasn't all that surprising when Conrad's Jim Clancy, husband of the ghost whisperer herself, Melinda (Jennifer Love Hewitt), was killed in Friday's episode. He died in a hospital from an embolism after being shot accidentally by a cop when police responded to a home where a depressed, dumped-at-the-altar groom was holed up.

What does Conrad think of Jim's death and how will it affect his role on the series? Read on:

Rob Owen: Given your comments to me back during the first season, I assume you weren't surprised by this turn of events.

David Conrad: They said early on that everybody but Jennifer is expendable. They didn't say it that way, but they were like, "We're not going to lie to you. It's definitely in our plans to kill you off in an exciting way." I was like, "Cool, it's all good." I figured I'd do a pilot, and the fact that we're in our fourth season and I'll make it to the end of this one and it seems like I'm sort of in the plans for a fifth season if there is one, it's all gravy.

RO: What did you think of the approach to killing Jim?

DC: I liked the fact that it's not super-connected to the plot. I thought it was smart that it came out of nowhere.

RO: In next week's episode, your character does something we've never seen on "Ghost Whisperer." Is that how they'll keep you on the series?

DC: What happens next happens so quickly rather than happening slowly or piecemeal. I think it would be more fun to drag it out: Where is he going? When will he come back, and how will he manifest himself as someone else? ... It just sort of loses the audience's sense of how long do you wait before you give them the cake? The whole plot of the show changes. Things get a little more clouded by my issue. I wish that he'd visit her once in a while like Angel on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." ... It's strange how they rush things. My only thought is I would drag it out a little, more foreplay.

RO: Ironically, it seems like your character has more to do now that he's dead.

DC: Yeah, that's the crazy thing. When they kill you off, you work more! It's kind of like in retirement when you're busier than when you were at your job. ... I do work more, which means I haven't been back to Pittsburgh that much.

RO: Do you expect to be a series regular next season?

DC: They don't have a definitive answer because the show hasn't been picked up.

RO: But it seems likely the show will be renewed. The ratings are up.

DC: Best ever, actually.

RO: What are your future career plans?

DC: I don't know. It's a fluid time because there's no official answer about the fifth season. My agents are like, "We need an answer, guys." The documentaries I was working on are done and I don't want to make another one at the moment. I do need to figure it out.

RO: The Wall Street Journal reported last week that your flat in the Strip is for sale. Are you planning to pull up stakes?

DC: I'm a single guy living in a 3,600-square-foot warehouse. I'm embarrassed. What do I do with all this space? I can throw a baseball from one end to the other. I'll just find a smaller place [in Pittsburgh]. A crash pad. And I'll spend less money or direct it more toward things I feel are more valuable than paying a mortgage.