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On Wednesday, Aug. 19, Syfy's reality hit "Ghost Hunters" returns with the back half of season five. It was still in production as of this writing, but plans are already under way for season six.

Back in 2004, when the show premiered, plumbers Grant Wilson and Jason Hawes had no way of knowing that their evening hobby as the founders of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), a group of volunteer researchers probing reports of ghostly activity, would soon take over their entire lives.

"When you're doing it on your own time," Wilson says, calling in from a filming location in Chicago, "if you need a break, you can take it. When you're on a show, you can't necessarily do that.

"So it does wear you out, but I still love it. It was a passion of mine; I had my own fuel for the fire. We always get excited when we pull up to a new case. The fires are burning bright, yeah."

But Wilson still likes to wrap his fingers around a wrench every now and then.

"It's nice when you have some downtime," he says, "and you can get your hands on some pipes and do some plumbing.

"When you meet fans, and they ask you a plumbing question, it's very refreshing, compared to a question with the word 'ghost' in it. A lot of people will throw a joke out there. They'll be like, 'Ha, ha, I have a plumbing question.' And you'll be like, 'Please, ask it!' "

Asked what advice he'd give to an aspiring plumber, Wilson says, "It's recession-free. Everyone wants to make fun of blue-collar people, and it's like, 'Go ahead and try to get through life without them, and see what happens.'

"The motto of a plumber is 'Protecting the health of the nation,' which is true. Think about it; that's the way it is. If your plumbing isn't done right, you've got disease."

Turns out Wilson and Hawes aren't the only guys who've found show-business success and still keep their feet squarely on the ground.

In an upcoming episode, rocker Meat Loaf appears as a guest investigator.

"He was great," Wilson says. "He's just like us. All the stuff that guy's been through, and ht's still just down to earth. He was like a kid in a candy store -- running around, all excited, yelling and crazy.

"He actually tripped and fell and broke one of our cameras, he was so excited."

But there are no plans to search for the ghost of Michael Jackson.

"I think I'll pass on that," Wilson says. "It's funny, the day after he passed away, people are asking us, 'Are you going to Neverland?' 'Whoa! Too soon. Too soon.'"