Rating: Summary: The Magical Duo Delivers no Illusions Here Review: Nor do they spare any feelings. This comedic pair of magicians go gang-buster in debunking such hype as near death experiences, the Baby Einstein wave, tree huggers and (gasp) even second hand smoke.
Although you may find yourself laughing during some of investigations as alien abductions and women who believe their breasts are growing under hypnosis, there are more to these topics than pointing the finger and laughing. This is some food for serious thought. There are some well intentioned, hard working and surprisingly intelligent Americans out there buying into things that simply can't be bought. For instance closure, health, parenting, safety. You may say that if we live in a society which there are people stupid enough to buy into such sillyness than they deserve to lose every penny, but these people aren't stupid at all. They're either riddled with grief, desperate to be told their good parents, seriously physically and/or mentally in need of true medical treatment which makes them easy targets for the New Age, alternative medicine that's sweeping (and cashing in BIG TIME) over our world today.
Don't get me wrong,there's nothing wrong with going to a physic for fun with a group of friends or eating organic foods because you feel this is a healthier choice as long as this is a clear, conscience decision that you feel is good for you. But there are certain circumstances where even the sharpest knife in the drawer fall victim to those desperate to make a buck, and Penn and Teller explore and expose the world of scare tactics, enviormental hysteria, and self help rubbish.
Not to say you will agree with each argument the Penn and Teller Bullsh*t episodes pose, but atleast it get's the mind thinking, questioning and hopefully investigating so we don't make bad judgements on what we want to contribute our money and precious time to...unlike a few hours of Penn and Teller's Bullsh*t. Now this is something worth every penny.
Rating: Summary: A Treasure For Those Who Laugh With The Truth Review: As a fan of magicians and magic, I always rated Penn and Teller as my favorites because they explained the tricks behind the trick - usually with poor Teller as the victim of the sadistic Penn.And it is a thrill finally to get the first season of their show on DVD. I believe it's the only one like it currently running and it can only run on pay cable, what with every network buying into the various forms of Bullsh*t that permeate the American cultural scene. It is refreshing to see Penn and Teller expose such nonsense as talking with the dead, the 'dangers' of second-hand smoke, alien abductions, and the so-called positive effect of Mozart on a baby's development. And who better to debunk these phenomena than two magicians themselves, following the tradition of the Amazing Randi and Long John Nebel. In fact, Randi makes an appearance in their episode debunking Nostradamus; this episode alone is worth the price. What particulary strikes me as hilarious is the reactions of those in my audience of DVD watchers. They cheer when P & T gore someone else's bull, but are quick to disagree, usually emotionally, when their own particular ox is gored. The only bad thing about this DVD is the wait I will have until next season's DVD is released. But then again, this is the sort of thing one can watch numerous times without boredom setting in.
Rating: Summary: Nominated for two Emmy awards!!!!! Review: BS has been nominated for two Emmy awards - best non-competition reality show and best writing (for the 'War on Drugs' episode). This show is very entertaining and informative. I completely disagree with the reviewer who claims Penn is a poor narrator. He does an excellent job, and pulls no punches. This is truly the best show on TV. Matt
Rating: Summary: P & T score with this series Review: Comedic magicians hosting a TV series about everything that is crazy in the world seems like an interesting concept. But after watching the first season, I can understand why the next season is on its way. Marvelous commentary from Penn and excellent slapstick from Teller drive home how stupid some things truly are. Bullsh*t is quickly becoming one of my favorite TV series and is a can't miss program. The Soprano's it isn't, but Showtime has a winner with P & T.
Rating: Summary: Bring It On Boys Review: Great show. Although on Creationism Buckminster Fuller not only proved that evolution is fallacious, but also PROVED CREATIONISM!! (SYNERGETICS) When Fuller met Eintein and explained his concepts, Albert responded,"young man, you amaze me!"
Rating: Summary: Penn & Teller - F#*&*ing Brilliant! Review: I can't say enough about how much we need this kind of show. Penn & Teller shine the bright light of reason on these sick and absurd people. It hardly balances all the massive hours of rubbish we see on TV, but it helps. Great for anyone who is intelligent and who THINKS.
Rating: Summary: A Good Skewering of Topics of Interest Today Review: I can't say I am Penn and Teller's biggest fan, but after watching a couple of the episodes of their second season of their show "Bull----!", I decided to rent the first season of shows. There are 13 30 minute episodes where the two magicians take on issues such as ESP, alien abductions, bottled water and diet fads to name a few and try to debunk each of them. The episodes, which are narrated by Penn (since Teller doesn't talk), interject Penn's wicked dialogue (which is often profane, but that's OK with me) with interviews with people who believe in the topics at issue, followed by Penn trying to humiliate those people. I often wonder if the people are told that if they give an interview for the show they are going to be humiliated. What I like about Penn and Teller's approach is that they don't tackle political issues, like tax breaks or war in Iraq. They basically focus on pop culture issues. I'm not interested in some of the topics they discussed (Feng Shui being one, for example), but their delivery of the material make it watchable. One thing, this show isn't for kids, in particular the show that they do about sex, where fully nude men and women walk around them during their dialogs, but I can't believe kids would be that interested anyway. All in all, a pretty good show, but I doubt that you would want to watch an episode more than once, so I go 4 stars here.
Rating: Summary: You WILL Be Offended.... Review: I guarantee it! At some point these guys are going to tread on some sacred "truth" that you hold near and dear. And that is the great thing about this series. They are truly Equal Opportunity Offenders. And while I don't know that I buy into every position (not so sure about say, second-hand smoke), these guys are funny, provocative, and invite debate on a whole host of ideas and issues that so many seem to swallow hook, line, and sinker, without the slightest inkling of critical thought. Watching those goofballs signing the petition to ban the chemical Dihydrogen Monoxide (um....water) is alone worth the price of this series. Wonderfully refreshing television! The overarching theme is our amazing ability for self-deception.
Rating: Summary: You WILL Be Offended.... Review: I guarantee it! At some point these guys are going to tread on some sacred "truth" that you hold near and dear. And that is the great thing about this series. They are truly Equal Opportunity Offenders. And while I don't know that I buy into every position (not so sure about say, second-hand smoke), these guys are funny, provocative, and invite debate on a whole host of ideas and issues that so many seem to swallow hook, line, and sinker, without the slightest inkling of critical thought. Watching those goofballs signing the petition to ban the chemical Dihydrogen Monoxide (um....water) is alone worth the price of this series. Wonderfully refreshing television! The overarching theme is our amazing ability for self-deception.
Rating: Summary: A love song for the skeptic in all of us. Review: I had never seen the Penn & Tell show this collection is from. I had heard about it from some coworkers who are hooked on it, but never watched it in first run. But, I do find Penn & Teller's brand of comedy strangely watchable.
Boy, was this a TERRIFIC find! The series itself is based on debunking myths and fads, and essentially helping to educate the masses on what is and isn't BULLS*IT in our world today. From psychics to UFO's, to new age medicine, they use each segment to explore in depth the hows, whys, and prevention of keeping ourselves free from a society that tends to throw more BULLS*IT at us as it gets larger. And Penn Gillette makes no bones about why he's doing what he's doing...that he thinks it's wrong for people to scam the public. He can be given to editorial rants during the segments, but, if you watch the segments, you can understand why he got hot under the collar over them. It puts our pop culture under a microscope and thankfully gives it a spoonful of sugar, because the medicine found in it can be quite harsh.
All in all, a fascinating look at the truth behind many of the little bits that make up our current culter.
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