Rating: 
Summary: simply incredibly awesome
Review: I've caught many of the season's episodes and I must say I died laughing at each occurrence! I'm glad its continuing with a second season (April 1st 2004 ..Showtime @ 10pm for those who need to know). I'd recommend this as a great gift and also if someone has the money then can they buy it for me as well?! My birthday is coming up! Simply put: this series is hilarious and a lot of fun watching + learning!!! No really.. it's educational
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST...
Review: If you have not seen this show you must see it. For those of you who are gullible, please watch the entire set. all 13 first season episodes are on it and I can't wait for Season 2. This Show will tell the honest to God's truth. Every episode is interesting, every episode will leave you thinking and much more knowledge will come. I Hope they do one on the Government/F.C.C. soon!! they should do the Bullsh*t with those clowns. Disc One: Talking to the Dead/ Alternative Medicine/Alien Abductions/End of the World/Second Hand Smoke/Baby Bullsh*t. Disc Two: Sex,Sex,Sex/Feng Shui/Bottled Water/ Creationism/Self-Helpless/ESP Disc Three: Eat This!/Ouija Boards/Near Death Experiences/Environmental Hysteria PLUS: MANY BONUS Special Features, Interviews/ Behind The Scenes/ Out-takes!! Oh MY!! Penn & Teller Gives you more than Magic- They tell The TRUTH!! How Awesome is that, we need more like them!! Cheers to the both of them.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and Funny
Review: In this series Penn & Teller out the legions of fakes and the gullible people who believe them. As the title says it's about those who make a living suckering people with bullsh*t. Laced with the off the wall humor of P&T this series is great.
Rating: 
Summary: Having a Good Belly Laugh at Fools? Priceless.
Review: John Edward can talk to the dead and entertain people. The X-files can explore supernatural cases, and entertain people. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell can talk about religion on their TV shows and entertain people. Now, Penn and Teller can call all of the above "Bullsh.t" and entertain people - skeptical people like me (and I'm assuming) you.
The concept of the show is to take a sacred cow - environmental hysteria, ESP, creationism, alternative medicine - and devote a show to not only trying to debunk it, but have a good laugh at it in the process. Many beliefs will be shredded, many feelings will be hurt, and many people WILL be offended. But, in the process, the show will make us think about why people believe such seemingly far-out things, and why they (or you) shouldn't.
I must say, though, that anyone looking for rigorous debunkings will not quite get it here. First, each show is about thirty minutes in length, so the time constraints alone prevent any really detailed factual debunking. Secondly, Penn and Teller are entertainers and, as such, their first goal is to keep you interested. The best way to lose an audience, though, is to lecture them with lengthy factual diatribes.
So, all in all, I agree with some other reviewers that one must be skeptical also of the skeptics. In the "Environmental Hysteria" episode, for instance, Penn and Teller 'expose' environentalism as a farce by... showing us many clips of the looniest environmentalists they can get their hands on. But this doesn't disprove environenmentalism's claims; it only casts doubt on some of the players. Other episodes do similar things: they take a belief, show that there are some very strange people who believe in it, and conclude, from that, that it is bunk - "Bullsh.t."
I am not going to take but one star off for this, as one looking for a THOROUGH debunking of the highlighted ideas need not look far to find them. (How many times has creationism or ESP been refuted? Too many to count!) As un-PC as it is to say, what we get with this show is a pure, unbridled entertainment for the skeptic - a chance to kick back and laugh at loony people with loony ideas. Don't let political correctness get in the way; check theses DVD's out and have yourself a good, skeptical, belly laugh!
Rating:
Summary: Some Reviewers make P&T's case even stronger...
Review: Like many of these reveiws I found this show refreshing, informative and entertaining. It did a marvelous job of not only de-bunking much of what some hold as undeniable truth, but exposing the dangers and absurdity of a "group think" mentality. To that, some of these reviews were written by those who take issue with the "Environmental Hysteria" episode, citing Bjorn Lomborg as P&T's only expert testimonial. This is not the case, they also had representatives from the CATO institute as well as the founder of Greenpeace support P&T's position that the fear and hysteria promoted by the environmentalist movement is more about political ideology and less about science. P&T make the case that, even when the science does not support their views, the "group think" of the environmentalist movement perpetuates their absurd positions, some of these reviewers have proved that point!
Rating:
Summary: A Good-Humored Skeptic's Feast for the Mind!
Review: Master stage magicians Penn and Teller take on psychics, astrology, the environment, and a host of other questionable topics. Like the title of the show, Penn and Teller do not hesitate at all in demonstrating that the frauds, con men, and phony scientists are full of Bull Sh*t! Happily, they manage to do it with a unique style and humor that left me snorting Dr. Pepper through my nostrils. Ouch. It was worth it! In the process of watching these programs, you will learn exactly -how- frauds and fakers pull of many of their stunts, -why- certain pseudoscientists and pseudo historians are wrong, and even -why- people are often so eager to believe and accept things at face value. While our prestidigitationator hosts are opinionated, they are always on the side of the common man (us) who so often plays the dupe to the frauds of our day. These programs are entertainment and education rolled into one. I am not the sort of person who usually buys dvds of every series I like. This series was warrented though, and long overdue...Penn and Teller have proven themselves worthy of a place on any skeptic's shelf. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious, with a truly different point of view
Review: New-agey folks aren't known for their senses of humor, but they ARE known for their die-hard devotion to doomsday gurus. Hence the coupla reviewers here who knock this series for having the audacity to talk to Bjorn Lomborg (GASP!!!!). Sorry, kiddies, he's not a "pseudoscientist," and if you'd read his book instead of just parroting the hysterical press releases condemning it, you would look a lot less foolish and obeisant yourselves. Lomberg started out like you guys, then changed his mind after he did some real research. Almost nobody else in the public eye is willing to take on quacks and charlatans like Penn and Teller. These DVDs, like any series, are a little hard to take in a single sitting. But put on an episode every night or so, and you will get a refreshing take on some subjects that most "journalists" consider taboo.
Rating:
Summary: Revenge
Review: Oh this is so sweet! Revenge on these *&^%*(%^('s that take people's money and somehow feel justified for (*^(*&^(*ing with people. (If you are offended by these comments...well, you need to watch some South Park and loosen up a bit, otherwise you'll never enjoy this show - and they use language for legal reasons!) Anyway, if they didn't skewer what you believe in, well, you're next buddy. Just take it like a man and post 5 stars. And I've had enough of these hippies pushing Global Warming.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Information
Review: Penn and Teller hosting an informational no-bull television show, is like Siegfried and Roy hosting a Dr. Phil type show. These two performers are able to pull this off though, and near-flawlessly at that. They fully explain both sides of the argument that they are discussing, pick the most realistic side, and fully exploit the other, incorrect and inate side. Episodes such as "Environmentalists" truly acknowledge its great informational facilities. This is truly a good buy if you are a fan of the show, if you like Penn & Teller, or if you are a realist in this sugar coated world.
Rating:
Summary: Almost There - as far as Entertainment goes
Review: Put different kinds of animals in one bag, each trying to prove that his or her point of view is the correct one and you have an idea what you're about to see here.
You will be not only able to observe how you can twist the facts and implant the suggestion using words, visual images and numbers, but also about the power of intimidation. You are probably already familiar with the fact that you can take any kind of information, highlight the points you'd like the person to accept as truth, and minimize the rest - and voila - now you have apparently proved the point. In hypnosis, by the way, we call this "embedded commands". On that note, you may enjoy a little book called "Monsters and Magical Sticks: There is no such thing as hypnosis".
Penn & Teller are entertainers who use mis-direction for a living. If a magician draws your attention successfully to his right hand, hopefully you won't notice what he's doing with his left. If the mis-direction is successful, you may be awed, if it's unsuccessful, you may be - well, just amused.
You'll see an episode where a hypnotist is apparently trying to draw out information of a client by asking leading questions and in this way (knowingly or unknowingly) planting suggestions in client's mind. You'll also notice that Penn is using the same technique through the entire series to plant his own suggestions and reinforce the points he desires to make.
For the most part people who are portrayed in this series actually believe in their causes, though in some cases that is questionable and what comes up front as main motivation is money. Penn seems to be upset both with those who are passionate about their causes, which are in his opinion wrong, and claims that they should be more scientific, while he is at the same time very passionate about his own cause, his own beliefs and his own worldview. Since he is getting paid handsomely to make this show, to entertain the viewers, we can't exactly rule out that money has something to do with it.
Penn is doing his best to emphasize that he is all for the science. In the process he would have you believe that in science everything is black and white and that the answers are all straighforward and conclusive - which is not the case. You can pick practically any group of scientists and discover that they, too, have lots of disagreements and very different viewpoints. And if you take one problem and presented it to three different scientists, each one can come up with a different possible solution to the problem. Also, as objective as they may want to be, scientists or not, human beings have emotions and biases - and if they want to call it scientific all they do is juggle a few numbers and few words to prove the point.
These episodes are humorous, entertaining and at times rather creative and silly. If you don't mind the sometimes offensive language, you may enjoy watching it.
The core topic of this series is - what are people willing to do to deal with their fears and concerns, need to have a sense that they belong somewhere, to be accepted and appreciated.
You'll also get to see how the power of suggestion is used skillfully in advertising, in sales, even in healing. In hypnosis we say that "all hypnosis is self hypnosis" - you can interpret any information in a light that suits your own needs and purposes. And for that matter, you don't even need anyone to plant suggestions in your mind, you can do it well on your own by using your own imagination. The way to deepen the trance is to just keep on playing with appropriate imagery until it turns into a conviction.
You'll also learn that both perception and memory are selective and creative. If the information matches what we believe or want to believe, we accept it, if it doesn't, we reject it. And scientists are in the same bag - after all they are only human. If they encounter information that doesn't fit their model of the world and they don't have any explanation for it - they just say it doesn't exist or it's an anomaly.
In this series you will get an overview of some methods of treatment that while they may have merit in certain situations, have questionable merit in the situations presented. The consequences may range from negligible to harmful. On the other side of the coin is western traditional medicine and if you read the Compendium of Pharmaceutical Drugs and find out the harmful side effects, the solution is hardly going to leave you any more thrilled and delighted. It is good to be informed and to research your options and do not take any person's opinion as a final word. There is much left for everyone to learn - even for scientists.
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