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skepticism/debunking on tv
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Posted by: rtype

Aside from South Park and Penn & Teller, does anyone know of any other shows on TV that are dedicated to debunking conspiracy theories, legends, mysticism, myths, psuedoscience, supernatural, superstition and religion?

Posted by: ireland967

There's a show called Fact or Fiction that presents four stories, and only one of them is true. The others are urban myths, legends, etc. Found it interesting once, then not so interesting on the 2nd watch.

Posted by: barrettd

Mythbusters.

BD

Posted by: Blahblah2000

MythBusters on TLC. I just saw it for the first time over the weekend. They basically take a myth (such as cola being a good engine degreaser/cleaner/etc) and do a bunch of tests to see if the myth is real or not. Worth checking out.

Posted by: doom1701

Mythbusters is loads of fun, especially for most "typical" guys--ones who like to read the Darwin awards, see big explosions, and watch building type shows like Monster Garage.

Posted by: dirtypacman

History Detective on PBS is a great show about myths and legends and gets down to the real truth.

Posted by: Video-Idiot

Thanks for the SPs guys. I'll try 'em all. :D

Posted by: ced6

quote:
Originally posted by doom1701
Mythbusters is loads of fun, especially for most "typical" guys--ones who like to read the Darwin awards, see big explosions, and watch building type shows like Monster Garage.

Hey, I like Mythbusters, am a girl, and have never blown anything up for the record :)

Posted by: Mr. Funny Pants

Unsolved History is another really good show. They are big on trying to recreate events as precisely as possible (Boston Massacre, Marilyn Monroe's death, JFK's assassination, etc.) and using science. They sometimes overstate their case a bit, but in general, they do a good job of smashing historical myths.

Posted by: rtype

quote:
Originally posted by Mr. Funny Pants
Unsolved History is another really good show. They are big on trying to recreate events as precisely as possible (Boston Massacre, Marilyn Monroe's death, JFK's assassination, etc.) and using science. They sometimes overstate their case a bit, but in general, they do a good job of smashing historical myths.

I think I may have seen an episode of this once. Did they have one that tried to prove who fired first using forensics and reenacting at the OK Coral?

Posted by: kleinman

quote:
Originally posted by rtype
I think I may have seen an episode of this once. Did they have one that tried to prove who fired first using forensics and reenacting at the OK Coral?

Yeah, they did an episode on that. The series started out ok, but IMO it degenerated quickly. They started taking scant evidence and leaping to conclusions which they presented as fact. It got to the point where I couldn't watch it anymore, my wife kept getting mad at me yelling at the screen :D

On a side note, does anyone know if the narrator happens to be Lara Flynn Boyle? Sounds an awful lot like her, but she never showed up in the credits.

Posted by: Mr. Funny Pants

quote:
Originally posted by kleinman
Yeah, they did an episode on that. The series started out ok, but IMO it degenerated quickly. They started taking scant evidence and leaping to conclusions which they presented as fact. It got to the point where I couldn't watch it anymore, my wife kept getting mad at me yelling at the screen :D

On a side note, does anyone know if the narrator happens to be Lara Flynn Boyle? Sounds an awful lot like her, but she never showed up in the credits.

I agree about your first point, although I think it varies greatly show to show. The most recent one I saw was the JFK assassination, and it was very well done. But yeah, they will take a little piece of evidence and run wild with it sometimes.

I never thought about that narrator sounding like Lara Flynn Boyle, but now that I think about it, she does. I do know it's not her though, as I remember checking the credits to see who it was (I found her to be irritating).

Posted by: kleinman

quote:
Originally posted by Mr. Funny Pants
(I found her to be irritating).

I agree with you 100% on that. I couldn't put my finger on exactly what, but something about the way she delivered the lines always bugged me - maybe she was just trying to be too dramatic.

For what it's worth, my wife still likes the show, I'm just not allowed to watch it with her anymore :D

Posted by: dirtypacman

I read most of the thread past my last comment thinking you guys were talking about "Unsolved Mysteries" I was thinking to myself does Lara have that deep of a voice?

LOL

Posted by: classicsat

TLC sometimes has an urban legends program they use to highlight and prove/disprove urban legends, although with of a less scientific nature than Myth busters does.

Posted by: TimC

The narrator of Unsolved History is Stockard Channing.

Posted by: wmcbrine

Really bugs me when they do pseudoscience on the Discovery Channel(s).

For a while, they had short interstitial segments with a guy from the Skeptical Inquirer, IIRC, on the Science Channel. But I'm not sure that counts as a program. I dunno if it's still on.

Some debunking occurs on Scientific American Frontiers now and then. (The segment that comes to mind was one on chiropracty.)

BTW, South Park is mockery, not debunking.

Posted by: LooseWiring

quote:
Originally posted by wmcbrine
BTW, South Park is mockery, not debunking.

I don't know. One episode they conclusively proved that John Edwards was a complete fake but also the Universe's Biggest Douche'.

Posted by: rtype

quote:
Originally posted by wmcbrine
BTW, South Park is mockery, not debunking.

These aren't mutually exclusive terms. Penn & Teller definitely falls under both as well. South Park does, at times, go out of their way to explain exactly what's going on--as they did with cold reading, for example.

Posted by: jlb.x

quote:
Mythbusters.

One of my new favorite shows. :up:

Spoiler Alert! (highlight to read)
I really wanted to see the taxi get flipped by the 737 jet blast -- even more so after they rigged it with remote steering. Stupid insurance companies.

Posted by: Mr. Funny Pants

quote:
Originally posted by TimC
The narrator of Unsolved History is Stockard Channing.

She's only narrated a couple of episodes. For the regular run of the show, it's another woman. Trust me, it's easy to tell the difference, because Stockard Channing's narration doesn't irritate the crap out of me. :)

Posted by: Mr. Funny Pants

quote:
Originally posted by rtype
These aren't mutually exclusive terms. Penn & Teller definitely falls under both as well. South Park does, at times, go out of their way to explain exactly what's going on--as they did with cold reading, for example.

James Randi and others have praised that episode, and not just because it's funny. It's as perfect a description of what people like John Edwards do as you'll ever see.

Posted by: rtype

I don't have a listing for Unsolved History or History Detectives. :(

I added a season pass for Mythbusters.

Posted by: tward_biteme1

Unless I screwed up, are these shows currently running?

"MythBusters"
"Unsolved History"

When searching for them, I couldn't find them.....

Posted by: thenightfly42

quote:
Originally posted by tward_biteme1
Unless I screwed up, are these shows currently running?

"MythBusters"
"Unsolved History"

When searching for them, I couldn't find them.....

Mythbusters is on break until June, although I think there are still lots of reruns. There's a thread over here on these boards talking about the UH problem, which is that the series title doesn't show in the guide.

Here's the Discovery website listings:

DSC :: Series :: MythBusters

Unsolved History