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Bullshit!

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Bullshit!, also known as Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, (2003—) is a Showtime Channel television series shown in the United States, Canada, Australia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The series is hosted by professional magicians/comedians Penn and Teller. Four seasons have completely aired, and it has been renewed for a fifth season, currently in production. The show reflects the atheist, libertarian stance of the duo, and inherits their characteristically blunt, aggressive presentation.

The show aims to debunk an array of metaphysical, supernatural, and popular misconceptions. Supernatural subjects include alien abduction, alternative medicine, and ESP, and other episodes cover social issues such as the War on Drugs, gun control and recycling. The show goes on to criticize proponents of such things, often citing ulterior—often financial—motives. While the stated aim of the show is to apply critical thinking and scientific skepticism to these issues it has drawn criticism for taking a one-sided approach at times.

Their approach is influenced by performers such as James Randi and Harry Houdini, who are similarly known for debunking claims of supernatural powers.[link]

Contents

Show format

Each episode, Penn and Teller takes a stance upon a chosen topic and undermines the other side.

Proponents of the topic make their case in interviews, however, they often end up appearing fallacious or self-contradicting. For example, in "Safety Hysteria", a manufacturer of "radiation guards" for mobile phones admits that there is no proven link between mobile phone radiation and brain cancer, but assures viewers that "you can't be too safe" (mobile phones use conventional radio waves for broadcasting, which are non-ionizing radiation). When he states his background is in advertising, not medical science it is implied that he knows his product is useless, but exploits people's fears to turn a profit.

A second consecutive interview with proponents is usually started with the phrase: "And then there's this asshole!"

Penn Jillette has stated that interview comments are in context and that those appearing know what show the interview is for (although it would not be legal to do otherwise). One episode shows a video crew from the show going into a building to perform an interview, and Jillette points out that a member of the crew is wearing a Penn & Teller: Bullshit! baseball cap.

Opponents are interviewed and offer rebuttals to the proponents' arguments. These are usually experts, celebrities, opinionated amateurs or sometimes speakers from the Center for Inquiry Transnational, James Randi Educational Foundation, and the Cato Institute.

Penn and Teller conduct informal experiments, which are admittedly unscientific at times for the sake of comedy and satire. For example, in the episode "Bottled Water", diners in an upscale restaurant are presented with a variety of apparently fancy bottled water brands. After the diners praise and pick a favorite, it is revealed that each bottle was filled with a garden hose behind the restaurant. In one of their more serious experiments during the "Conspiracy Theories" episode, Teller shoots a rifle at a melon to demonstrate that when a human head is shot, it is likely to be forced in the opposite direction that the bullet was travelling in order to discredit a John F. Kennedy conspiracy theory which points out that the fatal gunshot rocked JFK toward the shot.

Penn and Teller often use skits and stunts performed on-set or through stock footage which combine reasonable argument with straightforward, entertaining ridicule. The "Sex, Sex, Sex" episode satirizes society's obsession with sex appeal by having the hosts constantly surrounded by naked actors and actresses.

Penn and Teller often close with an impassioned ethical plea against the subject matter near the end of the show as to why this particular belief is harmful and should be resisted. The presenters distinguish between believers (often saying that they would like to believe also) and direct their anger at those they see as charlatans while showing compassion towards the victims of what Penn and Teller see as manipulation and deception.

Since their act is not normally associated with a frequent use of profanity, Jillette explains this choice in the opening episode: if they referred to people as frauds or liars, they could be sued for slander, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of chicanery, but as "vulgar abuse" is not legally considered slanderous, referring to them as assholes or fuckers ostensibly expresses an opinion rather than a statement of fact and is legally safer for them.

Criticism of the show

Many critics accuse Penn and Teller of being biased in their approach to debunking their opponent's arguments. For instance, they may quote their opponents out of context, making the opponent look foolish. Critics also claim that Bullshit! is biased in that the show attempts to exclude certain information if it does not favor the show's position. Instead of providing all arguments from both sides, and letting the audience decide what they personally feel is "right", many times, the opposing arguments are not addressed at all.

This has been acknowledged on their program; during an episode dedicated to myths of the Bible, Penn Jillette openly admitted that Bullshit!'s approach is nothing more than evangelism for viewpoints which they feel are honest and well-educated. Still, some critics sympathetic with the duo's over-arching message have expressed regret that they can occasionally slip into the same sensationalism as their targets, including validating their points with pundits that possess dubious qualifications, such as controversial rock star Ted Nugent (to be fair, they introduced him with "You wanna talk fucking nuts? We got fuckin' Ted fuckin' Nugent!" and Nugent was not presented as an authoritative, fact-based source on the issues).[link] This was summed up in a review by Slate magazine which stated: "One of the unwritten rules for winning an argument against an inflammatory, irrational opponent is to calmly adhere to a loftier set of rhetorical standards. Penn and Teller showily throw this notion out the window."

While Penn and Teller are self-professed as skeptics, critics have been quick to note that Bullshit! is not dedicated to fact-based debunking or inquiry. An otherwise favorable review by The Onion AV Club noted:

"Bullshit! isn't journalism, exactly. The show is one-sided by design: P&T's field interviewers rarely confront their subjects with the evidence against them, preferring to let the crackpots ramble on so that Jillette's voiceover rejoinders can score points without inciting a real argument."

Secondhand smoke

One heavily criticized episode is about secondhand smoking. In this episode, critics argue that the writers of the show use false information regarding the apparent safety of second hand smoking, which could have been provided by or influenced by the tobacco industry itself. The Skeptic's Dictionary's author originally sided with Penn and Teller, but switched sides after further investigation into the studies. The author had concluded that the studies were biased, and after having found this, decided that secondhand smoking does have negative effects on people.[link]

Recycling

This episode borrows heavily from an article from the New York Times entitled [is Garbage].

The episode went on to debunk recycling as being economically profitable. However, it made no mention of the reduced external cost involved in recycling old materials versus producing new ones, such as plastic which is derived from oil. While using raw materials may generate more profit for a particular firm, the environmental impact may greatly offset this. Also, many programs are not profitable, or require great subsidies, yet have social benefits—subway systems are one example.

The episode cites a statistic claiming that the US has more trees today than it did in 1920, However, this figure makes no distinction between tree farms and old growth forests, which house complex ecosystems and never fully regenerate after logging. There is little controversy that these forests are becoming more scarce worldwide. Moreover, there are no mainstream environmental efforts to stop logging in tree farms.

Trivia

Episode list

External links

 

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