Penn & Teller: Bullshit! (rendered
Penn & Teller: B.S.!,
Bullsh*t!,
Bulls***! or
Bull! for advertisements) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
documentaryDocumentary film is a broad category of visual expressions that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can...
television series that has been on the air since 2003 on the premium cable channel
ShowtimeShowtime is a subscription television brand used by a number of channels and platforms around the world, but primarily refers to a group of channels in the United States...
on Thursday nights at 10 pm ET. In Canada, the series airs on
The Movie NetworkThe Movie Network is a Canadian English language premium television service, owned by Astral Media. The service is licensed to operate east of the Ontario-Manitoba border, excluding the territories...
. It is hosted by professional
magicianMagic is a performing art that entertains an audience by creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats, using purely natural means...
s/
comedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain members of an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
s
Penn & TellerPenn & Teller is a double act consisting of Penn Jillette and Teller. The duo's act is an amalgam of illusion and comedy. Penn is a raconteur and Teller generally uses mime while performing, although his voice can occasionally be heard throughout their performance...
. Many episodes aim to
debunkA debunker is an individual who discredits and exposes claims as being false, exaggerated or pretentious. The term is closely associated with skeptical investigation of topics such as U.F.O.s, claimed paranormal phenomena, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, religion, research outside...
pseudoscientific ideas,
supernaturalThe term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are spells and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others...
beliefs, popular fads and misconceptions, and often from a libertarian point of view, the political philosophy espoused by both Penn and Teller. The show criticizes proponents of what they perceive as nonsense and dishonesty —
bullshitBullshit is a common American English expletive which may be shortened to the euphemisms bull or B.S. In British English, "bollocks" is a comparable expletive, although bullshit is now commonly used in British English as well.As with many expletives, it can be used as an interjection or as many...
— often citing ulterior political or financial motives. The stated aim of the show is to apply
critical thinkingCritical thinking is assumed to be the purposeful and reflective judgement about what to believe or what to do in response to observations, experience, verbal or written expressions, or arguments...
to misconceptions. As is indicated by the show's title, the program adheres to Penn & Teller's characteristically blunt, aggressive presentation.
Supernatural subjects of episodes include
alien abductionThe terms alien abduction or the abduction phenomenon describe "subjectively real memories of being taken secretly and/or against one’s will by apparently nonhuman entities and subjected to complex physical and psychological procedures."...
,
alternative medicineIn Western culture, alternative medicine is any healing practice "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine", or "that which has been shown consistently to be effective." Alternative medicine is often based on the belief that a particular health regimen has efficacious effects...
, the
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
, and
ESPExtrasensory perception involves reception of information not gained through the recognized senses and not inferred from experience. The term was coined by German psychical researcher, Rudolf Tischner, and adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B...
; other episodes cover social issues such as the
War on DrugsThe War on Drugs refers to the controversial prohibition campaign undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade. This initiative includes a set of laws and policies that are intended to...
, organic food,
animal rightsAnimal rights, also referred to as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of humans...
,
gun controlGun politics in the United States, incorporating the political aspects of gun politics, and firearms rights, has long been among the most controversial and intractable issues in American politics...
, and
environmentalismEnvironmentalism is a broad philosophy and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the state of the environment...
. Penn & Teller approach the topics in the manner of
Harry HoudiniHarry Houdini was a Hungarian American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer...
and
James RandiJames Randi is a stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
(who has appeared more than once on the show), who are known for debunking claims of
supernaturalThe term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are spells and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others...
powers.
The show has aired seven complete seasons so far. The seventh season began airing on June 25, 2009. With the start of its seventh season, it is now Showtime's longest running series. The series has achieved worldwide success, being shown in countries such as
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
,
Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( or (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian Latin: Bosna i Hercegovina; Serbian Cyrillic: Босна и Херцеговина) is a country in Southeast Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula...
,
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
,
ColombiaColombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean...
,
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
,
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
,
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
,
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
and the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
Show format
In each episode, Penn and Teller debunk a chosen misconception such as
cryptozoologyCryptozoology refers to the search for animals which are considered to be legendary or otherwise nonexistent by mainstream biology...
, debate a controversial topic like
gun controlGun politics is a set of legal issues surrounding the ownership, use, and regulation of firearms as well as safety issues related to firearms both through their direct use and through legal and criminal use.-International:-National sovereignty:...
or expose the 'truths' of an organization like
PETAPeta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Hall, a well known Rhodesian-Canadian potter...
. Sometimes their objective is not to completely dismiss the topic at hand but to decry certain aspects of the topic that they believe to be pernicious, misleading, unnecessary, or overemphasized. For example, in the case of
collegeCollege is a term most often used today to denote degree awarding tertiary educational institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of colleagues, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals...
they argue that while college is a great place "if you love to learn, if you love to drink beer, or if you need training for a certain career", they feel that using "student diversity" as promotion is "bullshit". Similarly, they state: "so the casual asshole, or just plain dickhead, might do well in an
anger managementThe term Anger management commonly refers to a system of psychological therapeutic techniques and exercises by which someone with excessive or uncontrollable anger can control or reduce the triggers, degrees, and effects of an angered emotional state...
program" but using "venting" as a technique in anger management is "bullshit" since venting
increases aggressiveness in a person by "twice as much" over time, especially in cases of domestic violence.
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 phoneA mobile phone or mobile is a long-range, electronic device used for mobile telecommunications...
s admits that there is no proven link between
mobile phone radiationMobile phone radiation and health concerns have been raised, especially following the enormous increase in the use of wireless mobile telephony throughout the world . Mobile phones use electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range, and some researchers believe this may be harmful to human health...
and brain cancer, but assures viewers that "you can't be
too safe" (mobile phones use conventional radio waves for communication, which are
non-ionizing radiationNon-ionizing radiation or non-ionising radiation refers to any type of electromagnetic radiation that does not carry enough energy per quantum to ionize atoms or molecules — that is, to completely remove an electron from an atom or molecule...
). When he states his background is in
advertisingAdvertising is a form of communication used to influence individuals to purchase products or services or support political candidates or ideas. Frequently it communicates a message that includes the name of the product or service and how that product or service could potentially benefit the consumer...
, 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 another proponent is often started with the phrase: "And then there's
this asshole..."
Penn Jillette has stated that those being interviewed know what show the interview is for and its purpose. 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 then interviewed and they offer rebuttals to the proponents' arguments. These are usually experts, celebrities, or sometimes speakers from the
Center for InquiryThe Center for Inquiry is a non-profit educational organization with headquarters in the United States whose primary mission is to encourage evidence-based inquiry into paranormal and fringe science claims, alternative medicine and mental health practices, religion, secular ethics, and society...
,
James Randi Educational FoundationJames Randi is a stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
, and the
Cato InstituteThe Cato Institute is a pro-free market, libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C.The Institute's stated mission is "to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free...
.
Penn and Teller often conduct informal experiments. For example, in the episode "Bottled Water", diners in an upscale restaurant are presented with a variety of apparently fancy
bottled waterBottled water is drinking water packaged in plastic or glass containers. The dominant form is water packaged in new Polyethylene terephthalate bottles and sold retail...
brands. After the diners praise and pick a favorite, it is revealed that each bottle was filled by the same garden hose behind the restaurant. In one of their more serious experiments during the "Conspiracy Theories" episode, Teller fires a rifle at a melon wrapped in one-inch fiberglass tape to demonstrate that when a human head is shot, it is likely to be forced in the direction opposite to the bullet's trajectory. This demonstration was aimed at discrediting a
John F. Kennedy conspiracy theoryThere are numerous conspiracy theories regarding the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 that arose soon after his death and continue to be promoted today. Most put forth a criminal conspiracy involving parties as varied as the CIA, the KGB, the American Mafia, FBI director J....
that points out that the fatal gunshot rocked
JFKJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
toward the shot through the use of simple principles of physics (i.e. "back and to the left." The fallacious belief that a shot from behind would cause a head to jerk forward is used as evidence that JFK must have been shot from the grassy knoll, in front of the vehicle). Penn and Teller look over the scene of the aftermath of the experiment to which Penn comments, "Second gunman my aching ass..."
Penn and Teller often have skits and stunts performed with them on set or use stock footage, to combine reasonable arguments with straightforward, entertaining ridicule. For example, the "Sex, Sex, Sex" episode may be satirizing the media's obsession with sex appeal by having the hosts constantly surrounded by naked actors and actresses. Penn and Teller often close episodes with an impassioned ethical plea against whatever they are debunking, explaining how this particular belief is harmful and should be resisted. The presenters distinguish between believers (often explaining that Penn and Teller themselves would like to believe these things are true, and showing compassion to the people who do think the things are true) and those they see as charlatans out for money or to advance a political agenda, at whom their anger is directed. For example, in their premiere episode, they debunk the idea that psychics can talk to the dead. While expressing the utmost sympathy towards people who are desperate for a chance to speak to a loved one who has died, they explain that charlatans take advantage of this love to get money from people, and deliver false messages that have nothing to do with the genuine character of the departed.
Since their act is not normally associated with a frequent use of profanity, Jillette explains their choice of using the term
bullshit in the opening episode: if they referred to people as
fraudIn the broadest sense, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and is also a civil law violation....
s or
liarsA lie is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement, especially with the intention to deceive others, often with the further intention to maintain a secret or reputation, protect someone's feelings or to avoid a punishment...
, they could be
suedA lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have received damages from a defendant's actions, seeks a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
for slander, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of chicanery, but as "vulgar abuse" is not legally considered slanderous, referring to them as
assholeAsshole is slang for the anus and is often used as an insult. It is formed from arse, which according to the Oxford English Dictionary has been used since the 11th century to refer to the rump of an animal and since the 14th century to refer to a person's buttocks...
s or
motherfucker Motherfucker is considered an insult and used as profanity in North American English and in other varieties of the English language. It is considered by many to be highly offensive and inappropriate. It has been suggested that the term was once used in a more literal sense, insinuating that a...
s ostensibly expresses an opinion rather than a statement of fact and is legally safer for them.
Title
Since the show's title contains an obscenity (by common standards in the United States), the series is often listed in newspaper television listings there under the alternate title
B.S. Some printings of the show's DVD releases also carry this alternate title.
Dish NetworkDish Network Corporation is a direct broadcast satellite service provider that offers satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services to households and businesses in the United States. Dish Network services were launched in March 1996. Today, the company competes...
and
DirecTVDirecTV is a direct broadcast satellite service based in El Segundo, California, which transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States. Its primary competitors are Dish Network and cable providers. DirecTV currently has 18 million subscribers...
lists the show as
Penn & Teller: Bulls...! Comcast Digital Cable lists the show as "Penn & Teller: Bull!"
NetflixNetflix is an online DVD and Blu-ray Disc rental service, offering flat rate rental-by-mail and online streaming to customers in the United States. Established in 1997 and headquartered in Los Gatos, California, it has amassed a collection of 100,000 titles and approximately 10 million subscribers...
lists it as "Penn & Teller: Bullsh*t", while the
iTunesiTunes is a proprietary digital media player application, used for playing and organizing digital music and video files. The program is also an interface to manage the contents on Apple's popular iPod digital media players as well as the iPhone...
store lists "Penn & Teller: BS" (though one of its graphic icons for it has "BULL SH T" with Teller standing about where the I should be). This
bowdlerizationExpurgation is a form of censorship by way of purging anything deemed noxious or offensive, usually from an artistic work. It has also been called bowdlerization, after Thomas Bowdler, who in 1818 published an expurgated edition of William Shakespeare's work that he considered to be more...
makes searching difficult; on Netflix, typing "bullshit" in the search box results in
BullittBullitt is a 1968 American thriller film starring Steve McQueen. It was directed by Peter Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. The story was adapted for the screen by Alan Trustman and Harry Kleiner, based on the novel titled Mute Witness by Robert L. Fish...
as the top result, while doing the same in iTunes gives various songs with the word in their title (rendered as "B******t" but searchable by the complete word); neither shows the Penn & Teller program in its results for this query.
In the very first episode "Talking To The Dead," Penn Jillette introduces the format of the show and furthermore explains the need for seemingly excessive levels of profanity in the show's title and content. Jillette states "...you'll notice more obscenity than we usually use...It's also a legal matter. If one calls people 'liars' and 'quacks' one can be sued and lose a lot of one's money. But 'motherfuckers' and 'assholes' is pretty safe. If we said it was all scams, we could also be in trouble, but 'Bullshit,' oddly, is safe."
In the "Profanity" episode, Penn tells the viewers that the planned title for
Bullshit! was
HumbugHumbug is an old term meaning hoax or jest. While the term was first described in 1751 as student slang, its etymology is unknown. Its present meaning as an exclamation is closer to 'nonsense' or 'gibberish', while as a noun, a humbug refers to a fraud or impostor, implying an element of...
! This, Penn goes on to say, relates their skepticism (and TV show) to Harry Houdini's reactions to the popular misconceptions of his day; but the idea was scrapped because
humbug had less of an impact than the more profane, more informal word,
bullshit. It is also discussed during the profanity episode that
humbug was considered as profane at one time as
bullshit today. During that same episode, Penn and Teller themselves did not use any profanity, even changing the name of the show to
Humbug! for that episode. At one point, Penn suggests the use of the phrase
Jesus Christ! by a non-Christian is not profanity, but as Teller apparently drops a bowling ball on his foot just as he mentions the phrase, his yelling of the expression makes its use ambiguous. (See Wikiquote's transcription of the quote.)
When discussing
Bullshit! on
his radio showPenn Radio was an hour-long talk CBS radio show which ran from January 3, 2006 to March 2, 2007, hosted by Penn Jillette and Michael Goudeau and produced by "Happy" Jack Landreth and Patrick DiFazio...
, Penn would either break the word in half, usually with a clap and a slight pause, for example
Bulls[Clap]
Hit, or change it to
Bullshot. In an episode of the public radio program
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! is an hour-long weekly radio news quiz game show produced by Chicago Public Radio and National Public Radio. It is distributed by NPR in the United States and on the Internet via podcast, and typically broadcast on weekends by member stations.-Format:The show is hosted by...
, Penn refers to the show as
Bushlit. When discussing the title with the Showtime producers, Penn stated, "You can't make a show about bullshit, and then wimp out on the title."
Acknowledged bias
Many critics accuse Penn and Teller of being biased in their approach to debunking their opponents' arguments. For example, Chaz Miller, who was interviewed for the "Recycling" episode, said that
Bullshit! attempts to exclude certain information if it does not favor the show's position.
In the episode "Family Values", Penn said, "... we're fair and we never take people out of context. We're biased as all fuck. But, we try to be honest."
Still, some critics who sympathize with the duo's over-arching message have expressed regret that they can occasionally slip into the same sensationalism as their targets. This was summed up in a review by
SlateSlate is an English-language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft, as part of MSN. On December 21, 2004, it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
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 skeptics, critics have been quick to note that
Bullshit! is not dedicated to fact-based debunking or
inquiryInquiry is any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem. A theory of inquiry is an account of the various types of inquiry and a treatment of the ways that each type of inquiry achieves its aim.-Deduction:When three terms are so related to one...
. An otherwise favorable review by
The Onion A.V. ClubThe A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. It comes included with the print editions of The Onion, and maintains its own separate website. Unlike its parent publication, The A.V. Club is non-satirical, though it strives for a humorous, snarky tone...
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.
During an interview on the January 31, 2007 episode of
The Skeptics' Guide to the UniverseThe Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is a weekly, one-hour podcast hosted by Steven Novella, MD and a panel of "skeptical rogues". It is the official podcast of the New England Skeptical Society, and is produced in conjunction with the James Randi Educational Foundation...
, Teller claimed that the final episode of the show would be about "the bullshit of Bullshit!" and would detail all the criticisms that they themselves had of the show.
During an interview at The Amazing Meeting 7, Penn admitted the show was, "...fair and very very biased." He went on to explain that the show is fair because they seek out and interview people of the opposite viewpoint, and never take them out of context, but is biased in that they make no secret their own opinion on the matter.
Proposed topics
Plans to make an episode focusing on
ScientologyScientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics. Hubbard characterized Scientology as a religion, and in 1953 incorporated the Church of Scientology in New Jersey.Scientology teaches that...
were believed to have been rejected by Showtime executives to avoid provoking
legal actionThe Church of Scientology has been involved in court disputes in several countries. In some cases, when the Church has initiated the dispute, question has been raised as to its motives. The Church says that its use of the legal system is necessary to protect its intellectual property and its right...
by the
Church of ScientologyThe Church of Scientology is the largest organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination...
, though Penn later revealed on his radio show that this was not true; instead, he has commented that he has slight interest in dealing with Scientologists despite being critical of their practices.
Matt StoneMatthew Richard "Matt" Stone is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner Trey Parker. He is married to Angela Howard....
and
Trey ParkerTrey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
, friends of Penn and Teller, were motivated by this to create their own long-planned, controversial
South ParkSouth Park is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become infamous for its crude, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
episode lampooning Scientology, "
Trapped in the Closet"Trapped in the Closet" is the twelfth episode of the ninth season of the Comedy Central series South Park. It was originally broadcast on November 16, 2005. The plot of the episode centers on character Stan Marsh, as he joins Scientology in an attempt to find something "fun and free"...
". Another planned episode on
airport securityAirport security refers to the techniques and methods used in protecting airports and aircraft from crime.Large numbers of people pass through airports. Such gatherings present a target for terrorism and other forms of crime due to the number of people located in a small area...
has been rejected from every season's topic list: "It turns out, to shoot anything on airport security, you are violating federal law. You're not allowed to shoot anything there," said
Penn JillettePenn Fraser Jillette is an American magician, comedian, illusionist, juggler, musician and writer known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of atheism, libertarian philosophy, free-market economics, and scientific skepticism.- Early life and career ...
. He has done radio, film and print regarding airport security, but has been unsuccessful adapting it for television.
During a Q&A session at the The Amaz!ng Meeting of 2005, as Penn described the upcoming season, he said that the episode about conspiracy theories did not cover
Holocaust denialHolocaust denial is the claim that the genocide of Jews during World War II—usually referred to as the Holocaust—did not occur at all, or that it did not happen in the manner or to the extent historically recognized....
, since it should have its own episode.
"Secondhand smoke"
At
The Amaz!ng Meeting 3 the duo was asked about the evidence for this episode being faulty. Penn Jillette, with Teller sitting at his side, said "What we talked about during the show was where the stuff was there", likely meaning that he was using the data that the government had when they instituted the ban, then said regarding this episode they were "very likely" wrong and the next season would add a notation, as of the end of season six they haven't. Penn went on to describe "a new study that came out of England, just recently, that seems to have more stuff about it" and "right now, as I sit here, there probably is danger in secondhand smoke." He went on to say that this was a small portion of the program, and their main point was their opposition to "outlawing" smoking in privately-owned businesses, which they still "stand behind 100%."
Robert Todd CarrollRobert Todd Carroll , Ph.D., is an American writer and academic. Carroll has written several books and skeptical essays, but achieved notability by publishing the Skeptic's Dictionary online in 1994.-Early life and education:...
, author of
The Skeptic's Dictionary, originally sided with the show's conclusion that there was no link between secondhand smoke and cancer. But Carroll changed his conclusions after further investigation into the studies. Carroll concluded that the studies were biased, and consequently decided that secondhand smoke does have negative effects on people.
Awards and nominations
Awards won
- Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers around New York City....
: Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) - Series (2004)
Nominations
- Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers around New York City....
: Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) - Series (2005, 2006)
- Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is the labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs (2006)
- Emmy Awards
- Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Single-Camera) (2006)
- Outstanding Reality Program (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
- Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
- Outstanding Main Title Design (2003)
- Outstanding Main Title Theme Music (2003)
External links
- Official Showtime website
- Episode Guide at epguides
epguides is a website dedicated to English language radio and television shows. George Fergus, the owner of epguides, began it in 1995 as a personal site at www.xnet.com/~fergus with fan-compiled episode guides and lists for several hundred shows...
- Bullshit! It's No Bull - Perry DeAngelis
The New England Skeptical Society is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting science and reason. It was originally founded in January 1996 as the Connecticut Skeptical Society...
' review of the show