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2012...*snort*

Free episodes:

Jose Collado

Skilled Investigator
I love Penn & Teller. I laughed so hard when I saw this

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I don't find it all that funny myself. It's not that I disagree with these guys. 90% of the time they have exactly the right point of view, but they resort to ridicule and obscenity as their only arguments. Their fake style of interviewing is also a joke. They record their victims, then overlay their own comments after the fact as if they are having some sort of dialog. Of corse, if they played it legit with these guys they'd never get their interviews.

Who knows where they find these guys. The Chicken Itza guys were really something and the Belgian guy was a hoot. I wonder if these guys are even smart enough to realize they are being treated with contempt and mockery. I think they could have found some more lucid spokespeople for the 2012 cause, but, of course, that would defeat the purpose of the show. It appeals to an audience that is already convinced. It's not all that helpful to people who want to find out what 'all this stuff on 2012 is about.' If the Nova crew took this on, I think you'd have a helluva show.

As it is, the potty humor shit, fuck, piss, damn, blow me, mocking style of Penn & Teller is about as appealing as Penn's fat ass appearing on Dancing with the Stars.

Having said that, I can't wait for 2013. Given today's style of entertainment new, it ought to be pretty interesting watching the helicopters flying around the mountaintop filming the survivalists.
 
I completely agree with you Schuyler, their approach, is narrow-minded in scope, and biased to begin with as they are debunkers first and foremost.
However, the part with webster, (gary coleman) as the brown dwarf- planet x was hysterical.
 
Oh please, narrow minded? Who's narrow minded? They don't believe what's being sold. Why should they? No one is giving anyone any reason to believe this BS.

Who knows where they find these guys? From personal experience, these "people" crawl out of the woodwork when ever anyone throws them a bone prospect of being on TV. The whole 2012 scene is full of people like the one's portrayed. It's scary...but it's accurate.

These guys crack me up and if anything, I'd be happy to support their methods over the pseudoscientific BS their "victims" spin.

Skepticism is boring. Their humor is the catch. It's entertainment. Sure they resort to ridicule and obscenity, and why not? People have been throwing polite logic at these 2012 assholes for years. You think that has changed anything? Nope. I assume P&T aren't doing this to educate or inform. They're doing it to entertain. Unfortunately for the 2012 monkeys, they're not doing it to educate or inform either. Enjoy the show for what it is. Otherwise, don't watch it.
 
....Penn & Teller is about as appealing as Penn's fat ass appearing on Dancing with the Stars.

Penis & Feller should appear on that new dance show "Dance your Ass Off!!" Penn could have Sylvia Brown for his partner and at the end of the routine ,as the grand climax, he could pull Teller out of his arse. Or maybe her arse.
 
Skepticism is boring. Their humor is the catch. It's entertainment. Sure they resort to ridicule and obscenity, and why not? People have been throwing polite logic at these 2012 assholes for years. You think that has changed anything? Nope. I assume P&T aren't doing this to educate or inform. They're doing it to entertain. Unfortunately for the 2012 monkeys, they're not doing it to educate or inform either. Enjoy the show for what it is. Otherwise, don't watch it.

If you don't know what they are doing a priori, then you have to watch it first. They are humorous--if you're a junior high school boy. But hey, if farts still make you laugh, yuck it up!
 
Oh please, narrow minded? Who's narrow minded? They don't believe what's being sold. Why should they? No one is giving anyone any reason to believe this BS.

Who knows where they find these guys? From personal experience, these "people" crawl out of the woodwork when ever anyone throws them a bone prospect of being on TV. The whole 2012 scene is full of people like the one's portrayed. It's scary...but it's accurate.

These guys crack me up and if anything, I'd be happy to support their methods over the pseudoscientific BS their "victims" spin.

Skepticism is boring. Their humor is the catch. It's entertainment. Sure they resort to ridicule and obscenity, and why not? People have been throwing polite logic at these 2012 assholes for years. You think that has changed anything? Nope. I assume P&T aren't doing this to educate or inform. They're doing it to entertain. Unfortunately for the 2012 monkeys, they're not doing it to educate or inform either. Enjoy the show for what it is. Otherwise, don't watch it.

My point is, that they approach the whole subject with a BELIEF structure in place.....That it,2012, is bullshit. Beliefs are dangerous things, open minded skeptics they are not, they look for they kookiest of the kooks to dispel an entire subject. These assholes cater to the lowest common denominator, so stick your brain in neutral and watch away. That's what I did.
 
I believe in the Mayan calendar personally. I don't think it marks the end of the world, or an evolution of man necessarily though. It charted activity in space and also had a more spiritual side to it. While it is amazingly accurate, perhaps the math behind it simply is not relevant after that date. Of course, when that date really is in relation to our calendar is still in contention.
 
My point is, that they approach the whole subject with a BELIEF structure in place.....That it,2012, is bullshit. Beliefs are dangerous things, open minded skeptics they are not, they look for they kookiest of the kooks to dispel an entire subject. These assholes cater to the lowest common denominator, so stick your brain in neutral and watch away. That's what I did.

All skeptics are open minded. That's why they're skeptics, not cynics. There's no such thing as an "open minded skeptic".

In my opinion, they hit the nail right on the head with their approach. People may think their approach is offensive but what's really offensive is the BS that's being peddled without restriction or responsibility...ala 2012 and many other bunk money spinners.

To say they look for the kookiest of kooks is an assumption. Would you prefer they interview less kookier people? Maybe an author of so many popular books is just not interview worthy the second he claims aliens implanted the idea of 2012 in his head or people professing to be experts are nothing more than bored housewives with zero credentials. Who would you prefer they interview?
 
To say they look for the kookiest of kooks is an assumption. Would you prefer they interview less kookier people?

Yes, but it wouldn't be nearly as funny. Further, they don't 'interview' anyone. They just find the kookiest of the bunch, let them talk, then intersperse their own caustic and derisive comments later. The interviewed person has no idea what these comments are until the final cut. I don't think they could possibly have found a kookier couple than the Chicken Itza guy and I think that is their goal. They didn't interview Jose Arguelles, for example, who is much more articulate, though equally kooky, I suppose, in his own right.

Penn & Teller remind me of school yard bullies picking on the kid with Down's Syndrome in a way that makes their sycophants laugh uproariously. Then Penn bends over and farts in the kid's face, and they all laugh again. Like I said, junior high school bathroom humor at best. Knock yourself out. Ha ha.
 
In my opinion, they hit the nail right on the head with their approach. People may think their approach is offensive but what's really offensive is the BS that's being peddled without restriction or responsibility...ala 2012 and many other bunk money spinners.

Their approach doesn't require them to throw aliens and other paranormal stuff into the mix but they do it anyway and tar it all with a broad brush of bullshit.

Also their approach is disingenuous. In this particular episode notice how they stopped the clip after the Mayan Princess said "No" to their question about the apocalypse? Now maybe that's all she honestly had to say about the subject but maybe not. Maybe she went on to say that 2012 would result in some sort of spiritual awakening or that the ancestors would return or whatever. The point is we'll never know, they got what they want so that's all they show you.

In the episode about Alien Abduction I mentioned before they talked to one of that field's more credible investigators, Dr. Roger Lier. But then Penn quickly jumps in with "He's a fucking FOOT DOCTOR!!" as if that somehow made him less relevant, or qualified or even competant. They spent no time on his research or his work, it was just "Hey this guy claims he removes alien impants but he's really just a podiatrist so fuck him, HAHA!"

So, while I don't often disagree with their conclusions, their approach could use some work. But then again, that'd make them a serious research show and not the fart-n-poop info-tainment they are.
 
Also their approach is disingenuous. In this particular episode notice how they stopped the clip after the Mayan Princess said "No" to their question about the apocalypse? Now maybe that's all she honestly had to say about the subject but maybe not. Maybe she went on to say that 2012 would result in some sort of spiritual awakening or that the ancestors would return or whatever. The point is we'll never know, they got what they want so that's all they show you.

"but maybe not"...

Are people ignoring those who are interviewed who give logical explanations against the topic? Or are they guilty by association?
 
All skeptics are open minded. That's why they're skeptics, not cynics. There's no such thing as an "open minded skeptic".

In my opinion, they hit the nail right on the head with their approach. People may think their approach is offensive but what's really offensive is the BS that's being peddled without restriction or responsibility...ala 2012 and many other bunk money spinners.

To say they look for the kookiest of kooks is an assumption. Would you prefer they interview less kookier people? Maybe an author of so many popular books is just not interview worthy the second he claims aliens implanted the idea of 2012 in his head or people professing to be experts are nothing more than bored housewives with zero credentials. Who would you prefer they interview?


They are NOT skeptics They are Debunkers, Skeptical-minded people ARE open minded, a debunker approaches a topic with a brutally, slanted bias, to back their idiom: that the subject they are tackling is false, or has no realistic bearing. To ASSUME that Talky and NO-Talky, are skeptics means that you haven't done your homework on these ass-hats.

The experts that they did interview were quite compelling....IF they didn't precede their commentary with derogatory names, and insults, but once again, CATERING TO THE LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR.

Sorry if you thought these guys were some BS dispelling messiah, but they are really just bad entertainment.
 
Are people ignoring those who are interviewed who give logical explanations against the topic? Or are they guilty by association?

I'm not sure I follow. If you're asking if we the audience (myself, personally) are ignoring those who offer scientific evidence that counters the claims of the believers then the answer is no, of course not.

What I would personally find more productive however would be if the expert was asked something more complex than a yes/no question. The one guy (British astrophysicist?) they had on about "planet X" and how it could not be a brown dwarf was a good example of what I'm looking for but they could have gone further to explain how it can't be a planet either and explain what the red smudge was in that photographic "evidence" the author presented. In other words, to be THOROUGH.
 
They are NOT skeptics They are Debunkers, Skeptical-minded people ARE open minded, a debunker approaches a topic with a brutally, slanted bias, to back their idiom: that the subject they are tackling is false, or has no realistic bearing. To ASSUME that Talky and NO-Talky, are skeptics means that you haven't done your homework on these ass-hats.

The experts that they did interview were quite compelling....IF they didn't precede their commentary with derogatory names, and insults, but once again, CATERING TO THE LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR.

Sorry if you thought these guys were some BS dispelling messiah, but they are really just bad entertainment.

Uh, no. They're actually accepted by the skeptical community. "Debunkers", as you put it, aren't. A debunker neglects to accept evidence which contradicts their beliefs. Unfortunately, the true ass hats in this case are the 2012 pushers who simply offer nothing but BS because they are yet to offer an ounce of evidence.

The verb debunk means to expose or ridicule the falseness or hollowness of a myth, idea or belief. Mission accomplished.

There are only so many times when you can interrupt these snake oil peddlers with "Excuse me?" until you finally resort to "Shut the fuck up" and ridicule. In my opinion, I'm all for "Shut the fuck up" and ridicule is exactly what these people deserve. Again, if you don't want to watch it, then, do so.

I assume it's all fun, games and bullshit until they dare tread on holy ground.

To each their own. P&T rule.
 
My main issue with them is that they always paint a potential phenomenon with a broad brush. Charlatans not only have differing methods of deception, but they also sometimes use these methods to monkey legit phenomenon. They are nothing more than entertainment as they are not thorough or indepth enough to be anything else.
 
People should forget the fact that these two overrated clowns offer anything useful to the debate, They are entertainers (albeit bad ones) and that's it. They edit interviews to achieve their own comedic ends and all involved, no matter how credible their info or presentation, come off looking like lunatics. That's the purpose.
They bring nothing to the table.
 
People should forget the fact that these two overrated clowns offer anything useful to the debate, They are entertainers (albeit bad ones) and that's it. They edit interviews to achieve their own comedic ends and all involved, no matter how credible their info or presentation, come off looking like lunatics. That's the purpose.
They bring nothing to the table.

You work in their production team? Or is that just an assumption? Oh yes, their "victims" reek of credibility. I'm sure editing is exactly what's making them appear insane. A show like this requires legal restraint believe it or not. They can't do or say anything which can hold the production liable for things like defamation and slander. No lawsuits to date. How strange? Realistically, I'd put it down to crafty legal representation.

Harry Houdini would refer to this sort of bullshit as Humbug which was considered as profane as bullshit. I guess Harry Houdini was just as bad as P&T eh? He too was a magician, an entertainer and skeptic...or "debunker" for those who prefer the term.

Thank you all for stating the obvious..."They are entertainers". Magicians to be precise. People who work with illusion but don't state it as anything but illusion. Unlike their "victims". In my opinion, it's a fine line between entertainment and reasoned argument.

Can anyone point out the bullshit of bullshit? Apparently P&T can. Which is something debunkers don't do.
 
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