User reviews

The magicians, Penn and Teller, are very Libertarian in their views and because of this, their political bent is towards smaller government, less intrusive laws and a willingness to attack both Conservatives and Liberals alike. I love this Showtime series--even though occasionally it offends me. That's because 99% of the TV shows out there never think to question much of anything--even though "common knowledge" is often 100% wrong because,...well...people are stupid!

As of this date, the show has five seasons behind it and they have attacked many "sacred cows"--such as asserting that recycling is usually a BAD thing, pornography and nudity is GOOD, being fat isn't much of a health risk and religion is for idiots. While I wouldn't agree with them about their views on religion and a few other things, I love that they actually dare to address the topics and are fully exercising their first amendment rights to free speech. Plus, when I see that they are offending people for whom I have little respect, I can't help but shout "amen"! The style of the show is unique because it is a combination of a documentary, humor and crassness (with a heaping spoonful of obscenities). While I can ignore all the profanity (especially the thousands of "f-words") and I can ignore all the gratuitous nudity (which, after all, fits in with the team's Libertarian bent), I really wish they had toned this down and chosen a different title for the show because I would love to be able to show these episodes to the high school teachers I teach. Unfortunately, because of the show's style, that will never happen--or, I'll show an episode and just wait to be fired! Aside from kids, this show SHOULD be watched by everyone. Sure, it's bound to offend you--but it will also make you think and shock you out of complacency. While in the end you may not be convinced (in a couple episodes, I think their logic wasn't quite correct--though usually they were dead on target), you can't help but think and re-assess what you think and why. It's just too bad that practically NOTHING on TV today does that other than PENN & TELLER: BULLSHIT!.

Bullshit is the longest running series on Showtime and has just been renewed for season 8.

Basically with each episode Penn and Teller take a topic and declare it, or some aspects of it to be Bullshit. For example in the episode hypnosis they seek to debunk some of the more far out things people claim hypnosis can help achieve but never state that hypnosis itself doesn't exist. On the other hand the lie detector show basically said (in no uncertain terms) that polygraphs are completely worthless for detecting the truth or lies.

The typical format of the show is Penn and Teller introduce the topic at hand and then get people to defend the topic and people who think the topic is bs in some way.

The people however do not appear on the set or (with a couple exceptions) interact with each other but instead are just interviews taped for the show. The people that appear can range from pundits, experts, professors, government officials, doctors, political activists, all the way down to people who are just nuts (not as in mentally diseased).

While they show the clips Penn does a voice over and once in a while Penn and Teller interrupt these clips with their own segments. These typically are used to illustrate a certain point or argument that Penn and Teller would like to make, in an amusing way and only rarely go on for pure comedy. For example in the 12 stepping episode Penn reads out loud the 12 steps while Teller 'illustrates' them with a little performance mocking them. In another episode on the idea that video game violence makes people violent they responded to the idea that games can train kids to kill with Teller playing tennis on a video game console. A tennis player comes over and hands Teller a tennis racket saying "you might want to use this" after which he serves Teller a ball from across the room really fast. Teller misses and leaps back a little from fright. These segments can be pretty funny and while the experts have their degrees to give them credibility it doesn't stop Penn and Teller from making good points.

Penn and Teller's style can be best summed up as blunt. For the most part they don't pull punches and are not above insulting their opponents or swearing (as you can tell from the title). They also never insult their audience's intelligence or pretend things need more explaining than they actually do. They also have nudity on the show, so much so that it's become a running gag.

The topics they pick sometimes dwell into religion (they had a whole episode on the Bible and another recently on the Vatican) and politics. Penn and Teller's politics are libertarian so they have no qualms about bashing the mainstream left (including environmentalists) or the mainstream right. They've done shows advocating that prostitution, weed and gay marriage be legalized, and have bashed uber-patriotism they've bashed the Endangered species act, reparations, sensitivity training and wal-mart hatred.

For the most part they're generally hit or miss. When they miss they can still be funny and when they hit they can be truly entertaining and convincing.

I've been a fan for 2 years and I'm excited it got renewed for season 8.

Favorite episodes: Lie Detectors Cryptozoology War on Drugs The Death Penalty PETA Ground Zero

To start with, i shall not give a breakdown of the series, nor show specific points of interest, what i will do however is comment on Penn and Tellers approach on Bullshit.

Abrasive, rude, arrogant, and refreshing.

It is hard for me to believe that many people can still believe in talking to the dead or having psychic surgery despite the complete lack of credible evidence, and yet many do.Everyday.Perhaps even people you know, and so i say tell every one you talk to about this show.

There were several entertaining facts i had not known before, but after years of calling people on there bullshit I've heard most of the stories before, just never as wittily put nor as entertaining to listen too.

So, does the anger that people notice in the show seem justified? i believe it is, as not only myself but many, many people around the world still cannot believe American classes approved ID for school lessons.This is only one small fact in a bucket of B.S that i am intimately familiar with, and i urge any person with even the slightest interest in there world, and the sharks who walk on land, to watch this show.

Truly excellent show, entertaining format and a refreshing change from the blatantly religious or irrelevant shows they usually label "television".

If you like this show, try to watch "The God Who Wasn't There", you will likely be surprised by what you find out.

This is one of those shows that you can just seeing it being pitched to the Showtime Executives. Getting a strange look back at you, then doing just one episode show it to them & think, "Wow we may have something here." What's even worse is that Penn & Teller could do this show for the rest of time & never cover all the B.S. in this world & particularly American Society. I recommend everyone to see at least one these shows & I dare you that you won't be hooked. If you aren't hooked it's probably because it attacked something you believe in & they DESTROYED what you thought no matter how absurd. Do I agree w/everything they say, well about 95% you bet I do. What's most sad though is that even after all of the proof about how wrong you are or what you believer however irrational it may be, people continue to think they are right! Just a few of my favorite episodes were on the absurdity of Bottled Water, Conspiracy theories, & the best of all of them was showing what a hypocrite the lady who runs P.E.T.A is. If you see any of the fantastic shows watch the one about PETA! It will destroy what a joke the whole thing is & what a piece of garbage the lady who runs it is & how she supports things like firebombing, never gives a straight answer, & rakes in the cash from however misguided but people that think they are helping. Please watch this show & maybe it will catch on so that many of these things can be destroyed or crushed in their entirety.

Lets face it. Some of the subjects presented in the show are not exactly laughing material... Personally though, I find Penn's unbelievably complicated rants, combined with Teller's mute pantomimes (and the occasional female breast dropped in the mix for good measure!) extremely entertaining material for a weeknight. Humor also helps me stomach some of the subjects covered in the show, as I find them deeply annoying! I agree that presenting the bullshit side of an argument or controversy by choosing the most ridiculous representatives of it is the preferred method of the show and it's not right documentary-wise but... hey, this show is about comedy, right? It's not a documentary and I do not think it aspires to be one! Well, if it was a documentary it would be the most profane documentary ever (thanks to the aforementioned Pen's rants!).

I just love the show and I take it as comedy and nothing more. If people are looking for documentaries on the subjects covered they should just watch proper documentaries! I would bet that they would not be as entertaining though!!