Go Back  DVD Talk Forum > Entertainment Discussions > TV Talk
Reload this Page >

Penn & Teller Bull****!: Conspiracy Theories - 05/09/05

Community
Search
TV Talk Talk about Shows on TV

Penn & Teller Bull****!: Conspiracy Theories - 05/09/05

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 05-09-05, 07:47 AM
  #1  
DVD Talk Hero
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Madison, WI ("77 square miles surrounded by reality")
Posts: 30,012
Received 3 Likes on 2 Posts
Penn & Teller Bull****!: Conspiracy Theories - 05/09/05

Showtime 9:00pm CDT

Conspiracies have been around for as long as there have been people to plot them. They are everywhere! In the age of the Internet, rumors circulate at the speed of a mouse click. Millions of people have lost trust in our scientific, military, and government establishments, so they seek to find the "truth" themselves. This leads to shadowy rumors of world domination, corruption, and evil plots behind every corner.

We will look at some of the more current and sinister conspiracies. Did a missile shoot down TWA Flight 800 and did President Clinton try to cover it up? Was 9/11 plotted by rogue elements of our own government in cahoots with Al Qaeda? Both of our Presidential candidates were members of a secret organization that's rumored to be running the world. And then there are the favorite conspiracies that refuse to go away, who killed JFK or Princess Di? Did we really land on the moon?
Although I've been looking forward to this one, my fear is that they'll try to cover too much and end up not covering anything very well.

(Next week: Life Coaching.)
Old 05-09-05, 07:49 AM
  #2  
Moderator
 
Groucho's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Posts: 71,383
Received 122 Likes on 84 Posts
Originally Posted by movielib
Although I've been looking forward to this one, my fear is that they'll try to cover too much and end up not covering anything very well.
That pretty much sums up every episode. This show needs to be an hour long. At least.
Old 05-09-05, 09:26 AM
  #3  
DVD Talk Godfather
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: City of the lakers.. riots.. and drug dealing cops.. los(t) Angel(e)s. ca.
Posts: 54,199
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Aslong as they find a way to include Leykis in the episode. it's all good.
Old 05-09-05, 09:40 AM
  #4  
DVD Talk God
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Directionally Challenged (for DirecTV)
Posts: 130,271
Received 616 Likes on 495 Posts
I already got the 411 on busting the JFK conspiracy a few weeks ago. I look forward to seeing them go after fake Moon Landing nuts.
Old 05-09-05, 10:56 AM
  #5  
DVD Talk God
 
kvrdave's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: Pacific NW
Posts: 86,191
Received 15 Likes on 8 Posts
Originally Posted by Red Dog
I already got the 411 on busting the JFK conspiracy a few weeks ago. I look forward to seeing them go after fake Moon Landing nuts.

I was talking to a guy about that. I explained that my dad helped design and build the lunar module. Now he is convinced that my dad is part of the conspiracy.

He lied to me


Old 05-09-05, 10:55 PM
  #6  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 12,008
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
One freaking hour please. Please! As expected, there was too much material, so nothing was covered well enough.
Old 05-10-05, 09:03 AM
  #7  
DVD Talk God
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Directionally Challenged (for DirecTV)
Posts: 130,271
Received 616 Likes on 495 Posts
They actually filled in the one part that was noticeably missing from the JFK program that was on the History Channel last month. Demonstrating that the "back and to the left" reaction of his head could occur with a shot from the rear.

The really found some crazy nuts for this episode. People should conspire to firebomb that Oregon bar. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that such a bar would be located in Oregon.
Old 05-10-05, 09:37 AM
  #8  
drc
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Illinois
Posts: 1,032
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
That one wacko lifted his "theory" directly from a Bill Hicks routine. I'm surprised they didn't point that out.
Originally Posted by Bill Hicks
It's just a handful of people that run everything, and that's provable.... I have this feeling that whoever's elected president, like Clinton was, no matter what promises you make on the campaign trail - blah, blah, blah - when you win, you go into this smokey room with the twelve industrialist, capitalist scumfucks that got you in there, and this little screen comes down... and it's a shot of the Kennedy assassination from an angle you've never seen before, which looks suspiciously off the grassy knoll.... And then the screen comes up, the lights come on, and they say to the new president, 'Any questions?'
The back and to the left demonstration was particularly illuminating.
Old 05-10-05, 09:56 AM
  #9  
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
 
Xander's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 4,682
Received 80 Likes on 62 Posts
Good ep, but definitely way too much stuff to dig into in just 30 minutes. I thought they might talk about Roswell, but no such luck. I'm still not convinced on the JFK thing. I believe that the shot could have come from behind based on those examples, but just putting what's-his-name sitting more to his left doesn't cure the "Magic Bullet" theory for me, plus some other stuff they didn't cover like the strange autopsy stuff and all that. I don't believe that aliens convinced LBJ to have JFK murdered or anything like that, but I don't believe that Oswald acted alone.

Anyway, nice kooks on this one. Loved the lunar guy drinking out of the vodka bottle marked "V" and calling it "water".
Old 05-10-05, 10:04 AM
  #10  
DVD Talk Hero
 
das Monkey's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 35,879
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
I thought it was OK, but predictably thin. They didn't really do much to refute the 9/11 or Apollo Moon Landing conspiracies other than accurately label those fools as assholes. It's always fun to watch Penn go off on some dickwad, but it's even better when they really present some facts. The gun demonstrations were pretty cool, though.

at the bunny trying to flip the bird.

das
Old 05-10-05, 10:13 AM
  #11  
DVD Talk God
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Directionally Challenged (for DirecTV)
Posts: 130,271
Received 616 Likes on 495 Posts
Originally Posted by Xander
Good ep, but definitely way too much stuff to dig into in just 30 minutes. I thought they might talk about Roswell, but no such luck. I'm still not convinced on the JFK thing. I believe that the shot could have come from behind based on those examples, but just putting what's-his-name sitting more to his left doesn't cure the "Magic Bullet" theory for me, plus some other stuff they didn't cover like the strange autopsy stuff and all that. I don't believe that aliens convinced LBJ to have JFK murdered or anything like that, but I don't believe that Oswald acted alone.

They didn't do a good job on the Magic Bullet theory. If it is reaired, you need to watch the JFK Conspiracy-or-not program that was on the History Channel last month. Very illuminating.
Old 05-10-05, 10:46 AM
  #12  
DVD Talk Hero
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Madison, WI ("77 square miles surrounded by reality")
Posts: 30,012
Received 3 Likes on 2 Posts
Originally Posted by Red Dog
They didn't do a good job on the Magic Bullet theory. If it is reaired, you need to watch the JFK Conspiracy-or-not program that was on the History Channel last month. Very illuminating.
As I've said before, the CourtTV program that aired in November 2003 (unfortunately, not available on DVD AFAIK) was even better (on the nuts and bolts of the assassination) than the ABC show you saw rebroadcast on the History Channel (which is available on DVD). Several excellent programs have been shown on the Discovery Channel and they are all available on DVD through the Discovery Channel website. The definitive study of what happened during those historical moments promises to be Dale Myers' computer animation project (some of his preliminary work was used on the ABC program) based on a frame-by-frame analysis and computer re-enactment of the Zapruder film:

http://www.jfkfiles.com/jfk/html/faq.htm

The completion of the project and the promised resulting DVD has been postponed several time and now is scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year.

The best book to date is Gerald Posner's Case Closed. What will probably be an even better book is Vincent Bugliosi's which was mentioned on P&T last night. Unfortunately, like Myers' project, Bugliosi's book has been much postponed.

The alleged JFK conspiracy was the one "conspiracy" presented on the program which is widely believed (in one form or another or just in a nebulous "Oswald didn't do it alone" fashion) by an overwhelming majority of the American people. Even if they had just used that limited time to concentrate on one aspect (like the "magic" bullet) and done a better job with it they could have shown how sound the single bullet theory actually is (I would say it's been proved beyond a reasonable doubt). I think the superficial treatment they gave to every aspect of the case they covered is unlikely to even get many people thinking.
Old 05-12-05, 08:00 AM
  #13  
Moderator
 
Groucho's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Posts: 71,383
Received 122 Likes on 84 Posts
On one of the specials (CourtTV, I think, it's been a while) they actually did a computer simulation where they extrapolated where the shot was coming from based on the wounds in Kennedy and Connelly. Not surprisingly (to me, anyway), the line traced back to the sixth floor of the Texas Schoolbook Depository.
Old 05-12-05, 02:27 PM
  #14  
DVD Talk God
 
Deftones's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Arizona
Posts: 81,018
Received 1,365 Likes on 927 Posts
I agree, it was too much to pack into a 30 minute show. Other than that, it was funny to see the conspiracy nuts spout off their stuff.
Old 05-12-05, 02:34 PM
  #15  
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Compton (Straight Outta)
Posts: 1,130
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The best book to date is Gerald Posner's Case Closed. What will probably be an even better book is Vincent Bugliosi's which was mentioned on P&T last night. Unfortunately, like Myers' project, Bugliosi's book has been much postponed.
What did they say about Bugliosi's book? I seem to recall him saying somewhere (possibly in The Betrayal of America, I'm not sure) that it had been put on an indefinite hiatus, so it'd be great to hear if it's back on again.
Old 05-12-05, 03:33 PM
  #16  
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
 
DJLinus's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 8,994
Received 44 Likes on 39 Posts
Woo-hoo! I got a DVR today and, for some reason, Time Warner bumped up my cable package so I get Showtime now. I can finally watch this show first-run rather than waiting for it to hit DVD. So, how often are past episodes repeated? Does Showtime normally air a marathon of the current season at some point?
Old 05-12-05, 03:39 PM
  #17  
DVD Talk God
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Directionally Challenged (for DirecTV)
Posts: 130,271
Received 616 Likes on 495 Posts
Originally Posted by DJLinus
Woo-hoo! I got a DVR today and, for some reason, Time Warner bumped up my cable package so I get Showtime now. I can finally watch this show first-run rather than waiting for it to hit DVD. So, how often are past episodes repeated? Does Showtime normally air a marathon of the current season at some point?

Don't know if they ever have marathons, but they usually do rebroadcast the season at some point. Also, if you have VOD, you can probably catch the episodes already aired.

I believe they re-air the latest episode on Friday nights at 10.


edit: and the Family Values episode (from last week) is on at 10:30 tomorrow after Conspiracy Theories.

Last edited by Red Dog; 05-12-05 at 03:42 PM.
Old 05-12-05, 05:26 PM
  #18  
DVD Talk Hero
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Madison, WI ("77 square miles surrounded by reality")
Posts: 30,012
Received 3 Likes on 2 Posts
Originally Posted by Groucho
On one of the specials (CourtTV, I think, it's been a while) they actually did a computer simulation where they extrapolated where the shot was coming from based on the wounds in Kennedy and Connelly. Not surprisingly (to me, anyway), the line traced back to the sixth floor of the Texas Schoolbook Depository.
Dale Myers' computer animation analysis shows that the source of the single (so-called "magic") bullet that hit both Kennedy and Connally, taking into account all possible errors, had to be from an ellipse 26 feet in diameter that encompasses the 6th and 5th floor far end windows of the Texas School Book Depository and a bit of the roof of the Dal-Tex Building. The only viable source out of those, consistent with the evidence, was the 6th floor window of the TSBD.

See :

http://www.jfkfiles.com/jfk/html/concl2b.htm

(The site does not allow copying so you have to click on the link to see this.)
Old 05-13-05, 02:07 AM
  #19  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Indiana
Posts: 702
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
What did they say about Bugliosi's book? I seem to recall him saying somewhere (possibly in The Betrayal of America, I'm not sure) that it had been put on an indefinite hiatus, so it'd be great to hear if it's back on again.
I didn't see the P&T show, but I can tell you that Mr. Bugliosi's long-anticipated (by me) book -- actually a purported 2-volume set of books, around 2,000 pages (!) in length -- has been delayed since its originally-planned release date of November 22, 1998.

A long delay, to be certain, but it'll be worth it IMO (given Vincent's penchant for diving head-first and thoroughly into every case he approaches).

Current word has Vincent's tome -- which has been re-titled "Final Verdict: The Simple Truth In The Killing Of JFK" -- coming out in either November of 2005 or sometime in 2006.

http://www.jagnew.com/about.htm

http://www.wwnorton.com/orders/wwn/004525.htm

http://www.pmalitfilm.com/2005.html

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...395497-9527860

-------------------

>>> "Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of President Kennedy. The evidence is
absolutely overwhelming that he carried out the tragic shooting all by himself. .... In fact, you could
throw 80 percent of the evidence against him out the window and there would still be more than
enough left to convince any reasonable person of his sole role in the crime. .... The Warren Commission looked at a tremendous amount of evidence and concluded that Oswald acted alone. I've studied the evidence, and I agree."
-- Vincent T. Bugliosi

Last edited by davidvp; 05-13-05 at 02:26 AM.
Old 05-13-05, 09:55 AM
  #20  
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
 
DJLinus's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 8,994
Received 44 Likes on 39 Posts
Originally Posted by Red Dog
Don't know if they ever have marathons, but they usually do rebroadcast the season at some point. Also, if you have VOD, you can probably catch the episodes already aired.

I believe they re-air the latest episode on Friday nights at 10.


edit: and the Family Values episode (from last week) is on at 10:30 tomorrow after Conspiracy Theories.
Thanks! The DVR is set.

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.