Television is becoming more and more fixated on the paranormal now with popular television shows like "Ghost Hunters" on SciFi, and "Paranormal State" on A&E. But are the shows just garbage?, just more mindless entertainment for the gullible? With this quick review, I'll help weed out the nonesense from the creme de la crem
Let's start with the heavy hitters "Ghost Hunters" and "Paranormal State".
"Ghost Hunters"/ SciFi * * * * *
Ghost Hunters is a personal favorite of mine, and the rest of the crew at ESP. With their deep roots in scientific analysis, and their importance of seperating their religions from their work. Extreme professionalism only strengthens the credibility of ANY evidence they find. For paranormal investigators the show is nothing less than an educational program. The show stays away from showing only cases where they produce results, and prides themselves in displaying the cases where the debunk alot of claims. In all this show is a must for any Ghost enthusiast, or Ghost Hunter.
"Paranormal State"/ A&E *
Paranormal State is ALL about just reinforcing believers with more than skeptical evidence, and using their "word" as credibility. From the begining I knew a bunch of college kids performing seances would prove to be nothing less than hillariously bad. But calling their sessions "Dead Time", and allowing the residents to accompany them (to add fuel to the non-existent fire) is just amatuer at best. Please avoid this if your looking for help structutring your group or trying to learn new techniques. We thank you greatly...
"Most Haunted"/ Travel Channel * *
Ever see someone become possesed? Ever see a psychic fail miserably trying to describe what happened in a building? Look no further, you'll find all this and more in this hokey television show filled with Psychics, Mediums, Sensetives, and everything in between. With a cast (of what appears to be) B-Movie actors, "Most Haunted" brings us around the world as the team of psychics try to make contact with various famous and not so famous ghosts. Believable? No. Hillarious? Yes. And that is the ONLY reason this show gets 2 stars...
"Scariest Places on Earth"/ SciFi (Syndicated) Fox Family (Original Airing) * * *
This show is very hit or miss. Sometimes the episodes are good just to watch the various stories, since it doesn't just focus on ghosts. But when the investigations are on, 9 out of 10 times it's complete amatuers doing the investigating (more often than not teenagers or college kids). But it's worth it to see some experts speculate over the theories surrounding some of the world's bigger paranormal mysteries.
"Scary... But True"/ SciFi (Syndicated) Fox Family (Origianal Airing) * *
Again very strong in the story telling department rather than actual investigating. More for entertainment than any educational purposes. Each episode contains two stories relived by the people who experienced them. The stories range from UFO's to Ghosts to everyones favorite missing link "Bigfoot". So "Scary... But True" scores a 2 for it's interesting stories.
"A Haunting"/ Discovery * * * *
"Scary... But True" with a better budget and an extra half hour. This show does a really good job of documenting everyone involved and just being a straight up one hour re-enactment. Love the stories that are shown, even seen TAPS hit a few of 'em in their show. Not always believable (a couple possession/ exorcist episodes) but Discovery does a job of staying unbiased and let the stories speak for themselves. If only they would pick up "Ghost Hunters".... Maybe in a perfect world....
"Dead Famous"/ Bio * * *
2 of the members of "Most Haunted" break off to hit up haunted spots once frequented by big name celebrities looking for residual energies. Basically same deal as "Most Haunted" but a little bit better... but equally as funny.
"Ghostly Encounters"/ Bio *
"A Haunting", without the budget. Hokey is the best way to explain this show.
" SciFi Investigates"/ SciFi * * *
I really used to like this show, not exactly the most scientific, and they never really found anything. But I liked the way they split up the opinions on the team (a Skeptic, a Forensic Investigator, and a Scientist). They went around the U.S. looking for signs of the paranormal, hitting, "Mothman", "Bigfoot", UFO's, and a brief stint on ghosts. But... apparently not enough people liked it, SciFi pulled the plug after only one season.
"Destination Truth"/ SciFi * * * *
Ghost Hunter's little brother, "Destination Truth" is nothing short of amazing. THEY NEVER FIND ANYTHING. And I don't care. The host Josh Gates travels around the world (or it seems like Papau New Guinea) haha, looking for mythological creatures that lurk in the waters, caves, and skies of third world countries. But the show is a gas, just to watch was some people believe, and just to listen to Josh and his smartass remarks. "Destination Truth" although it's a farcry from revolutionary, is still a must for any cryptozoology buff.
Well, that's enough for now. I might do a follow up with Ghost Movies. But for now I hope this was a good reference to help you avoid the toilet bowl of Paranormal programming...
~Shane
(Tech Manager/ Co-Founder)
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