Penn & Teller: B.S.! Season 8

The entire series was strong but this eighth and final season returns the show to its highest standards of quality following a couple of slightly weaker episodes and the fiasco in which an entire episode was unceremoniously stricken from the seventh season DVD set.Let's consider each of the episodes:"Cheerleaders"You might expect an episode about cheerleaders to be a filler episode. Instead, this turned out to be one of the most shocking and important episodes in the entire series, detailing how political maneuvering and Title IX have prevented cheerleaders from receiving necessary safety measures."Fast Food"While not as hard-hitting as the first episode, this is a high quality defense of the fast food industry against claims that it's particularly unhealthy."Martial Arts"I like martial arts. As such, I shouldn't like this episode. But its points are well-taken: martial arts as they're generally taught are not the most effective self-defense programs and are often filled with bogus mystical claims. While I think P&T miss the value of martial arts (specifically as arts, rather than as self-defense programs), their specific points of criticism are valid."Teen Sex"The claim that people shouldn't be worried about teens having sex is subjective and it seems like this is just going to be another pro-sex episode. There's nothing necessarily wrong about that, even if it does seem a little tired in the eighth season, but this episode surprises by examining how measurements to prevent teen "sexting" have seriously victimized children. For that reason, what at first seemed like it might be just another sex episode became one of the most important episodes in the series."Easy Money"There's no such thing as easy money. It's almost always a true statement. This episode is focused specifically on the multi-level marketing schemes that promise easy money but almost invariably fail to deliver. While it's not the best episode ever, it's still a solid entry."Area 51"Penn & Teller covered alien abductions in an earlier episode, so this one seems a bit redundant, but it's still an interesting addition to the show because it focuses specifically on the intersection between alien theories and conspiracy theories at Area 51."Criminal Justice"While this episode's criticism of forensic science is overstated (though not entirely unjustified), it makes an important case against police and prosecutorial overreach in criminal justice."Old People"This is the closest thing to a filler episode in the series, criticizing our culture for its treatment of the elderly. Overall, it's an unimpressive episode but it's saved a bit for its relatively fair and balanced discussion of euthanasia. That aspect, however, gets relatively little screen time. The episode would have been better if it were focused only on that issue."Self-Esteem"Every season seems to require one critique of pop psychology. In this crosshairs for the final season are attempts to bolster self esteem. This is actually a pretty good episode, rightly criticizing the neo-narcissism that so often masquerades as mental health."Vaccinations"In arguably the most important episode of the series (and with undoubtedly the best introductory sequence), Penn and Teller close out their series by providing a passionate and well-reasoned refutation of the modern anti-vaccination movement. This is probably the most significant public health issue we face in the early 21st century and this episode is a top-quality introduction to the topic.Ultimately, this set of episodes does an amazing job of rounding out the series, bringing it to an end on a strong high note. While fans of the series often wish Penn and Teller would have gotten around to their long-promised self-critical episode, the final episodes they did actually produce are among the best the series had to offer.

Movies and TV shows are like very personal items; either you're interested in the subject matter or you're not but somebody else is. Watch it and take your chances.

Aside from my disappointment with the censorship issue (the missing Vatican ep), I love this show and this was another outstanding season of one of my favorite shows. Penn and Teller are great! I was so sorry to see this show end, but if you're a fan, this is a must have!

One of the greatest shows to ever grace the television screen! This was the last Season (sadly) that they did, but I am the HAPPY owner of all 8 seasons, and I would recommend this show for anyone looking for a fun, and logical look at the world around us

What can I say...Penn and Teller did it again. I absolutely love their show and even if I disagree with their points (rare but it happens) I can at least understand where they are coming from. This Season may not have the best topics, but I still love it!

Whatever topic P&T are covering, whenever they trot out the Cato Institute or Reason Magazine or some libertarian talking head, all I hear is the sound of axes being ground. I'm not saying that what libertarian think-tank Cato Institute has to say about, say, cheerleader injuries and Title IX (as in the first episode in the season) is WRONG. Actually, it sounded fairly persuasive. It's just that as soon as I see debunking tied to an ideology (other than science and philosophical skepticism, that is), I begin to lose interest.Like in the midst of an otherwise excellent episode on BS related to "old people," we get the libertarian take on end-of-life issues. I happen to agree with the position taken--that we should have the right to self-determination for such a personal decision--but would have preferred another source. Otherwise it starts to look like a case is being made for planks in a party platform.All of which is probably a big part of the reason that my two favorite episodes were Cato Institute/Reason Magazine/libertarian shill-free: the one on self-esteem and the one on anti-vaxxers. But the one on anti-vaxxers most of all. It would not be saying too much for me to say that for me that one was worth the price of the series all by itself. Of all the BS currently floating around, by far the most immediately and tragically dangerous is the anti-vaxxer BS. And P&T did a superb job of dismantling the "argument" on the anti-vaxxer side--with trademark wit and telling interviews.But as much as I loved that particular episode, and as much as I find some of the outrageous high jinks still highly entertaining, and as much as I respect what Penn and Teller set out to do, it's hard to escape the sense that with most of the big fish fried, finding 12 more worthy topics for next season, much less any additional seasons, will be a challenge and probably a chore. The one BS episode that Penn once mentioned wanting to do that I'd like to see is the one on the "BS of BS." Because the greatest value of skepticism is that it teaches us to be skeptical about ourselves--our own biases and sacred cows and blind spots. If P&T were able to pull that off in the style they've applied to others, it would be the very model of how skepticism ultimately must work to be invaluable.June 6 edit: I just learned that this was in fact the last season of BS, and that Penn & Teller will instead be starting a new show on Discovery this fall. And after complaining that they couldn't reasonably find 12 more worthy topics to cover in another season, I find myself a little sad at the show's passing. What was I thinking? We might be close to peak oil, but we're nowhere NEAR peak BS.

Consistent with the other seasons of this series, Penn and Teller explore the hysteria surrounding teen sex, Area 51, easy money (multi-level marketing schemes), and vaccinations. As usual, they interview both crackpots and bona fide experts in each field. Very funny but also illuminating.

Earlier seasons were more entertaining, in my opinion. I wasn't as interested in the topics of this season.

I love this series by Penn & Teller. This is a wonderful series for skeptics to watch. Even if you aren't a skeptic and don't agree with what they say, it provides a good starting point to do your own research.If you don't like nudity, swear words, etc. this is probably not a good series for you. They do have gratuitous nudity and swear A LOT throughout the series.

bullshitあんまり日本人は知らないと思いますが、ちゃんと訳されて発売するとかなり面白いですよね。