The BEST episodes of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
Every episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!!
In society, there are many products and ideas that we buy into. Some of these products, services or ideas are just plain bullshit. Well known magicians: Penn and Teller are here to knock some sense into people in a humorous and informal way and to explain why some things in life are just bullshit.
#1 - Violent Video Games
Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 7/9/2009
Politicians and other alarmists claim that playing violent video games leads to teen violence. Penn & Teller attempt to debunk that theory by handing over a real semi-automatic weapon to a nine-year-old to see if playing video games will turn him into a human killing machine.
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#2 - The Bible: Fact or Fiction?
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/6/2004
We take on the most sacred of sacred cows: The Bible! We'll reveal the many discrepancies and contradictions in THE GOOD BOOK. Why all the confusion? Shouldn't anything that is "divinely inspired" be crystal clear? Did Noah build an ark big enough to hold all those animals? Did Moses part the Red Sea? Did Jesus even exist? Tune in to find out!
#5 - Safety Hysteria
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/8/2004
We're being told that, in order to keep us safe, we need everything from anti-terrorism gas masks to paper toilet seat covers. Crime rates are going down, not up. You're four times more likely to get struck by lightning than to be violently killed at school. And, once and for all, cell phones don't give you cancer!
#6 - PeTA
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/1/2004
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is against all forms of medical testing involving animals - regardless of the potential benefits to human beings. PETA supports banning the ownership of pets and advocates releasing them into the wild. It's enough to make a vegetarian eat meat!
#7 - Yoga, Tantric Sex, Etc.
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/13/2004
The New Age is a marketeers dream. From aromatherapy dishwashing liquid to yoga to crystals, herbs and tarot, we're swallowing it all! Join us as we travel to the Mecca of New Age, Sedona, Arizona, where we'll chant, sing, and seek a higher consciousness from hill to dale to parking lot. And stay for our big climax! They say Maui's the place to achieve a cosmic orgasm while holding a tantric pretzel pose. Watch out! It's a flying vortex!
#8 - Old People
Season 8 - Episode 8 - Aired 7/29/2010
According to Penn and Teller, America's seniors are stripped of their dignity thanks to ongoing stereotypes about old people. They investigate the widespread beliefs that old people can't drive, don't have sex, and smell bad.
#9 - Prostitution
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/10/2006
Everyone knows that prostitution is practiced throughout the land. Where it is legal - in only a few Nevada counties, prostitution is vigorously regulated and monitored by the State of Nevada Health Department. The women submit to compulsory medical tests for STDs. No one is forced to work as a prostitute. Pimps don't exist. HIV has never been detected. The women earn regular paychecks and tips. Some even get vacation and sick days. And they pay taxes! It's BULLSHIT that it's illegal for two consenting adults to have sex with each other!
#10 - War on Drugs
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/22/2004
America is waging a massive war on its home soil, a war it is losing. Our country spends $20 billion a year in drug enforcement, but the illegal drug industry is thriving. Should we even be waging this war, when alcohol is legal and pushed every night on network TV? By criminalizing drugs, we just turn non-violent citizens into criminals. And medicinal uses of marijuana are being blocked by crusading moralists yelling "family values."
#11 - Family Values
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 5/2/2005
There's a hysteria in America. A hysteria about what's become known as "the traditional family" and the desperate urgency to "save" it. And this rallying cry is not just coming from right wing conservatives and religious groups in the Red States (although, they're doing their share of tub-thumping.) The media (advertisers) and the government also have a vested interest in perpetuating the traditional concept of family: mother, father, two kids, dog and picket fence. But this hysteria is ignoring a key fact, the "traditional family" is bullshit. The traditional family structure may be for some, but it isn't for everyone. Shouldn't we stop trying to jam square pegs into round holes? Isn't it time for "Bullshit" to redefine the definition of "family?"
#13 - The Apocalypse
Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 7/16/2009
The world will end on December 21, 2012 - that's according to a growing legion of doomsayers who follow the primitive Mayan calendar. The duo follows a pair of investigators to ancient Mexico to explore the mysterious "Mayan Prophecy".
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#14 - The Best
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 8/1/2005
Penn and Teller skewer our pursuit of "the best" in everything, from neighborhoods to electronics to automobiles to spouses, and demonstrate how such rampant consumerism is a race designed so that the runners never win.
#15 - Self-Esteem
Season 8 - Episode 9 - Aired 8/5/2010
Research has proven that self-esteem-building does not work. However, misguided parents, coaches and social workers are using this flawed technique to create a generation of narcissistic losers who believe that they are "special."
#16 - Cryptozoology
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/24/2006
BULLSHIT tours Inverness, Scotland, the home of the Loch Ness Monster, with two "cryptozoologists" who try to lure the mythical giant of the deep to the surface... with a bag of fish guts. Later, we investigate the latest mysterious Bigfoot footage posted on the internet. In between, we check in with some credentialed scientists for their take on the bullshit "science" of Cryptozoology. Will our scientific experts conclusively debunk the existence of mythical creatures? Here's a hint: Crypto means "hidden" while zoology stands for the study of animals. Put them together and what do you get? BULLSHIT!
#17 - Talking to the Dead
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/24/2003
A look into the practices of popular psychics of today reveals how those who claim to be in contact with the dead are actually performing an age-old trick called "cold reading."
#19 - Detoxing
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/12/2007
Penn & Teller expose the truth behind our supposedly toxic insides. We find out about "colonics" and those "cleansing" diets including today's diet darling, the "Neera Super Cleanse." An actual Parasitologist - a scientist who studies parasites - tells us the truth about the parasites among and within us. A visit to the world's largest inflatable walk-through colon rounds out the episode.
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#20 - Breast Hysteria
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/5/2007
Penn & Teller look at women's breasts and society's response to them. In New York City, we meet a young mother who inadvertently tested corporate tolerance for breast-feeding in public. Further south, in Daytona Beach, Florida, we meet a woman who challenged the rights to flash her breasts in public. We also meet a breast cancer survivor who is not a supporter of those ubiquitous Pink Ribbons. And, down in the valley of porn, we find a topless porn star/mother of two who philosophizes on the benefits of the La Leche League.
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#21 - The Death Penalty
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/17/2006
We understand the feelings of rage felt by crime victims and their families. But - studies show there is no deterrent effect to State executions. And, DNA evidence has exonerated 122 men formerly on death row! If we're killing inmates to satisfy a primitive emotion, if we can't be sure the criminal is guilty as charged, and we have ways to keep someone locked up and out of circulation for life and for less cost, why does our government still support the archaic, primitive, cruel and costly BULLSHIT known as the Death Penalty?
#22 - Circumcision
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/25/2005
Finally, an episode that will make every man feel regret, cringe with pain, and grab their genitals. What would make the male sex react like this? Two words - snip and chuck. If this alone doesn't make you cringe then this will: when your foreskin was removed thirty percent of your sexual pleasure went with that little piece of skin. Ouch! We'll examine the historical, religious, medical and ethical arguments associated with circumcision. And we'll have a little hidden-camera fun with the topic, as well. After all we are talking about dick!
#24 - Hypnosis
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 9/2/2004
There are some topics that are complete nonsense, and there are others, like Hypnosis, that combine an element of truth with a generous helping of bullshit. We'll go under the "spell" and show you just where the bullshit lies. The bottom line: you never give up control when under an hypnotic spell. But you will give up your money to smooth-talking hypnotists who claim they can enlarge your penis or achieve the ultimate orgasm. When they count to ten, hold onto your wallet and run for the door!
#25 - Exercise vs. Genetics
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 8/26/2004
Exercise Schmexerise. Here's the shocker: the power of genetics determines your body type. Throw away all those fitness machines, gym memberships and exercise manuals, the size and shape of your body was decided the moment you were conceived. A look at the huge amount of bullshit behind the exercise industry. Gym memberships, fat-burning, muscle-building supplements, exercise tapes and equipment - we're fair game... and so are they!