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Archive for the ‘TV’ Category

I was watching Season 1 of the X-Files over the weekend (ah, the nostalgia of it all) and the thing I found funny was the use of the word paranormal. In this specific case (and we all know how popular the X-Files became, and still is) paranormal almost exclusively meant UFOs and aliens. There were plenty of genetic mutation episodes but the main crux was of course the aliens and the abductions. Yes, yes, government conspiracies and cover-ups too. Stay focused.

Jump ahead a few years and the term paranormal is almost unanimously associated with ghosts and spirits. You don’t hear too much about flying objects anymore, but everyone seems to be having ghost sightings. Seems like just about every other home in the country is haunted these days. Libraries have sprits. Schools, jails, asylums, factories and even lighthouses have them.

Just funny how the same term has come to mean something completely different, at least to me anyway. Mulder had people looking to the sky, while Jason and Grant have people looking under the bed. Anyone else noticed the same thing?

I’m getting my desktop ready and I’m looking forward to some new seasons of investigations. It looks like we lost a few shows along the way, but to be honest, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. A few of those shows needed to go and a couple more still need to go. So which ones do I think are coming back?

Shows on now:

Right now there is only one show back on the air and it’s GHI. I really liked the first season of this show but there have been dozens of cast changes and the way they break up the season is just maddening. I can’t say how much longer I’ll be on board for this one.

Shows coming soon:

I know two shows will be starting soon, Destination Truth on September 9th and Ghost Adventures starting up in September as well. These are the two I’m looking forward to the most, I just have a great time watching these and they look like they’re having a great time making the show.

Shows on the fence:

Paranormal State: It has no start date listed but the fact it’s still on the books leads me to believe it will be coming back. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the last year for Satan seeking, Holy water throwing, seeing shadows in every corner, Ryan Buell and the PRS team. Ryan has become just way too damn melodramatic and quite honestly the show just isn’t that interesting anymore. Every single thing about this show seems staged and fake. The stories are weak, their reactions from the PRS team are WAY over the top, nothing is ever discovered and in the end Ryan buries a couple of medallions, tells the “spirits” they aren’t welcome, says a blessing and then heads home. And that “Director’s Log” crap is really wearing thin.

Shows that probably won’t be back:

Ghost Lab looks like it got the axe. Nothing is listed on Discovery and no new listings on IMDB. A Wikipedia entry sites they’re coming back for a second season but there is no actual confirmation of that. Their own websites lists two upcoming investigations this year, but no mention of the show. They may have had some of the coolest equipment, but their crazy antics and experiments may have done them in.

Looks like Paranormal Cops didn’t make it either. It has no return date listed in IMDB and the show has been pulled from the roster on the A&E website. There were some interesting aspects to this show, but overall it needed some work. They had procedures and guidelines which was great, but some of their fact checking seemed a little off and they made far too many connections that seemed to be huge leaps at best.

Shows that should never come back:

Ghost Hunters Academy. Please tell me we’ll never have to see or hear of this stupid show again… I can only hope.

Ghost Hunters will air again sometime this year, but really, who cares anymore?

Personally I thought this little incident was behind us, but it seems Robert Bess is calling some folks out. He claims he can capture paranormal activity and wants the Ghost Adventures team to be a part of it.I’m not really sure why he needs them to prove his parabot works, but apparently Bess has issued the following challenge:

The challenge involves a live capture of a ghost and to produce real evidence on the spot.

"I’ve told them anywhere," Bess said. "They can even pick the location and bring as much help as they need."

"If I win – meaning, if I deliver real proof of paranormal existence in the location of their choice right then and there as it happens – I request that they cancel the next season and tell the public exactly why."

"If they win, it’s up to them what they want in return." he added.

I think there is a lot of innuendo going on in that statement. What’s the deal with this line? -"I request that they cancel the next season and tell the public exactly why." Is he saying there is fakery afoot? Did something else happen during the investigation that hasn’t been brought up? Is there some claim against the Ghost Adventures team he’s thinking of making at some point? I’m really curious what he means by that. Do we have another jacket pulling incident in the making here?

Paranormal Showdown

I’m miss Destination Truth, but I put together a short list of some of my favorite episodes. Pretty much every episode is a gem but here’s a couple that jump to mind. Which are your favorite episodes?

Season 2, Episode 11: Aswang & Haunted Forest

This episode has a much creepier atmosphere than the others. Josh and team head into the forest to investigate ghost sightings. This forest is the site of an alleged 1,000 suicides and is riddled with warnings asking people not to kill themselves. Additionally, there’s a wrecked campsite and personal items strewn around. It plays like the Blair Witch Project, but this one’s real. Incredibly creepy and sad.

Season 3, Episode 2: Island of the Dolls/Lusca

Old tattered dolls can be creepy. Dark, lonely islands can be creepy. Being on the site where a young girl supposedly drowned can be creepy. Combine them all together and you have the freakiest island I’ve ever seen. The place is riddled with hundreds of rotting dolls strung up to trees, poles and scattered on the ground. At any second you expect one of them to come to life and start talking. It’s unnerving!

Season 3, Episode 4: Ghosts of Chernobyl/Sal’awa

Josh is truly risking life and limb for this one; he heads right into the middle of ground zero of Chernobyl. Saying it’s a ghost town is a complete understatement. There is absolutely no human life and the creatures that scurry around on the outskirts are just small animals, but you really get the feeling they’re horribly mutated or "changed" and they’re going to attack. The plot of a scary horror movie to be sure.

Season 3, Episode 6: Chullachaqui/Bermuda Triangle

This episode is hilarious. We all know there are some funky things going on in the Bermuda Triangle and as you might expect, when Josh gets there odd things happen. You know things are off to a rocky start when the roof of your scout plane comes off and you have to yell to your crew to hang on. And that’s just the start. The runways and the coastline are littered with crashed airplanes and as Josh is flying over the island and into the hotspots, he loses all communication with the team and the instruments go haywire. It’s all fun and games until you’re flying through the clouds without instruments. No wonder his team changes so frequently.

Season 3, Episode 13: Haunted Mining Town/The Taniwha

This also one of the creepier episodes. Josh and team go to an abandoned mining town where remnants of the old workers, including children, are scattered all over the place. But the really scary part is the massive cemetery full of unmarked graves and exposed remains. The graves have literally crumbled apart and the skeletons are looking back at you. You see this sort of thing on amusement park haunted rides, not within an old town. Wild stuff!