Penn and Teller Deliver Christmas in June

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Doctor Suarez

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As a long-time fan of "Penn and Teller: Bull?????, I've harbored a dirty little wish that they'd turn their wrath on Gun Control. I researched their position on it, found out that they oppose it as any Libertarian would, and sat around waiting for them to do my bidding since before Season 3 was even announced. But it just seemed like far too much to ask. Why should they satisfy my little wish when it's such a minefield for any public figure to enter?

After all, nobody listens to me. And why should they do it? They'd piss off every GFW in Hollywood. They'd never eat lunch in this town again! (And if you've ever seen Penn up close, you know that would be a problem for him.)

So, as they say, you can wish in one hand and crap in the other, and we'll see which fills up fir--

But wait, what's this, sitting here in my wish hand?

This might very well be the most pro-gun piece of television to ever run on a major carrier. If they're doing it, they're going to be loud, angry, and with spitting passion. They're going to talk to some heavy-hitters on both sides, and they're going to call the anti's names. Mean names. With cuss words in them.

Of course, they could screw it up. Everyone makes mistakes. But however it goes, I think they deserve major snaps for hanging their necks out over the wall for us.
 
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If this is what I think it is, I'm taping this and duct-taping them to every copy of "Bowling for Columbine" I know in private hands.
 
I believe it's Showtime. I don't get Showtime, but I have the 1st season on DVD. Good stuff.

- Gabe
 
Glad to see that I'm not the only one who's been harboring this wish.

I've got Season 2 on DVD and it's utterly fantastic, especially the first disk.

And glad to see that they're finally going to do it! *happy dance*
 
Gun control really is a perfect target for their show. It is totally irrational. It is, in fact, practically a mental illness.

The pretext is that gun control protects the public. But Washington, DC has some of the strictest gun control in the country, and is the murder capital of the country on a regular basis. Dallas has one of the worst murder rates in a city in a CCW-friendly state, because the city is run by a bunch of slack-jawed retards, and it is still a small fraction of that of DC or Detroit.

Gun control simply does not stand up to rational examination. It doesn't accomplish anything it is claimed to accomplish. You can leave "rights" completely out of the discussion, and gun control still flunks on all fronts.

It will be fun to see Penn & Teller make gun control supporters look like mental patients.
 
I've been searching around for an email address for P&T and haven't come across anything yet (dialup sucks) If anybody finds one, let's all send these guys encouragement. As in, "you air it, we'll watch it and, we'll let all your advertisers know we watched." :D

Pops
 
i dont think you can contact them directly but if you do to their website there is a forum you can post on and i am sure they read it.
 
The only time I've heard Cooper's Four Rules recited in public was by Penn at their show.

...same show I ended up on stage inspecting the guns, ammo, and protocol for their dual-bullet-catch trick before an audience of a few thousand. :neener:
 
I've read that they did a raving anti-christian , catholic rant on their showtime show. we can do without there help...
 
I've read that they did a raving anti-christian , catholic rant on their showtime show. we can do without there help...
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Yeah ... 'cause only Christians and white people should own guns :rolleyes:
 
I've read that they did a raving anti-christian , catholic rant on their showtime show. we can do without there help...
Click to expand...

If you watched their show, on religion, and ended up with that opinioin, you were not paying attention.

We need their help.
 
"I've read that..." is how many folks that have been mislead about gun owners start their sentances. Might want to research a little there.
 
They have done a number of anti-religion shows, because they target popular ideas that just aren't backed up by reality.
 
Let's hold up on the flame war. Go watch their shows before you make a decision on either end of the spectrum; I've found that although they are inflammatory, their primary emphasis is on the people who make claims without reason. For example, one episode was on the Evolution v. Creationism debate. Go watch the episode before you decide they were dissing Christianity.
 
I'm a fan of Penn and Teller.

Since I don't have Showtime, I've missed their shows. But, I did catch one on the fitness craze during a free weekend.

It was pretty good.
 
The so-called "anti-christian" show was about evolution v. creationism specifically. But, as much as I like the show, they do 'dis' Christianity (all religion, really, not just Christianity) - maybe not on that show directly, but as a pair, they have. In a certain way...

Penn & Teller are true skeptics. This means that if you can't prove something, they aren't buying it. This puts them at odds with people of faith, but is in line with their personal belief system. They don't hate Christians/Muslims/Hindus/what-have-you, they just don't buy into the faith due, specifically, to the lack of proof.

Penn sometimes will make comments about people of faith that are...less than respectful...it all stems directly from his passionate devotion to skepticism and requirement that any 'thing' be provable. It's true that Penn, at least, shows little to no respect for someone who holds to something that has no tangible, real, provable basis, and that happens to include people of faith. The simple fact that you need faith to believe is the problem.

He doesn't bash people of faith in his Showtime show, that I've seen (I only have the DVD of the first season), but I've seen interviews with him where he blurts out that people who believe in god are kidding themselves and casts aspersions on their depth of intellect (although he used just a single descriptive word... ;))

So that's a rough spot, but they point that skeptical show at so many great topics that it's worth it, at least to me...but then again, I'm not a person of faith, so your mileage may vary.

They don't 'hate' people of faith, but I'd have to say that they most certainly do 'dis' religion in general.

- Gabe
 
I've got Season 2 on DVD. They did an episode on the Bible and people who try to claim it as being 100%, literally factual. It came off as pretty vitriolic. However, they pretty much say right at the beginning of the episode that if you believe in God based on faith, then they aren't interested in having that debate as there's no way to really win.

Quite frankly, I don't care that both of them are atheists. They are ardent supporters of personal liberty, and their take on gun control should finally roast at least a couple of the anti's who so richly deserve it.

(In a perfect world, they would get a chance to confront Tom Diaz about his handgun collection on camera...)
 
Yeah, I was rather tweaked with my cable company when, after being bought out for the Nth time, they messed with my existing channel plan. They redeemed themselves when, for an extra $5 a month, they allowed me to add Showtime and HBO for a year. Good timing! VCR will be running for that episode...

No digital recording, though. Not only does file sharing bump hard against copyright protection, I have yet to see anything on television to make me want to pony up the $$$ for digital...yet. Besides, I only pay for TV because I have to... On the other hand, I will admit that it is nice to view certain events on C-Span, rather than network news.
 
I like the stunt that Penn pulls when going through the airport. He carries a credit card-sized metallic copy of the Bill of Rights. Of course, the screeners try to take it away from him, which opens the door to a symbolic taking away of his rights..... and yes, he definitely lets them know about it.
 
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