Make a show of it?

[suncrafter]

I'd love to see someone make a regularly broadcast TV show about the MDC. Why has that not happened yet? :confused:

[Chris H]

Because, ultimately, people want to see a winner. The Amazing Race and Survivor would be pretty ****** shows if there was no coin at the end of them.

[rjh01]

Randi discussed this issue in swift several years back.

[Fnord]

Randi discussed this issue in swift several years back.
Linkie?

[Uncayimmy]

It would be incredibly boring.

[SezMe]

Yeah. For example the VfF test was boooorrrring.

[Aepervius]

Imagine SUCH a show :

* a pan on the audience shows a lot of hyped and happy people*
Announcer:-And today our 1st candidate for dowsing will be tested. Mr Joe Smith of Boston. So Joe how do you think your chance are ?
Joe Smith:- pretty good, I am all hyped, and i think I will beat the million dollar MDC
A: - OK Joe , let us do the first test. We will hide this gold nugget under one of ten opaque glasses before your evry eye. We will do it 20 times. Ready ? Go !
*Test 1 , dowser beeline for the correct glass*
JS: - see I found it !
A: - Congrat ! Let us do it for the 2nd out of 20 time !
*After the 4th time the audience stops to hooo ! and haaa ! *
*After the 10th time the audience stops clapping.*
* After the 15th time a loud snoring can be heard in background*
A: Congrat Joe you passed the hurdle of showing you can find gold nugget under glasses , while seeing where I place them ! So let us spice the things a bit. We will now blind you and the public to the placing. Also we will allow the public to vote where the gold nugget is ! Call 555 1234 to give your answer and win a 500$ gift certificate for randi shop !
JS: I am so hyped.
*first test*
*second test*
* After the 10th test a pan on the audience room shows only 2 or 3 old people snoring are still there , all other left the room*
A: - tooooo bad Joe ! You found only 3 hits out of 20. Which is about what chance forsee, and well below your target of 10 out of 20.
JS: - I think the glasses disturbed my chaka, and the chi inn this empty room is chilling. Also the quantum mind was on a low level state.
A: - Yes, yes. We know. So let us speak of our next show where we will ...
* light switch off *
A: hey we are on a show here ! What's up with the lighting ?
* voice in the background : Show is cancelled*

Think about it. That would never ever take off as a show.

[Uncayimmy]

Yeah. For example the VfF test was boooorrrring.

And Connie Sonne's test.

I recall seeing some clips where Randi did some rather brief tests such as someone perceiving an aura for people behind screens. There were I think seven people and she got one or two right, which was about the level of chance. It was mildly interesting to me, a skeptic, but I doubt most people would find any interest in it. A "real" test would require many more subjects.

Maybe you could edit it down to something interesting, but I doubt it. If such a show were to be made, I'd say you'd have to make a human interest story. Take somebody like VFF. Some find her attractive - she's at least distinctive looking. She's reasonably articulate, and hearing a bunch of her nonsense would be amusing in a "looking at a train wreck" sorta way. Her life story might be interesting, especially with the claims of "knowing" she was a 300 year old alien when she was a child.

Interview somebody like myself familiar with her claims to show the contradictions and how silly they are. Maybe cover some of the conflict like the threats of lawsuits and such.

Then interview the IIG people about how difficult it is to set up a test. Show some examples of how people could cheat if you're not careful. Show how subtle clues could be discerned if you're not careful. Maybe have a conjurer show how it can be done.

Bring in a math geek to go over the odds. Maybe throw in some shots of a casino and relate it to something like a game of craps. Run a little computer simulation and graph how random chance will produce a certain range of results.

Then show a briefly edited version of the actual test. Set it to the Benny Hill music, which as you can see below makes even the most mundane activity seem interesting. Imagine VFF switching chairs at high speed as you watch it.

o2WODovghEg

I think you could make the occasional 30 minute special out of it.

[Ririon]

I thought this thread would be about the plans for Banachek to make live shows based on the challenge. Since the TV thing has been discussed many times before, how about this: What makes the current Banachek plans any better? I am not a showbiz-person, so I don't see it.

[Aitch]

It would be incredibly boring.

Unless it was...

MDC: The Musical!


Possibly.

[TSR]

Unless it was...

[SIZE="5"]MDC: The Musical!

Possibly.
.
MDC, the Musical -- on Ice!
.

[Aitch]

.
MDC, the Musical -- on Ice!
.

Anyone got Rick Wakeman's phone number?

[suncrafter]

Imagine SUCH a show :

* a pan on the audience shows a lot of hyped and happy people*
Announcer:-And today our 1st candidate for dowsing will be tested. Mr Joe Smith of Boston. So Joe how do you think your chance are ?
Joe Smith:- pretty good, I am all hyped, and i think I will beat the million dollar MDC
A: - OK Joe , let us do the first test. We will hide this gold nugget under one of ten opaque glasses before your evry eye. We will do it 20 times. Ready ? Go !
*Test 1 , dowser beeline for the correct glass*
JS: - see I found it !
A: - Congrat ! Let us do it for the 2nd out of 20 time !
*After the 4th time the audience stops to hooo ! and haaa ! *
*After the 10th time the audience stops clapping.*
* After the 15th time a loud snoring can be heard in background*
A: Congrat Joe you passed the hurdle of showing you can find gold nugget under glasses , while seeing where I place them ! So let us spice the things a bit. We will now blind you and the public to the placing. Also we will allow the public to vote where the gold nugget is ! Call 555 1234 to give your answer and win a 500$ gift certificate for randi shop !
JS: I am so hyped.
*first test*
*second test*
* After the 10th test a pan on the audience room shows only 2 or 3 old people snoring are still there , all other left the room*
A: - tooooo bad Joe ! You found only 3 hits out of 20. Which is about what chance forsee, and well below your target of 10 out of 20.
JS: - I think the glasses disturbed my chaka, and the chi inn this empty room is chilling. Also the quantum mind was on a low level state.
A: - Yes, yes. We know. So let us speak of our next show where we will ...
* light switch off *
A: hey we are on a show here ! What's up with the lighting ?
* voice in the background : Show is cancelled*

Think about it. That would never ever take off as a show.

That is what EDITING is for. You can fast-forward through the boring stuff. Or just skip right to the RESULTS. The rest of the show would be an objective review of the subject at hand.

[Aepervius]

That is what EDITING is for. You can fast-forward through the boring stuff. Or just skip right to the RESULTS. The rest of the show would be an objective review of the subject at hand.

Which would be as soporific as ether for a good 90%+ of the population of TV viewer.

All good reportage and science show are gone where I live for this exact same reason.

[Two Toed Sloth]

What may be better is if they run and film all the challenges under proper scientific conditions and then group them by type (Homoeopaths, Mediums, telekinesis) and make a series of documentaries including a background into the topic backed up with occasional footage of the scientific tests that were run.

Essentially just like the Horizon episode on Homoeopathy.

[IXP]

Maybe if Randi blew something up three or four times in each show...

Bob

[Uncayimmy]

Maybe if Randi blew something up three or four times in each show...

Bob

I'm really tired right now and almost spit my drink after reading the above and failing to see the first preposition in the sentence.

[Delvo]

Putting multiple tests in an episode would work, whether they were connected by theme or just all of the ones that happened in the last year or some other kind of grouping. You could even make that episode 60 minutes or more instead of 30. You'd just have to let long intervals go between them, like a year or two.

[shandyjan]

They really are boring. The same goes for ghost hunting and psychic shows. Without a bit of flim flam here and there, a bit of dramatic music and blatent fakery or at least the hint that there's something supernatural going on. Which would be the opposite of what the MDC is about.

[floor13avenger]

I would so watch that show. Every weekend I would watch and I would laugh as people lost.

[magnus rawstron]

randi was an on stage illusionist before renaming himself a paranormal investigator, i cant believe people have fell for his trickery

[rjh01]

randi was an on stage illusionist before renaming himself a paranormal investigator, i cant believe people have fell for his trickery


What trickery? When? Before or after he started his challenge?

[AnnoyingPony]

Randi used to do trials like this. It worked really well, and had the proper amount of suspense and atmosphere combined with plot and science to make it both entertaining and educational. I don't see why it shouldn't be a show, frankly. It doesn't even have to be on TV, it could just be a webcast.

[rjh01]

Randi used to do trials like this. It worked really well, and had the proper amount of suspense and atmosphere combined with plot and science to make it both entertaining and educational. I don't see why it shouldn't be a show, frankly. It doesn't even have to be on TV, it could just be a webcast.


Something like this maybe?
U_qiG9PUiaQ

[wardenclyffe]

Probably more like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_MzP2MZaOo

Ward

[dropzone]

Something like this maybe?
U_qiG9PUiaQ
I'm as ADD as the next viewer, but though I'm not only into the topic but am interested in the Connie/Comme/whatever tests as a regular here, the text and dirge-like music caused me to not only pause it but also close the window. It was not even bad TV.

[rjh01]

I'm as ADD as the next viewer, but though I'm not only into the topic but am interested in the Connie/Comme/whatever tests as a regular here, the text and dirge-like music caused me to not only pause it but also close the window. It was not even bad TV.

Suggest then you start at the 6 minute mark. This is the start of the testing, when there is no more music or subscripts. There are several videos of which this is only the first one.

You are probably right, it would not make good TV. Everything takes too long. That would be the problem with most such tests.

Have I just killed this thread?

[AnnoyingPony]

Suggest then you start at the 6 minute mark. This is the start of the testing, when there is no more music or subscripts. There are several videos of which this is only the first one.

You are probably right, it would not make good TV. Everything takes too long. That would be the problem with most such tests.

Have I just killed this thread?

But the TV show actually worked. It was good. They already had the trials set up and everything was simple enough for the audience to understand.

[LongFuzzy]

All it would take is a sponser to pay for it all. TV time ain't cheap, plus writers, editors, performers... Anyone with deep pockets interested?

-LF