Monsters Inside Me

Last updated

Monsters Inside Me
Monsters Inside Me Logo.jpg
Monsters Inside Me logo
GenreDocumentary
Directed byKyle McCabe, Alexis Siggers, Sally Freeman, Ed Hambleton
Starring Dan Riskin
Narrated byJustin Peed
Jason Done (UK, until series 6)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons8
No. of episodes75
Production
Executive producersNicola Moody
Erin Wanner
Dominic Stobart
ProducerKyle McCabe
Running time60 min.
Production company Optomen Productions
Release
Original network Animal Planet
Original releaseJuly 1, 2009 (2009-07-01) 
December 17, 2017 (2017-12-17)
Related
Bugs, Bites & Parasites

Monsters Inside Me was an American television documentary series about infectious diseases. It included first-person interviews with people and medical professionals telling their personal stories about contracting rare diseases with most of them being parasites. Interviews with contributors were shot on location across North America. Recreations were mostly filmed near hospitals and homes in New York City.

Contents

Summary

Each episode has dramatizations that show illnesses caused by an infectious disease or medical affliction. Once the agent has been identified, their life cycles and general behaviors are illustrated. Justin Peed is the narrator, and biologist Dan Riskin explains how and why each infectious agent works inside its host. Most shows start as a commonly diagnosed disease but then transform into a different life-threatening or serious disease, which will be cured most of the time at the end. Out of the 216 cases documented on the show, only 12 of those ended in the victim dying, usually from a disease with an extremely low survival rate.

The overwhelming majority of cases and their victims occur throughout the United States, but a few cases and their victims come from Canada.

The show's first two seasons focused solely on parasites and parasitic infections, but since the third season, the show has included scenarios and medical cases about general infectious diseases and medical afflictions, including those caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, and foreign objects.

The second season premiered on Wednesday June 9, 2010 and then returned for a third season on October 5, 2012. [1] As of January 7, 2011, Monsters Inside Me was broadcast in Canada by Discovery Science. It also airs on Discovery in the UK, and broadcasts in different languages on various Discovery networks across the world.

The show's final episode aired on December 17, 2017.

Episodes

Series overview

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 6July 1, 2009 (2009-07-01)August 5, 2009 (2009-08-05)
2 10June 9, 2010 (2010-06-09)August 25, 2010 (2010-08-25)
3 10October 5, 2012 (2012-10-05)December 7, 2012 (2012-12-07)
4 10September 30, 2013 (2013-09-30)December 18, 2013 (2013-12-18)
5 10October 9, 2014 (2014-10-09)December 18, 2014 (2014-12-18)
6 10October 29, 2015 (2015-10-29)December 22, 2015 (2015-12-22)
7 7October 6, 2016 (2016-10-06)December 15, 2016 (2016-12-15)
8 12October 15, 2017 (2017-10-15)December 17, 2017 (2017-12-17)

Monsters Inside Me: Extra Deadly

Monsters Inside Me: Extra Deadly is a spin-off of Monsters Inside Me that airs alongside the original show. It features reruns of episodes from Seasons 6-onwards but adds extra onscreen trivia that appears when a condition, infection, or symptom is discussed. Aside from that, it also features onscreen trivia of various casual objects found in the episode, like when it was first invented. The spin-off started in 2016; the first season is composed of altered versions of all Season 6 episodes with added trivia, and would usually air before a brand new episode from Season 7 of the original show premiered. The second season, which started in 2017, is set to air altered versions of all Season 7 episodes and previously-aired episodes of Season 8 with added trivia, and will premiere before brand-new episodes of Season 8 of the original show premiere.

Season 1 (2016)

#TitleOriginal air dateViewers
1"There's a Fungus in My What!?!"October 13, 2016 (2016-10-13)N/A
2"There's Something Living in My Knee!?"October 20, 2016 (2016-10-20)N/A
3"My Vacation From Hell"October 27, 2016 (2016-10-27)N/A
4"Help! My Son is a Leper"November 3, 2016 (2016-11-03)N/A
5"Worms Are Eating My Lungs"November 10, 2016 (2016-11-10)N/A
6"The Eyeball Eater"November 17, 2016 (2016-11-17)N/A
7"The Backyard Killer"December 1, 2016 (2016-12-01)N/A
8"They Hijacked My Eyeball"December 1, 2016 (2016-12-01)N/A
9"An Amoeba is Eating My Brain"December 8, 2016 (2016-12-08)N/A
10"All I Got For Christmas Is Brain Surgery"December 15, 2016 (2016-12-15)N/A

Season 2 (2017)

#TitleOriginal air dateViewers
1"I Have a WHAT in My WHAT?"October 15, 2017 (2017-10-15)N/A
2"There's Something Living in My Hand!"October 22, 2017 (2017-10-22)N/A
3"My Wife is Rotting"October 29, 2017 (2017-10-29)N/A
4"My Hands Are Falling Off"November 5, 2017 (2017-11-05)N/A
5"My Evil Twin is Driving Me Crazy"November 12, 2017 (2017-11-12)N/A
6"My Second Brain Is Killing Me"November 19, 2017 (2017-11-19)N/A
7"Help! I'm Being Eaten Alive"November 26, 2017 (2017-11-26)N/A
8"There's a Maggot in My Head"December 3, 2017 (2017-12-03)N/A
9"Something Is Eating My Baby"December 10, 2017 (2017-12-10)N/A
10"My Brain Is Under Attack"December 17, 2017 (2017-12-17)N/A

Season 3 (2018)

#TitleOriginal air dateViewers
1"The Monster in My Mouth"April 5, 2018 (2018-04-05)N/A
2"Braced for Death"April 12, 2018 (2018-04-12)N/A
3"I Can't Stop Coughing Up Blood"April 19, 2018 (2018-04-19)N/A
4"The Organ Shredder"April 26, 2018 (2018-04-26)N/A
5"My Lungs Are Rotting"May 3, 2018 (2018-05-03)N/A

Reception

Mike Hale of The New York Times said that "there's science amid the frightening stories" and said that the series "really grossed him out." [2]

Anne Louise Bannon of Common Sense Media said that "parents need to know that there is a lot of gross stuff in the series and the show has good educational content except for the tips on how to protect yourself from parasites because the information is vague". [3]

Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times wrote "Forget 'American Horror Story.' For several years now the scariest show on television has been Animal Planet's 'Monsters Inside Me,' which recreates real cases of bizarre, life-threatening infections." [4]

Spin-off

In 2013, a UK spin-off called Bugs, Bites & Parasites premiered on Discovery Channel UK.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chagas disease</span> Mammal parasitic disease

Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a tropical parasitic disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. It is spread mostly by insects in the subfamily Triatominae, known as "kissing bugs". The symptoms change over the course of the infection. In the early stage, symptoms are typically either not present or mild, and may include fever, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, or swelling at the site of the bite. After four to eight weeks, untreated individuals enter the chronic phase of disease, which in most cases does not result in further symptoms. Up to 45% of people with chronic infections develop heart disease 10–30 years after the initial illness, which can lead to heart failure. Digestive complications, including an enlarged esophagus or an enlarged colon, may also occur in up to 21% of people, and up to 10% of people may experience nerve damage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malaria</span> Medical condition

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other vertebrates. Human malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. Symptoms usually begin 10 to 15 days after being bitten by an infected Anopheles mosquito. If not properly treated, people may have recurrences of the disease months later. In those who have recently survived an infection, reinfection usually causes milder symptoms. This partial resistance disappears over months to years if the person has no continuing exposure to malaria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infection</span> Invasion of an organisms body by pathogenic agents

An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable disease, is an illness resulting from an infection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African trypanosomiasis</span> Parasitic disease also known as sleeping sickness

African trypanosomiasis, also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. It is caused by the species Trypanosoma brucei. Humans are infected by two types, Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (TbG) and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (TbR). TbG causes over 92% of reported cases. Both are usually transmitted by the bite of an infected tsetse fly and are most common in rural areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran</span> French physician (1845–1922)

Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran was a French physician who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1907 for his discoveries of parasitic protozoans as causative agents of infectious diseases such as malaria and trypanosomiasis. Following his father, Louis Théodore Laveran, he took up military medicine as his profession. He obtained his medical degree from University of Strasbourg in 1867.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parasitic disease</span> Medical condition

A parasitic disease, also known as parasitosis, is an infectious disease caused by parasites. Parasites are organisms which derive sustenance from its host while causing it harm. The study of parasites and parasitic diseases is known as parasitology. Medical parasitology is concerned with three major groups of parasites: parasitic protozoa, helminths, and parasitic arthropods. Parasitic diseases are thus considered those diseases that are caused by pathogens belonging taxonomically to either the animal kingdom, or the protozoan kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Histoplasmosis</span> Human disease

Histoplasmosis is a fungal infection caused by Histoplasma capsulatum. Symptoms of this infection vary greatly, but the disease affects primarily the lungs. Occasionally, other organs are affected; called disseminated histoplasmosis, it can be fatal if left untreated.

In medicine, public health, and biology, transmission is the passing of a pathogen causing communicable disease from an infected host individual or group to a particular individual or group, regardless of whether the other individual was previously infected. The term strictly refers to the transmission of microorganisms directly from one individual to another by one or more of the following means:

<i>Pop-Up Video</i> American TV series or program

Pop Up Video is a VH1 television show that shows music videos annotated via "pop-up" bubbles — officially called "info nuggets" — containing trivia and witticisms relating to the video in question. The show was created by Woody Thompson and Tad Low and premiered October 27, 1996. For a time, it was the highest-rated program on VH1, though Behind the Music overtook it by 1998. It was originally produced by Spin the Bottle Inc., and later by Eyeboogie Inc. during its original run.

Forensic Files, originally known as Medical Detectives, is an American documentary television program that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness. The show was originally broadcast on TLC, narrated by Peter Thomas, and produced by Medstar Television, distributed by FilmRise, in association with truTV Original Productions. It broadcast 406 episodes from its debut on TLC in 1996 until its final episode in 2011. Reruns shown on HLN were initially retitled Mystery Detectives before settling on the main title of the show in 2014.

<i>Dicrocoelium dendriticum</i> Species of fluke

Dicrocoelium dendriticum, the lancet liver fluke, is a parasite fluke that tends to live in cattle or other grazing mammals.

Trauma: Life in the E.R. is a medical-based television reality show that formerly ran on TLC from 1997 to 2002 and reruns are currently airing on Discovery Life. At its peak, Trauma was one of TLC's top-rated shows and spawned two spin-offs, Paramedics and Code Blue. The series itself was nominated for seven Emmys.

Untold Stories of the E.R. is an American docudrama television series which airs on TLC and Discovery Life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medical microbiology</span> Branch of medical science

Medical microbiology, the large subset of microbiology that is applied to medicine, is a branch of medical science concerned with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. In addition, this field of science studies various clinical applications of microbes for the improvement of health. There are four kinds of microorganisms that cause infectious disease: bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses, and one type of infectious protein called prion.

The discovery of disease-causing pathogens is an important activity in the field of medical science. Many viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, helminthes and prions are identified as a confirmed or potential pathogen. In the United States, a Centers for Disease Control program, begun in 1995, identified over a hundred patients with life-threatening illnesses that were considered to be of an infectious cause, but that could not be linked to a known pathogen. The association of pathogens with disease can be a complex and controversial process, in some cases requiring decades or even centuries to achieve.

<i>Gongylonema pulchrum</i> Species of human parasite

Gongylonema pulchrum is the only parasite of the genus Gongylonema capable of infecting humans.

<i>Angiostrongylus cantonensis</i> Species of roundworm

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a parasitic nematode (roundworm) that causes angiostrongyliasis, an infection that is the most common cause of eosinophilic meningitis in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Basin. The nematode commonly resides in the pulmonary arteries of rats, giving it the common name rat lungworm. Snails are the primary intermediate hosts, where larvae develop until they are infectious.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. Ian Lipkin</span> Professor, microbiologist, epidemiologist

Walter Ian Lipkin is the John Snow Professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and a professor of Neurology and Pathology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. He is also director of the Center for Infection and Immunity, an academic laboratory for microbe hunting in acute and chronic diseases. Lipkin is internationally recognized for his work with West Nile virus, SARS and COVID-19.

Human parasites include various protozoa and worms.

References

  1. "Expect the Unexpected in an All-New Season of Animal Planet's "Monsters Inside Me"". The Futon Critic. September 11, 2012. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  2. Hale, Mike (June 30, 2009). "The Enemy Within: Wrigglies From Hell". The New York Times. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
  3. Bannon, Anne Louise. "Monsters Inside Me Review". Common Sense Media. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
  4. Genzlinger, Neil (October 22, 2015). "10 Unconventional Halloween Diversions". New York Times. Retrieved October 22, 2015.