Penn & Teller Tell a Lie

Last updated
Penn & Teller Tell a Lie
P&TTL.png
Created byPenn Jillette
Teller
Golden
Developed by117 Productions
Starring Penn Jillette
Teller
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6 [1] (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerPeter Adam Golden
Running time45 minutes
Release
Original network Discovery Channel
Original releaseOctober 5 (2011-10-05) –
November 9, 2011 (2011-11-09)

Penn & Teller Tell a Lie is a six-part series starring Penn Jillette and Teller. Each episode contains six or seven stories, [2] including a demonstration performed by the hosts during the recording of the show as the last story. One of the stories is falsified, and the rest are true. During each broadcast, viewers can guess which story is the lie, voting on Discovery's website, with the answer and voting results revealed at the end of the episode.

Contents

The series aired on the Discovery Channel beginning Wednesday, October 5, 2011. [3] [4] The show is also broadcast in the UK on Channel Quest which premiered on the 2nd of May 2012.

Development

On April 14, 2011, Penn and Teller announced that their previous show, Penn & Teller: Bullshit! , had ended and that a new show, Penn & Teller: Secrets of the Universe, would begin on the Discovery Channel. [5] The show was later renamed Penn & Teller Tell a Lie. [6]

Recording of the first episode began on June 1, 2011. [7] The show started airing Wednesday, October 5, 2011. [4]

Critical reception

Reviews of the show have been mostly positive, although many reviewers compare the show to the Discovery Channel's other skepticism-themed show, MythBusters . Matt Blum of Wired Magazine wrote:

Skeptics, rejoice! MythBusters no longer is the only show that aims to teach its viewers to question their perceptions of reality before deciding what to believe. [...] It’s a very good show, which MythBusters fans will almost certainly enjoy and which non-MythBusters fans (if there are any who read this blog) should give a try. [8]

Brian Lowry of Variety wrote that the show was "A perfect companion for Mythbusters" and "a clever way for Discovery to ventilate its whimsical side without pandering". [9] Kevin McFarland of The A.V. Club called the show a mix of the icebreaker game "Two Truths And A Lie" mixed with a "Mythbusters-type reality show". He went on to say that the show was "sincerely watchable", but noted that "there are still kinks to be worked out". [10]

Episodes

No. in seriesNo. in seasonTitleOriginal air dateU.S. viewers (million)
11"Head of Hair Can Lift a Mustang" [11] October 5, 2011 (2011-10-05)1.259 [12]
Claims about Airplanes, Alligators, Heat Shields, Tigers, Obscenity, Picking up girls, and Picking up mustangs.
22"You Can Blow Out a Forest Fire" [11] October 12, 2011 (2011-10-12)1.025 [13]
Stories featuring Wing-walkers, Bacon, Wallpaper, Didgeridoos, "Mighty Cheese", Lasers, and Forest fires.
33"Piranha Will Not Kill You" [11] October 19, 2011 (2011-10-19)1.185 [14]
Featuring gas tanks, wine, roadkill, eggs, robots, and piranha.
44"You Can Fly Using Hair Bleach for Fuel" [11] October 26, 2011 (2011-10-26)1.596 [15]
Butter knife, termites, panning for gold, coin toss, crooked house, Peroxide rocket.
55"Hook and Loop Fabric is Stronger than Two Monster Trucks" [11] November 2, 2011 (2011-11-02)1.256 [16]
Machine guns, Milk cloth, pizza in space, man vs horse, floating dessert, bottle game, Velcro.
66"You Can Crack a Safe with Liquid Nitrogen" [11] November 9, 2011 (2011-11-09)0.970 [17]
Liquid Nitrogen, tattoos, highway music and echolocation.

Related Research Articles

Psych is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday Rodriguez as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observational skills" and impressive eidetic memory allow him to convince people that he solves cases with psychic abilities. The program also stars Dulé Hill as Shawn's intelligent best friend and reluctant partner Burton "Gus" Guster, as well as Corbin Bernsen as Shawn's father, Henry, a former detective with the Santa Barbara Police Department.

<i>South Park</i> (season 15) Season of television series

The fifteenth season of the American animated sitcom South Park was picked up on January 10, 2011 and began airing on Comedy Central on April 27, 2011 and ended on November 16, 2011. In response to reactions to the mid-season finale episode "You're Getting Old", which seemed to insinuate that creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were wrapping up the series, Comedy Central proclaimed through the media that South Park was renewed for two more seasons, and the duo were signed through 2013. Shortly before the airing of the season finale episode "The Poor Kid", South Park was extended again until 2016, taking the show to 20 seasons. Parker was the director and writer for all episodes, and Robert Lopez was the writer in this eleventh episode for the fifteenth season.

<i>Psych</i> (season 5) Season of television series

The fifth season of Psych, consisting of 16 episodes, premiered on USA Network in the United States on July 14, 2010 and concluded on December 22, 2010. A DVD of the season was released on May 31, 2011. Production officially started in Vancouver, British Columbia on April 28, 2010. James Roday, Dulé Hill, Timothy Omundson, Maggie Lawson, Corbin Bernsen and Kirsten Nelson all reprised their roles as the main characters.

<i>Full Throttle Saloon</i> American TV series or program

Full Throttle Saloon is an American reality television series that premiered on November 10, 2009, and originally aired on truTV. The series chronicles the daily operations of the bar for which it is named − the Full Throttle Saloon in Sturgis, South Dakota. The world's largest biker bar, it was located on 30 acres of land purchased in 1999 by Michael Ballard. The indoor/outdoor bar included several large stages, a burn-out pit, a tattoo parlor, zip lines, a wrestling ring, restaurants, dozens of stores, hundreds of cabins for rent, and parking for thousands of motorcycles. It was open from late March/early April until mid-November, and was busiest during the annual week-long Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Each year, the first full week of August marks the beginning of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, during which time, the Saloon could average 20,000 guests each night.

<i>Top Chef: Texas</i> Season 9 of American television series

Top Chef: Texas is the ninth season of the American reality television series Top Chef. The season was filmed in various cities in Texas, including San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin, before moving on to British Columbia for the finale. The season premiered on November 2, 2011. This season of Top Chef featured a much larger number of contestants than any previous season, with 29 chefs. Top Chef: Texas also introduced a new side competition to the series; in addition to the Quickfire and Elimination Challenges featured in televised episodes, the Last Chance Kitchen competition allowed eliminated contestants to compete head-to-head in a series of webisodes, with the winner eventually returning to the main competition. In the season finale, Paul Qui was declared the winner over runner-up Sarah Grueneberg. Chris Crary was voted Fan Favorite.

<i>Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy</i> American TV series or program

Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy is an American travel documentary series that aired for three seasons from 2011 to 2013 on History. It premiered on February 8, 2011.

<i>Psych</i> (season 6) Season of television series

The sixth season of Psych, consisting of 16 episodes, premiered on the USA Network in the United States on October 12, 2011 and continued to air until April 11, 2012. James Roday, Dulé Hill, Timothy Omundson, Maggie Lawson, Corbin Bernsen and Kirsten Nelson all reprised their roles as the main characters.

<i>South Beach Tow</i> American television series

South Beach Tow is an American television series that portrayed dramatized reenactments of the day-to-day business of Tremont Towing, a family-run towing business in Miami Beach, and South Beach Towing, a towing company in Gladeview created by the workers of Tremont in Season 4. Both are actual towing companies in Florida; however, South Beach Towing has ceased operations and closed down within the last two years leaving only Tremont Towing left in business. It was produced by Bodega Pictures and Nuyorican Productions, and it aired on the American cable channel truTV, running for 4 seasons from July 20, 2011 to December 10, 2014. The final episode titled "Checkmate" aired on December 3, 2014, which ended the story on a major cliffhanger. A week later, a bonus episode aired on December 10, concluding the series with a total of 87 episodes. The series then went into limbo and was presumed cancelled. Though truTV has never made an official statement of its cancellation, the network has since removed it from its programming. Although the program is fictionalized, Tremont Towing and South Beach Towing are real towing companies in Miami Beach and Gladeview, respectively.

<i>American Horror Story: Murder House</i> First season of a television series

The first season of American Horror Story, retroactively subtitled Murder House, centers on the Harmon family, who, after dealing with a miscarriage and infidelity, move to a restored mansion in Los Angeles, unaware that the ghosts of its former residents and their victims haunt the house. The ensemble cast includes Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, Evan Peters, Taissa Farmiga, Denis O'Hare, and Jessica Lange.

The third season of the TV Land original sitcom Hot in Cleveland premiered on November 30, 2011. TV Land originally ordered 22 episodes but later increased the order to 24. The series stars Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick, Jane Leeves, and Betty White.

References

  1. ↑ "Shows A-Z - Penn & Teller Tell a Lie on Discovery". TheFutonCritic.com. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  2. ↑ Mattise, Nathan (8 August 2011). "Storyboard: Penn & Teller Talk Deception and Performance at Comic-Con". Wired.
  3. ↑ "Penn & Teller Come to Discovery Channel". The Discovery Insider Blog. Discovery Channel. 15 April 2011. Archived from the original on 25 April 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Can You Guess the Lie?". Discovery Channel Shows Listing. Discovery Channel. 15 September 2011. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Jillette, Penn. "Twitter post". Twitter. Retrieved 15 April 2011. We are in NYC to announce "Penn & Teller: Secrets of the Universe" on The Discovery Channel. We'll tell the truth & we'll lie. No Bullshit.
  6. ↑ Jillette, Penn. "Twitter post". Twitter. Retrieved 5 June 2011. It's now called 'Tell a Lie', and it seemed pretty good.
  7. ↑ Jillette, Penn. "Twitter post" . Retrieved 5 June 2011. This is it. Up early to head to set to start our first day of recording on Penn & Teller Tell a Lie! I'm stupid excited. It's happening.
  8. ↑ Blum, Matt (October 5, 2011). "Penn & Teller Tell a Lie Is MythBusters Turned Sideways". Wired . Retrieved 2011-11-04.
  9. ↑ Lowry, Brian (September 30, 2011). "Penn & Teller Tell a Lie". Variety . Retrieved 2011-11-04.
  10. ↑ McFarland, Kevin (October 5, 2011). "Penn & Teller Tell A Lie debuts tonight on the Discovery Channel at 10 p.m. Eastern". The A.V. Club . Retrieved 2011-11-04.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Penn and Teller tell a Lie: Episode Guide". Discovery Channel. Archived from the original on November 3, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  12. ↑ Seidman, Robert (7 October 2011). "Wednesday Cable: 'American Horror Story' Premiere, 'South Park' Return Top MLB Playoffs + 'Ghost Hunters,' 'Nick Swardson' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  13. ↑ Seidman, Robert (13 October 2011). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'South Park' Rises; 'American Horror Story' Falls; + Brewers/Cards NLCS, 'Psych' Premiere, 'Ghost Hunters' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  14. ↑ Seidman, Robert (20 October 2011). "Wednesday Cable Ratings:'Storage Wars' Tops Night, 'American Horror Story' Rises; 'South Park' Falls + 'Psych,' 'Pretty Little Liars' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on 22 October 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  15. ↑ Seidman, Robert (27 October 2011). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'American Horror Story' Series High Edges 'South Park' + 'Psych,' 'Daily Show,' 'Ultimate Fighter' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on 28 October 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  16. ↑ Seidman, Robert (3 November 2011). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'South Park,' 'American Horror Story' Lead + 'Psych,' 'Real World,' 'Mythbusters' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  17. ↑ Seidman, Robert (10 November 2011). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'American Horror Story,' 'South Park' Lead; 'Psych' Lower + 'Real World,' 'Mythbusters' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.