A Fool's Utopia 4.23.09: Paranormal TV, Part 3: Legend Tripping

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A Fool's Utopia 4.23.09: Paranormal TV, Part 3: Legend Tripping
4.23.09
by Ron Martin
411Mania.com

For the last two weeks, you readers have been subjected to listening to me rant and rave about the various ghost hunting television shows out there in TV Land. For the record, and for those of you that ask (both of you), if forced I would rank them in this order Ghost Hunters International, Paranormal State, Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters
and Most Haunted. It will be interesting to see the backlash on Ghost Hunters as TAPS takes this week to investigate their own "haunted" bed and breakfast. At least they are not doing it themselves, but that's a topic for my Ghost Hunters column, not so much this one.

In Part 3 of 3 of our look at paranormal TV, we're going to voyage down the road of Legend Tripping. Never heard of legend tripping? You've probably done it and never even realized it. Legend tripping is a recent term coined by folklorist to explain random pilgrimages to storied places. You ever been to the bridge to hear the lady cry at midnight or see the goat boy who lives beneath it? That's legend tripping. With the success of ghost hunting television (which is a type of legend tripping all its own) TV started producing whatever they could to get low but loyal ratings. Thus, you have your own subgenre of legend tripping shows. And yes, I do believe I just broke the record for using the term "legend tripping" the most times in one paragraph. Enough of this bullocks!

Destination Truth, Sci-fi, Wednesdays, 10 PM


THE RIGHT: Let's get it out of the way first. Destination Truth gets a lot of props from critics because Josh Gates is a funny guy. Well, until he has to host a Ghost Hunters LIVE Halloween special, but no one can save that mess, it's not his fault. Seriously, Josh will make you laugh out loud three or four times an episode mostly due to the ridiculous situations he finds himself in or because he is trying local cuisine. A secondary consideration is that the team travels to the most remote parts of the world. You know that little dot off the south coast of Africa that you don't know if it's an island or an accidental pen mark you made in your book? The team has been there. There is a wide variety of views and cultures to be seen on this program. Unlike it's Pilgrim Film brethren, the production team (read: cameramen, sound guys and medics) are part of the episode and in the middle of the adventure.

THE WRONG: I don't know what kind of the two-fer fetish Pilgrim Films has, but I don't understand why they must cram two adventures into everyone of their shows. These guys are traveling to the furthest reaches of the Earth, sometimes taking over a week to get to their destination – isn't this enough to fill a whole hour? Is it necessary for each hour to include two adventures? Instead of giving us 9 new episodes this year, with a one episode format you could have an 18 show season and sell twice the episodes to Sci-fi who then have twice the time to sell to advertisers. It seems simple to me, really. My biggest beef with this show is that they are dead set on staying one or two nights only. They will literally travel for 10 days to camp somewhere one night to investigate and then just take off (or it is edited that way). For example, they are in uninhabited wilderness in Australia looking for an Australian version of Bigfoot. They get a person walking on two feet deep in the jungle on their thermal imager in area no human is supposed to be. What do they do? They pack up and leave. Perhaps the show needs to be renamed Destination Whatever Truth We Can Find in One Night.

THE VERDICT: The aforementioned wrong items keep anyone from taking this show as a serious attempt to capture supernatural phenomena, crypto zoological, etc. It's fun to watch and there are worst ways to kill an hour, but if you're looking to this show to seek the truth – you're looking in the wrong spot and probably only looking for one day.

Monster Quest, The History Channel, Wednesdays, 9 PM

THE RIGHT: The show is an hour and they concentrate on one subject only. Some might by into speed dating your cryptids, but me? I like mine like I like my women: a little on the slower side. It's the extra time that gives the show time to build up the legends and storylines. They actually do experiments and use technology to their full advantage to sway you one way or another on the existence of the creature they are highlighting. The show also spends more time on producing an episode and it shows.

THE WRONG: Not every episode, but depending on the topic, the show can be a bit dry. The presentation can verge in lecture when there are no scientific explanations involved. If you have a good deal of knowledge on a topic (Bigfoot, anyone), they probably aren't blowing your mind with the information. As in other reviews I've read of the show, sometimes it can be "nerderiffic." I want to say this is the first time that word has ever been written.

THE VERDICT: Here's the deal – if you want to learn about something, watch Monster Quest. If you want to be entertained watch Destination Truth. MQ plays more like the grandson of the 70s In Search Of. MQ may not bring the funny, but it's going to get you a lot closer to an actual answer and not leave you looking like an idiot as you yell at your TV set "STAY ONE MORE NIGHT, YOU MORONS!" That's not cool.