Television is full of “investigative” shows about the paranormal and the world of cryptozoology these days. Not surprisingly, most of them are laughably bad, but a couple of them are worth the couch time it takes to watch them. Here’s my rundown of the most talked about.
Ghost Adventures – Travel Channel: This is almost so schmaltzy and corny it’s worth watching. The main adventurer is Zak Bagans. Zak’s shirts are as small as his ego is big. Together with two other guys who seem to be relatively well-balanced, he takes the viewers on an hour long ghostly journey filled with startled looks and stifled screams. Zak’s favorite line in every show is “Shhhh, Oh my God, Dude, did you hear that?” The last show I saw they heard what was pretty clearly a cat meowing, and he proclaimed with a wide-eyed gaze, “Dude, that’s a child screaming.” The other two, intimidated by his bulging biceps popping out of his t-shirt, readily agreed.
Paranormal State – A&E: The Paranormal Research Society was founded by Ryan Buell when he was a student at Penn State. Like anyone with an expensive college education, he parlayed his unique ghost hunting skills into a cable network television show. He’s the Joe Friday of ghost investigators, very serious and dour. The show includes dramatic cutaways of him recording his “director’s log,” and specially built high-tech ghost hunting equipment that you won’t see on any other program. The group encounters a lot of demons and nasty ghosts… and what probably are some psychologically confused people who have been possessed and harassed by these unseen forces. The real scary part here is instead of getting counseling, they’re getting exorcised by a Nittany Lion and his investigative crew.
Ghost Hunters International –SyFy: Believe it or not, this is a spin-off ghost hunting show. Robb Demarest heads up a team of skeptics to investigate hauntings outside of the US. Like their parent show, Ghost Hunters, the team sets out to find logical explanations for ghostly activity. The best and worst thing I can say about the show is that it is bland. They had a crazy guy on the first season who kind of made things interesting because you got the feeling he would snap at any moment, but he left and took all the potential drama with him. The show tries, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Monsterquest – History Channel: This is not a ghost show. This show is focused on cryptid-creatures. There are no stars here… unless you count the narrator. The show would have made the top of my list but they always claim to have made significant discoveries at the end of the show, when they actually didn’t uncover anything at all. The interviews are good. The production is top notch, and the science is real (unlike the ghost hunting shows). But they never come to any conclusions. It frustrates the hell out me.
Ghost Hunters – SyFy: This is the best of the ghost investigation shows and it is the show from which Ghost Hunters International spun. It features a pair of plumbing partners, Jay and Grant, who work as ghost hunters at night. They call themselves TAPS, which I believe stands for The Atlantic Paranormal Society. They’ve assembled a highly likeable team of investigators who enjoy their job. Jay and Grant are just a couple of regular guys who have a real fascination with ghosts. As much as you can be, they are experts in all ghostly matters. They are the Woodward and Bernstein of the ghost hunting community, and if such a thing exists in the paranormal world, they give their profession credibility.
Destination Truth – SyFy: This is a show that combines the best of cryptozoology and the best of the paranormal. The star of the show is Josh Gates who’s part adventurer, part comedian, part Jim Halpert from The Office with his caddish looks into the camera. Josh and his team seem to get the joke. They know that 99% of everything they investigate is complete nonsense that can be logically explained. The fun of the show comes from that one percent of the time when they have absolutely no explanation, when even they must concede that something beyond the known world is going on. You get the sense that they aren’t just having a good time. They are professionals who move in like a highly trained tactical team to peel away the confusion and gather evidence. The show gets extra bonus points for making Jael DePardo part of the team. Like I always say, if you’re going to stomp through the woods on a cold and gloomy night looking for unknown creatures and/or spirits, bring a cute girl.