Video: Fox & Friends crosses over Update: Debunked!
posted at 12:18 pm on June 18, 2007 by Bryan
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Back in the heyday of spiritualism, mediums had to have some real skills. They had to be able to conjure things out of apparently thin air, they had to make tables and chairs move without apparent aid and they had to be master manipulators of the human mind if they wanted to convince anyone that they were really talking to the dead. Some of them were so good that Harry Houdini made it his mission to detect and expose their tricks. He did such a good job of that that spiritualism went into a funk for a few decades. Seance parties went out of vogue.
Nowadays, spiritualism is back but the skills are gone. All today’s mediums really have to do is utter vague advice about “living your life” from “handsome” stiffs that never offer a shred of proof that they’re actually visiting from beyond. Mediums have dumbed spiritualist con artistry down to a fast-food version of its former self. That’s the downside.
The upside is that they need less staging and fewer props and they’re always available for a TV appearance on a slow news day. This morning on Fox & Friends was evidently a very slow news day.
The tabloidization of cable news is now complete.
Update: This is too good to leave in the comments.
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I knew this was coming. I can’t stand to watch fox anymore. They used to have fairly decent coverage all day long but now it’s all hokey garbage like this or an up date on the latest little girl to miss curfew.
Look! A Shark!
Pilgrim on June 18, 2007 at 12:21 PM
http://www.randi.org/ is all you need to know.
nosliwelyk on June 18, 2007 at 12:21 PM
Even if you believe in those who can communicate with the other side (I kinda do), it’s completely far-fetched to suggest that they can “get a vibe” from random caller after random caller on a telephone.
I mean, the whole “getting a vibe” thing comes from being in some sort of contact with something, right? So, the medium is only in contact with the phone. Does that mean she’s giving people advice that’s meant only for the phone or the last person to use the phone?
Since she’s not actually in physical contact with the phone, maybe she’s giving “from beyond” advice that’s meant for Bruno the cameraman…….or maybe she just has gas.
unamused on June 18, 2007 at 12:23 PM
Look….I (for better or worse) married Dharma. A Republican Dharma, but Dharma all the same. My library is full of Coddington, Suetonius, and Catton. Her’s is full of ‘Know your spirit guide, and donate frequently’. Now you have gone and given her an excuse to take over my machine and cruise HA. Thanks. If you think I’m disconnected wait until she starts posting.
Limerick on June 18, 2007 at 12:24 PM
Wow. That was worthless. “Just smile…”
Esthier on June 18, 2007 at 12:28 PM
That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen on FoxNews.
CP on June 18, 2007 at 12:32 PM
If that’s the case, would it be possible to super-size a medium?
(I can tell already, the reaction to this one is gonna hurt.)
James on June 18, 2007 at 12:41 PM
Whew! Its a good thing she is a Real Life Medium for a minute there………. By the way she could easily pass for a Real Life
MediumLarge.sonnyspats1 on June 18, 2007 at 12:44 PM
No doubt to me that FNC has thrown away their edge….most willingly it seems. It used to be on even if muted here at my home all day long. And I would keep an eye on the alerts and tickers and appreciated the ‘newsy’ side they gave to it. Now…..do not get me started! I thought I could never be as tired of hearing about anyone as much as Anna nicole, TILL Paris came along! Just when I thought that would be the final topper…..NIFONG! They are little more than Entertainment Tonight to me anymore…and even their ’serious’ reporters, say Sheppard, have fallen into the tabloid rut. FandFriends in the morning……what a joke! ED Hill was the only remotely serious voice there and they fired her without a word to anyone. I really liked this channel, and had high hopes…..but there is no serious news to be found there any longer.
dustoffmom on June 18, 2007 at 12:46 PM
Some of the greatest minds have been completely corrupted by spiritualism- Arthur Conan Doyle speaks on video about his beliefs in the supernatural and how it was going to “take organized religion to the next level.”
This is the guy who made the scientific method and the process of elimination key tenets of logical thought.
BelchSpeak on June 18, 2007 at 12:55 PM
Well, as long as it’s a slow news day…Episode 7 of Sands of Passion is now available for your viewing pleasure. The plot thickens…..(nationalbanana dot com)
Matticus Finch on June 18, 2007 at 12:56 PM
How does a national outlet like Fox manage to get folks “on the line” within moments when some crank like this is on-air?
Oh puh-lease…
Absolutely the best these days at debunking the spiritists. The Amazing Randi puts on a great show himself, completely convincing, then shows you how he did it. You’ll never believe the hucksters again afterwards.
Freelancer on June 18, 2007 at 1:00 PM
Whew! At first glance, I thought Rosie had nailed a new gig at Fox. What a scare!
Although Rosie probably does communicate with “the other side” (dark and insane, that is.)
IrishEyes on June 18, 2007 at 1:03 PM
What’s next?…
“Tonight Miss Cleo enters the No Spin Zone”
billy on June 18, 2007 at 1:07 PM
I had the samething happen as the first caller did. I thought it was the Chippy the chipmunk trying to terrorize my cat for playing way too roughly the day before. My cat liked to sit on the TV in the morning, waiting for me to open the window so he could go out.
This lasted for three years, came the same time in March every year and lasted for about three days. Chippy came about 7:15 AM, would turn on the tv, change the channel, and turn up the volume as high as it would go. I told my cat I checked everything on the tv, even the batteries in the remote to see if there was another explanation than “Chippy’s doing it.”
I don’t know what it was that third year which caught my attention to the fact that my cut glass window diffracted the sunrise light just right, passed over the sensor and did its work, but ever since I turned the tv about 10 degree to the north, Chippy saw the light and scampered towards it and my cat and I had a good laugh.
I wonder if the lady has cut glass windows in her tv room.
Dusty on June 18, 2007 at 1:09 PM
South Park has made their opinions on mediums abundantly clear.
BohicaTwentyTwo on June 18, 2007 at 1:21 PM
Wow, and I was pissed that I fell asleep and missed this? That was pathetic. The people TOLD her who they wanted to talk to… she didn’t even have to run the scheme of “I’m getting…. an S… .S…. SSS.. Steve…. Does anyone over here know a Steve?” “Yes, yes! My grandfather knew a guy named Steve who died in WWII!!!! (shrieks and crying)” These people told her who they wanted, and the most “out of the blue” comment she made was that the (living) step-mother has had health problems. WTF!? Everyone has health problems, give me a break!!!
Anyway, here’s what South Park had to say about these people (specifically their leader, John Edward, The Biggest Douche in the Universe)
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=2030256133
RightWinged on June 18, 2007 at 1:21 PM
I loved that South Park Episode.
Bad Candy on June 18, 2007 at 1:27 PM
This is Rosemary Altea in the Fox News Video. Our good pals Penn and Teller debunk Altea for their show Bullsh!t on Showtime.
BelchSpeak on June 18, 2007 at 1:38 PM
I shut this off the second they started taking calls. I have to admit though, they had a pretty good tease that got me to hang around to watch at the beginning.
csdeven on June 18, 2007 at 1:44 PM
Yeah, Fox news has fallen for me too. O’Reilly now spends way too much time with “pop culture trivia” and “body language analysis”.
E.D. Hill wasn’t fired but moved to the early afternoon slot.
Skywise on June 18, 2007 at 1:45 PM
I used to work in the appliance business, and I’ve seen cases where people thought their TV was possessed. In one instance, it turned out that their (very near) neighbor across the fence had the same brand of TV, and they were unknowingly screwing with each other with their remotes when they had the curtains open. In another case, it was two TVs that were the same brand in the same house, and the people didn’t realize they could affect each other down a hallway. That lady would have told them it was some kind of hoodoo, when there was a perfectly rational and reproducible explanation for it. Chances are there’s a better reason for that first caller’s problem than spirits from beyond too. Probably operator error.
Does yours make her own tie-dye? Mine does.
ReubenJCogburn on June 18, 2007 at 1:49 PM
This is so disgusting and pathetic. I don’t care how slow of a news day it is, there’s got to something somewhere to talk about other than this! I’d rather watch a webcam of timesquare set to easy listening music with a scroll at the bottom of the screen of various headlines across the nation than feel my brain
slowlyrapidly emptied by this garbage!Joshua P. Allem on June 18, 2007 at 1:54 PM
Dear Mrs. Lincoln,
Tad called….
Dread Pirate Roberts VI on June 18, 2007 at 2:09 PM
How much longer until we have the Fox News Alert: Firey Jesus Predicts World Will End On 9/11/07. Bible Prophesy Confirms
FYI, that was the actual headline I saw on a tabloid when I made my grocery run this weekend.
BohicaTwentyTwo on June 18, 2007 at 2:20 PM
Dread Pirate Roberts….I’m not sure why exactly but your comment just about had coffee coming out my nose…
Pilgrim on June 18, 2007 at 2:21 PM
Fox definitely needs to do some editorial housecleaning. In recent weeks I’ve actually been driven over to CNN on occasion (where, while the subject matters tend to be less frivolous, the liberal bias is even more staggering than I recalled–this weekend they ran a segment where the claims of a single southern Arizonian hippie “activist” who doesn’t want a border fence were touted as evidence that nobody who lives on the border wants a fence).
Blacklake on June 18, 2007 at 2:22 PM
I despise F&F. If I wanted the Today show I would watch the Today show. Watching those dorks roll off their sad jokes while I’m trying to get my news fix is intollerable. So off goes the TV and on to teh internets I go.
ronsfi on June 18, 2007 at 2:23 PM
FOX news has become the National Enquirer Rag of TV!
There is no TV News on the air for anyone who is right of far Left moonbatery. Sad but True.
abinitioadinfinitum on June 18, 2007 at 2:28 PM
Didn’t the movie Network have a medium on the news show right before Howard Beale? When I first saw it, I thought, “Naw- never happen.”
TomNLA on June 18, 2007 at 2:40 PM
FOX has been in a nose dive ever since they got rid of sweet Juliet for the noon hour. IMHO
abinitioadinfinitum on June 18, 2007 at 2:46 PM
ED was ‘fired’ from F&F…..she got moved to the later slot….the two ‘gentlemen’ on either side didn’t ‘care’ for her. Notice on her last day, a Friday, not a word was mentioned about it….and come Monday, surprise, here’s Gretchen! For anyone else who has left, even the damn interns, there is a big deal/goodbye made of it.
dustoffmom on June 18, 2007 at 2:49 PM
And I totaly agree…Fox has become a joke. But I just can’t stomach CNN/CBS et al. :(
dustoffmom on June 18, 2007 at 2:50 PM
I used to believe that, until the day Randi admitted to finding the evidence of global warning compelling.
Heart ache.
saint kansas on June 18, 2007 at 2:51 PM
Haha! That’s how I felt!
Still, it was useful to run the kids through the debunking because we don’t have those travelling shows anymore that people used to attend – to give kids an idea of how convincing some of this is, and be wary of it. With scientific method going down the political tubes, we’re going to see a lot of superstition grow unchecked. It’s bad enough already … wait and see.
naliaka on June 18, 2007 at 3:19 PM
I always thought that there should be some plants in the audience who ask for her to contact their dead relatives.
She gets information and describes the relative to a T. Then have all of the very-much-alive relatives appear to confront the fraud.
aunursa on June 18, 2007 at 4:15 PM
I just wanted to say I agree with you on the body language segment. That broad is not telling us anything that the average person couldn’t figure out, it’s really annoying that she’s an “expert”, gimme a break.
The “Culture Quiz” is sort of strange, but at least a bit entertaining…
Anyway, I am surprised that they’d put such a stupid woman on F&F, because I disagree with others… F&F is actually usually a great show. On FNC, the only ones with quicker wits are the folks on Red Eye. You can’t deny Kilmeade’s hilariousness, and Steve is usually pretty good too… I think Gretchen is in the wrong venue, but the gorgeous Alyson Camerota (who does the first hour usually) is pretty good.
RightWinged on June 18, 2007 at 4:43 PM
I would have been very impressed with her if she had told the lady on Fox and Friends “I have a man standing to my right, with what appears to be a toolbox, and he is telling me your TV is screwed up. He is saying you should call a technician”.
Helloyawl on June 18, 2007 at 4:56 PM
I agree with rightwinged here, up to a point that is. Brian IS hilarious, Steve is very funny as well, and Gretchen has stepped up to the plate lately as she has become accustomed to the banter and humor on the show. Gretchen has loosened up and while she is not as nutty as Allyson, she is getting better by the week. E.D. I adored, until she had a couple of children. She seemed to lose her sense of humor! Anyway, boo hiss to all here who are trashing Fox and Friends. They make my morning even when they have silly mediums on. Geez, they have had worse than that! Contrary to what has been said here, Steve and Brian are good friends with E.D Hill, and during the anniversary week of Fox and Friends,they made a point of mentioning her on the show. Can you not understand that they were not in a position to have commentary on her leaving? For the love of Pete!
Teal on June 18, 2007 at 5:04 PM
Breaking news!
Penn and Teller have more journalistic integrity then Fox
News!
Resolute on June 18, 2007 at 6:43 PM
Same effect when it’s some joker with one of these. :-)
The college ministry at a church I used to attend used to offer “free spiritual readings” in the French Quarter. They’d get somebody chatting and often end up talking about the gospel, but mostly they debunked the whole process. People who seek that kind of stuff out have already halfway (or more) convinced themselves, so it doesn’t take much to move them the rest of the way. Some were really mad when they realized they weren’t getting what they expected, but most thanked them for showing how easily it’s done.
Laura on June 18, 2007 at 7:22 PM
“A happy medium”
HA! I just got that.
jdpaz on June 18, 2007 at 7:41 PM
Yeah, Sybil the Soothsayer. Welcome to reality.
jaleach on June 18, 2007 at 9:04 PM
I don’t know why this surprises anyone. Fox has always wallowed in the tabloid filth. Murdoch made his millions from the tabloids, so it was only a matter of time before he loaded up the airwaves with this sort of crud. Greta, Geraldo, Body Language lady, Anna Nicole…it’s all par for the course with Murdoch and company.
jaleach on June 18, 2007 at 9:06 PM
Oh come on now! Spiritism must be real! Dr. Peter Venkman hosts a local TV show called “The World of the Psychic”! He was bustin’ ghosts years before F & F dipped their toe into the ectoplasm.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097428/plotsummary
I’m just saying.
Doug on June 19, 2007 at 8:14 AM
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