A website has been created for the TV pilot The Skeptologists. It’s still a bit bare-bones for now, but we’ll be adding more to it as we can. It has info on the cast, links to other related sites, the teaser, and more. We’ll have to get pictures up there soon too!
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Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
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April 17th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Oh gods the orange! It burns us!
Overall it looks good but the orange background, especially with the logo is not working at all. Try for something more subdued, mayhaps in a blue.
April 17th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
The latest Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast has an interview with Yau-Man Chan too. By gum these skeptologists are interesting. When can we expect to see you on Survivor Phil? The Amazing Race would be ok too.
As an aside at least there is at least one rose between the half dozen… ahem… thorns on the cast.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Mega-intelligence???
April 17th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Can’t wait to see this show but honestly …. that block on a bottle thing needs to go. Too cheesy.
April 17th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
RAF … I chuckled at that also. Must be a joke.
April 17th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Actually, what does that term (mega intelligence) refer to Phil?
Is is a term used to describe information taken from numerous fields of knowledge, or is it just a bit of humor ?
If it is a literal term, it is one I have never heard of before. Can you explain what it means ? I ‘Googled’ it but didn’t have much luck. Thanks.
April 17th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
The text was good. Not enough to salvage that awful teaser, though. Keep the text, dump the teaser. The text on the cast page needs to be revised. Phrases like “blasting away pseudoscience” may be true, but has an arrogant feel and gives the impression that the show will only air debunked phenomena. That conflicts with the text on the home page and makes prospective viewers think there’s no need to watch since they know you’ll debunk it.
I’ll pass on the Bermuda Triangle episode. That’s a bit like shooting fish in a barrel.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Can we make a series of this or does it give any ideas? I just put my video on YouTube where instead of “Material Girl” it’s “Empirical Girl.”
Tom
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PxIcAX_Myhw
April 18th, 2008 at 5:40 am
I like the site, and the orange is fine with me, as a Netherlands dweller
I notice a plea for donations, if the show is picked up and makes a zillion dollars will donors get a slice?
My concern is that the male/female balance is disappointing, it bolsters the cliche of male science boffins and female eye-candy.
(With no disrespect to either Dr Sandford’s credentials or the rest or your appearances.)
Hope it is picked up – and shown in Europe.
martijn
April 18th, 2008 at 7:07 am
I’ve got to agree with the orange background. It completely clashes with the “Skeptologists” logo.
“Browncoat” brown would be much more apropriate, methinks.
Like: http://signal.serenityfirefly.com/
Maybe something a touch lighter than that, but, bascically, the same palatte as the brown in the Skeptologists logo.
Excited to see how this all pans out.
April 18th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Hope to be able to see the show, somewhere, sometime.Yesterday, though, BA (and others)were absolutely foaming at the mouth about “Expelled” ads on the Science Channel, etc. So, a couple of observations–snarky, of course–
–if the show is picked up by Science Channel, or one of the other cable channels that ran the “Expelled” ads, will BA drop off the show?
–BA is very fond of making cutting remarks about religious people and (some) religious faiths. Is he going to go after the irrationality of faith on the program, or is he going to bow to market pressure and tone it down?
Is the program going to call Christian fundamentalists “evil?” I wonder if they will take on Scientology? Or–I double dog dare you–Islam?
April 18th, 2008 at 11:04 am
When critiquing the web site, keep in mind that it isn’t certain, yet, whether the program will be picked up or not, so it’s understandable if not very many resources are put into it to make it look “pretty”. However, I would suggest proofreading the text again and fixing the typos.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Hmmm.. top billing on the links page, eh?
How did you manage that? Did you use your powers of “mega-intelligence”?
I conjure up this image in my mind… ha!
April 18th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Outstanding! I can’t wait for the first episode.
April 19th, 2008 at 4:28 am
Kirsten Sanford is super hot.
that is all.
April 20th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Great 1 minute trailer on the podblack blog!
http://podblack.wordpress.com/2008/04/20/skeptologists-promo/
It looks great and I am comfortable that I can fully support them with a letter.
Hope it makes it all the way to Hong Kong prime time!
April 20th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
My Letter for reference
To whom it may concern,
In recent years, cutting-edge, skeptical-enquiry, into all manner of phenomenon and social issues has become a mainstay of innovative entertainment producers everywhere. From the raucously irreverent Southpark to the heavily experimental Mythbusters; there is a growing need and desire for rational minded programs. Even in far flung places like Hong Kong, people love entertainment that engages the mind as well as the senses. This train is leaving the station and is about to pick up significant steam on its journey into the intelligent programming of the twenty-first century. An outstanding addition to this train of thought (pardon the imagery) is a TV series that focuses on the real, the intelligent and important advances in science, critical thinking and skepticism.
The cast of the pilot Skeptologists are among the most noted and admired people in the free thinking world who have bridged the divide between esoteric specialized scientific study, and popular info-tainment. I am confident that a show featuring these great and entertaining minds, would be an astonishing success, and would quickly gain international viewership in much the same way as the above mentioned stellar and long lived hit shows have done. I for one an eagerly awaiting airing, and subsequent DVD sales.
Best Regards,
Christopher Gallaga
The Skeptologists number one fan in Hong Kong