GOOD NEWS! I returned from my vacation to a message from Fox Family Channel that they have decided to pick up the skeptic television series for whom I recently produced a pilot episode (that I covertly made reference to in a posting a couple of months ago about firewalking). Here's the skinny on the show:

For the past seven years I have been shopping around different incarnations of a skeptical television show to numerous networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, and numerous cable networks and production companies (who themselves shopped around the show to no avail). Time after time we were shot down. The number one reason TV execs gave was that the public doesn't really want to know the scientific explanation for weird things, and that these scientific explanations are boring and unentertaining (the bottom line in television being its entertainment/ratings value--television being, at its base level, a series of commercials with blank spots in between that need to be filled with something entertaining enough to capture the audience's attention long enough to get to the next commercial; of course, some air fillers are of higher quality than others, with Nightline and Nova at one end and Jerry Springer at the other).

About two years ago the production company that had produced NBC's paranormal show, THE OTHER SIDE (who introduced James Van Praagh to the public), invited me to pitch my show idea to them, which they liked and shopped around, again to no success. One of the producers at that company subsequently moved on to Fox Family Channel (purchased from Pat Robertson who, apparently by contract, is allowed to keep his religious program, the 700 Club--that should be an interesting contrast). When they were looking for new programming, this producer invited me to come to them and pitch the show again, which I did. They liked the idea and set up a meeting with the production company that produced 200 episodes of the paranormal program, SIGHTINGS. That meeting went well (these guys are real pros and, after 200 paranormal shows they are also hard-core skeptics), so they contracted for us to produce a pilot, which we did. They liked the pilot and just contracted with us to produce 6 more hours of programs to begin airing in October. I'll be one of the field hosts of the show (we also have a Scully-like woman host and most probably an X-files star as another host--contracts still being negotiated) and will, of course, be involved at every stage to insure that the skeptical point of view (POV) is properly presented. But, frankly, these folks are all on the same wavelength as us--they're skeptics as well after being exposed to so much flapdoodle in SIGHTINGS.

So, whatever you may think of Fox or Fox Family, they have the will, courage, and resources to produce and present a television series of high quality and character and they are not afraid to air the skeptical POV; in fact, they have made it clear that they want the skeptical POV at least as strong, if not stronger, than the usual paranormal blather and ersatz "objectivity" and "balance" most shows pretend to present, including skepticism about God, religion, spirituality, etc. Thus far I have been very impressed with both Fox and the production company who both seem genuinely interested and supportive of science and properly balanced skepticism. Such shows are extremely expensive to produce and air and so each developmental decision is a critical one for those with the fiduciary responsibility for its success or failure. So I applaud those who made this decision for their rare courage. It has been a long uphill battle but it looks like we now have our shot. We will make the most of it.

Given the collective intelligence and creativity of this exceptional skeptical internet group, may I ask for your input on two items of immediate interest:

1. Show title. We are all racking our brains to find a series title that indicates this is a show about the paranormal, pseudoscience, and fringe beliefs, but that it will have a different and skeptical POV. So, something like EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN or THE UNKNOWN or MYTH AND MYSTERY sounds like all the other paranormal shows out there already. Shorter is better.

2. Show topics. There are, of course, all the standard subjects: big foot, Loch Ness, ghosts, UFOs, etc. But what else might we explore on the cutting edges and fringes of science and pseudoscience? What hasn't been done to death? Hypnosis? Alternative medicine? Urban legends? Cryonics? Nanotechnology?

In other words, what would you all, as potential viewers, find as a catchy title that would get your attention; and what subjects would you like to see covered in such a show, knowing that we will be looking for real balance. Of course we will allow the believers' side to be properly heard and presented; but we will also be looking for skeptical and scientific experts in the various subjects to be interviewed for the show. Suggestions for both believers and skeptics as subjects and expert guests are also welcome.