The Best Episodes of Penn & Teller: Bull!
Every episode of Penn & Teller: Bull! ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Penn & Teller: Bull!!
This daring original series stars postmodern bad boys of magic Penn & Teller as they question many of our culture's most cherished and widely held beliefs. From the truth about palm readings and TV psychics to the reality behind Feng Shui and Ouija boards, the archly comic masters of misdirection host this eye-opening analysis of the middle-ground between perception and reality.
Top Episode Ratings Summary
The best episode of "Penn & Teller: Bull!" is "Feng Shui / Bottled Water", rated 8.4/10 from 222 user votes. It was directed by N/A and written by Penn Jillette, John McLaughlin, Teller. "Feng Shui / Bottled Water" aired on 3/7/2003 and is rated 0.0 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "War on Drugs".
8.4/10 222 votes#1 - Feng Shui / Bottled Water
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 3/7/2003
Penn & Teller put three Feng Shui home consultants to the test and feature a visit to a Feng Shui hairstylist. Also, the craze of bottled water is a national obsession but tap water is usually safer for you, and often better tasting too. Using a hidden camera, we'll take a look at the obsession.
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, John McLaughlin, Teller
8.4/10 235 votes#2 - War on Drugs
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 4/22/2004
America is waging a massive war on its home soil, a war it is losing. Our country spends $20 billion a year in drug enforcement, but the illegal drug industry is thriving. Should we even be waging this war, when alcohol is legal and pushed every night on network TV? By criminalizing drugs, we just turn non-violent citizens into criminals. And medicinal uses of marijuana are being blocked by crusading moralists yelling "family values."
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, Teller
8.3/10 294 votes#3 - Talking to the Dead
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 1/24/2003
A look into the practices of popular psychics of today reveals how those who claim to be in contact with the dead are actually performing an age-old trick called "cold reading."
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, John McLaughlin, Teller
8.3/10 259 votes#4 - Creationism
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 3/14/2003
This episode takes a look into a Georgia school board debate about whether or not they should teach what's in the Bible about the creation of living things.
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, John McLaughlin, Teller
8.3/10 164 votes#5 - Video Games
Season 7 Episode 3 - Aired 7/9/2009
Politicians and other alarmists claim that playing violent video games leads to teen violence. Penn & Teller attempt to debunk that theory by handing over a real semi-automatic weapon to a nine-year-old to see if playing video games will turn him into a human killing machine.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.2/10 231 votes#6 - The Bible: Fact or Fiction?
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 5/6/2004
We take on the most sacred of sacred cows: The Bible! We'll reveal the many discrepancies and contradictions in THE GOOD BOOK. Why all the confusion? Shouldn't anything that is "divinely inspired" be crystal clear? Did Noah build an ark big enough to hold all those animals? Did Moses part the Red Sea? Did Jesus even exist? Tune in to find out!
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, John McLaughlin, Teller
8.2/10 174 votes#7 - Profanity
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 8/12/2004
A whole show on words and the power we give them, focusing on the latest actions of the FCC and other anti-profanity groups. The First Amendment is under attack. Hey, what country do we live in?
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, Teller
- 8.2/10 124 votes
#8 - Astrology
Season 7 Episode 2 - Aired 7/2/2009
Millions of people believe their destinies are determined by the positions of the sun, moon, and planets. Penn & Teller follow two astrologers as they dole out advice - for a price.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.1/10 286 votes#9 - P.E.T.A.
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 4/1/2004
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is against all forms of medical testing involving animals - regardless of the potential benefits to human beings. PETA supports banning the ownership of pets and advocates releasing them into the wild. It's enough to make a vegetarian eat meat!
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, John McLaughlin, Teller
8.1/10 166 votes#10 - Holier Than Thou
Season 3 Episode 5 - Aired 5/23/2005
To most of the world, highly revered figures such as Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama are larger-than-life symbols of love, peace and charity. But how much of our perception of "sainthood" is built on hype and not facts? This episode reveals the dark side of the so-called enlightened ones and delves into why we're so susceptible to buying into their bullshit.
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, Teller
8.0/10 189 votes#11 - Recycling
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 4/29/2004
Here's the truth: recycling is garbage. The recycling industry creates pollution, has to be subsidized by the government because it's cost ineffective, and is completely unnecessary. Contrary to popular belief, our landfills are not running out of space - we have enough room to last for thousands of years! So how did the bullshit of recycling get started?
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, Teller
8.0/10 213 votes#12 - Circumcision
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 4/25/2005
Finally, an episode that will make every man feel regret, cringe with pain, and grab their genitals. What would make the male sex react like this? Two words - snip and chuck. If this alone doesn't make you cringe then this will: when your foreskin was removed thirty percent of your sexual pleasure went with that little piece of skin. Ouch! We'll examine the historical, religious, medical and ethical arguments associated with circumcision. And we'll have a little hidden-camera fun with the topic, as well. After all we are talking about dick!
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, Teller
8.0/10 162 votes#13 - Prostitution
Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 4/10/2006
Everyone knows that prostitution is practiced throughout the land. Where it is legal - in only a few Nevada counties, prostitution is vigorously regulated and monitored by the State of Nevada Health Department. The women submit to compulsory medical tests for STDs. No one is forced to work as a prostitute. Pimps don't exist. HIV has never been detected. The women earn regular paychecks and tips. Some even get vacation and sick days. And they pay taxes! It's BULLSHIT that it's illegal for two consenting adults to have sex with each other!
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, Teller
8.0/10 118 votes#14 - New Age Medicine
Season 6 Episode 2 - Aired 6/26/2008
Penn and Teller take a skeptical look at New Age medicine and its outrageous, unsupported claims of healing despite a heap of evidence that it doesn't work.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/10 131 votes
#15 - Vaccinations
Season 8 Episode 10 - Aired 8/12/2010
In the Season 8 finale, vaccination is considered modern medicine's greatest weapon against disease but thanks to pseudo-science and public gullibility, the debate over vaccination safety rages on.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/10 230 votes#16 - Alternative Medicine
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 1/31/2003
A look at chiropractic medicine, reflexology, magnet therapy,and a trip to an alternative medicine fair that ends in a "sting" operation at a crowded mall.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/10 168 votes#17 - Self-Helpless
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 3/21/2003
Motivational speakers, books, videos, relationship seminars, do they really help? We'll take a look. Also, the popular motivational activity of firewalking - which is no more dangerous than walking across hot sand at the beach - is debunked.
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, John McLaughlin, Teller
7.9/10 180 votes#18 - Ouija Boards / Near Death Experiences
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 4/11/2003
There's a physiological explanation that debunks it all. We'll switch the letters around on the board and see how the "spirits" like that! Also, the "tunnel of light" and what it really is when coupled with a look at the Oklahoma centrifuge study that created NDE-like results.
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, John McLaughlin, Teller
7.9/10 145 votes#19 - 12-Stepping
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 8/19/2004
There's no proof that AA or any other 12-Step program is any more effective than going cold turkey, doing things in moderation or getting medical help. And there's a debate raging whether alcoholism is even a disease! The quasi-religious 12-step groups have America brainwashed into believing that a higher power will take care of everything. Whatever happened to personal responsibility?!
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, John McLaughlin, Teller
7.9/10 144 votes#20 - Signs From Heaven
Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 7/25/2005
The Virgin Mary...or a grilled cheese sandwich? Just a recent example of the public's willingness to believe ordinary statues, icons, relics pictures, stains on tortillas, and burn marks on a piece of greasy white bread are signs from Heaven. Bullshit! We'll examine the way preachers, faith healers, psychic researchers, and everyday folk continue to prey on those who pray. And we'll talk to scientists, historians, philosophers, and literary figures that will explain why humans are wired to attribute meaning to random patterns and events. We'll also show you how easy it is to find people who will find God wherever they look...even if it's in a photograph of...headcheese.
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, Teller
7.9/10 156 votes#21 - Boy Scouts
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 4/3/2006
The Boy Scouts of America restricts scout membership and leadership opportunities to homosexuals and straight males who DON'T believe in God. According to the BSA, atheists and gays don't make good scouts or good role models. If the Boy Scouts of America were a privately funded group, it could discriminate against and hate anyone it damn well wanted to. But the Boy Scouts of America is dependent upon Federal, State and local government handouts. So, the BSA and their intolerance… are BULLSHIT!
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, Teller
7.9/10 165 votes#22 - The Death Penalty
Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 4/17/2006
We understand the feelings of rage felt by crime victims and their families. But - studies show there is no deterrent effect to State executions. And, DNA evidence has exonerated 122 men formerly on death row! If we're killing inmates to satisfy a primitive emotion, if we can't be sure the criminal is guilty as charged, and we have ways to keep someone locked up and out of circulation for life and for less cost, why does our government still support the archaic, primitive, cruel and costly BULLSHIT known as the Death Penalty?
Director: N/A
Writer: Penn Jillette, Teller
7.9/10 154 votes#23 - War on Porn
Season 6 Episode 1 - Aired 6/19/2008
In the sixth season premiere, Penn and Teller look at the "War on Porn",a crusade by various special interest groups to restrict free speech and regulate the Internet.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10 114 votes
#24 - Lie Detectors
Season 7 Episode 5 - Aired 7/23/2009
Polygraphs are used in thousands of investigations and job screenings. Can a machine really detect whether someone is lying? Penn & Teller will meet people whose lives were ruined by the faulty tests.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10 130 votes
#25 - Organic Food
Season 7 Episode 6 - Aired 7/30/2009
Penn & Teller examine the organic food industry to determine if it is, in fact, more nutritious, and better for the environment.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A