Paranormal Television 2013

                                               Paranormal Television 2013

I recently saw a number of promotional T.V. spots for new Paranormal T.V shows coming this season and I got curious about something. Just how many paranormal shows are there, anyway? How many have there been, and how many are in development? So, I do what I usually do. I did some research and I didn't think I could be surprised anymore, but I was.

These shows are only the non-scripted, reality shows. This does not count the fiction or drama shows like my absolute favorite show, Supernatural, or any of the numerous paranormal-based or fantasy-based fiction T.V. like Grimm or Once Upon a Time

These statistics are approximations based upon what I could find on the record. According to my count, there have been at least 121 paranormal shows on T.V. that have been cancelled, only between 2000 and 2010. 121. Wow. That is a lot of paranormal  acTiVity, don't you think?

Some of my favorite paranormal T.V. shows which have been, regrettably, cancelled, were Psychic Detectives, Extreme Paranormal (these guys were so bad, so over-the-top, so extremely dumb, it was great T.V. entertainment), Ghost Hunters Academy (I'm a teacher, so give me some slack, I loved this educational show for novices), and Paranormal Cops (These guys weren't former cops, they were active cops still on the force doing their cop thing and investigating the paranormal.They used impressive investigative techniques...except for the psychic.). A few of my least favorite and most controversial shows in the past ten years, that have been cancelled, thank goodness, were Paranormal State, Paranormal Kids ( one of the worst, most irresponsible, dangerous paranormal show ever), The Real Exorcist and UFO Hunters (surely one of the dumbest, least convincing, horribly produced shows ever).


It was an interesting decade. It all started with Ghost Hunters, the grandfather of all paranormal reality T.V. shows. Thank you Jason and Grant, and thank you for still being around, well, one of you anyway, keeping it real, believable, serious, and responsible. At least for now.

However, something happened in 2010, and here we are now; in para-deep with no way out. 2010 ushered in so many paranormal reality shows that it just defies explanation. I guess the T.V. producers just couldn't get enough, so they kept churning these things out, over and over again, as long as someone was watching and they didn't have to hire those endangered species; writers and actors..

What confuses me is this; I can understand the SyFy Channel producing paranormal reality shows. That makes perfect sense. Even the History Channel makes sense to me, because so much of paranormal investigating involves history and historical locations and events. It seems to me to be an even match. But A&E., Arts and Entertainment? What? And what about the Biography Channel? Huh? Animal Planet? Ok..so animals, theoretically, can experience the paranormal...but this is a stretch. Now we have CMT = Country Music Television jumping on the bandwagon with Voodoo Paranormal, a new series in development...ok.  Why?

So here it is. My list, unofficial but as complete as I can get it, of all of the paranormal reality T.V. shows that are still on the air as we speak.

Ghost Hunters                                        SyFy                                              2004 -
Decoding the Past                                  History Channel                            2005 -
Destination Truth                                   SyFy                                              2007 -
Ghost Adventures                                  Travel Channel                              2008 -
Ghost Stories                                          Travel Channel                             2009 -
Celebrity Ghost Stories                           Biography Channel                      2009 -
Fact or Faked, Paranormal Files             SyFy                                             2009 -
River Monsters                                        Animal Planet                              2009 -
Ancient Aliens                                        History Channel                           2010 -
Brad Meltzers Decoded                          History Channel                           2010 -
Finding Bigfoot                                      Animal Planet                               2011 -
Haunted Collector                                  SyFy                                              2011 -
Long Island Medium                              TLC                                               2011 -
Dark Matters, Twisted But True             Science Channel                           2011 -
The Dead Files                                       Travel Channel                              2011 -
Haunted Highway                                   SyFy                                             2012 -
Ghost Mine                                              SyFy                                             2012 -
The Haunting Of                                     Biography Channel                       2012 -
Stranded                                                  SyFy                                              2013 -
Deep South Paranornal                           SyFy                                              2013 -
Alien Mysteries                                      Destination America                     2013 -
Monsters and Mysteries in America       Destination America                     2013 -
Killer Contact                                         SyFy                                              2013 -
Joe Rogan Questions Everything           SyFy                                              2013 -
Psychic Tia                                             A & E                                            2013 -
The Unexplained Files                           Science Channel                            2013 -
Notorious Hauntings                              SyFy                                              2013 -
Paranormal Witness                               SyFy                                              2013 -
Stalked by a Ghost                                 Biography Channel                       2013 -
Mountain Monsters                                Destination America                     2013 -
Our Haunted House                               Biography Channel                       2013 -
American Haunting                                A & E                                            2013 -
I'll Haunt You When I'm Dead                         ?                                          2013 -

Here is a list, probably incomplete, of the new paranormal reality shows now in development:

Buyer Beware                                        SyFy
Ghost Town, USA                                  SyFy
Deadfinder                                             SyFy
Ten Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty       Spike
Voodoo Paranormal                               CMT
Cajun Paranormal                                  TLC
Dead Famous                                            ?
Meatloaf Rocks the Paranormal            SyFy    (In case this one totally boggles your mind, Meatloaf is a rock star, not a yummy beef delight served with mashed potatoes and gravy. )

So, what do you think? I know I have some very sophisticated readers out there because I occasionally hear from you. Tell me which show is your favorite, which show is your most hated, which show you believe to be totally faked from beginning to end, and which show you believe to be true, reliable and real.

I will publish the results of my unofficial poll if I can get a good number of readers to reply.
Enjoy the shows. There certainly is enough of them.
P.J.



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