JREF on ABC's Primetime Nightline on Wednesday (Aug 17, 2011)

[greyl]

I normally avoid stuff ABC does regarding psychics, healers, etc.
This show looks to be more centered around the skeptic's viewpoint. Let's see how it goes.

From the JREF email:

Wednesday night at 10:00pm (9:00pm Central), ABC's Primetime Nightline will air a one-hour special on psychic abilities. James Randi, along with JREF President D.J. Grothe, JREF's Million Dollar Challenge Director Banachek, and advisor Jamy Ian Swiss, worked with Nightline producers on two of the segments and participated in three days of taping, including the JREF's first-ever open Million Dollar Challenge event where hundreds of New York City psychics were invited to take our tests. You can watch ABC's 30-second teaser for the show and see behind-the-scenes photos at Randi.org. Make sure to watch Wednesday night!

[lazarus]

1. just set the dvr

thanks. Will hopefully be good, but will probably be a couple of skeptic segments countered by the remainder's being woo.

[greyl]

2. So far, so good, I suppose.

Van Praagh down pretty soundly, with no help from Randi.

[greyl]

3. Randi Challenges Top “Psychics” After Nightline Episode

What Happened?
<snip
In last night’s episode on “Psychic Powers,” self-proclaimed psychic medium James Van Praagh performed a reading on Good Morning America anchor Josh Elliott. Elliott initially appeared surprised by Van Praagh’s accuracy before finally revealing that “every talking point of the reading” seemed to have been lifted from a two-year-old interview with Elliott2 that was available through a simple internet search. When Van Praagh was asked to repeat his performance on the spot with an ABC producer, he declined to try, claiming he had become too tired.

In a later scene, “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” reality-show actor Allison DuBois, also billed as the inspiration for the TV drama Medium, performed a similar reading on ABC News correspondent David Wright. Self-proclaimed medium Rebecca Rosen also performed a reading, and both readings focused on Wright’s family and his late mother. Wright was surprised by their accuracy and said they revealed “details that don’t pop up on Google.” Yet, shortly after the show aired, a Twitter user posted a link to a New York Times wedding announcement3 that contained the relevant details about the Wright family.
<snip

http://jref.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?dlv_id=5681&em_id=1381.0

The show turned out fairly good, other than the last 10-15 minutes when they started dealing with the family of DuBois and Rosen.