Tonight I caught the premiere episode of a new TV series, “Adam Ruins Everything” on the Tru TV network. It is similar in concept to Penn & Tellers “BS!” in that the host (one Adam Conover, who clearly spends way too much time on his hair) takes some popular but flawed belief and tears it apart entertainingly. The first episode dealt with “giving:” how diamonds are a waste of money as a gift, how canned food drives are a waste of food, how shoes ruin Africa (something like that, anyway). It’s also funny as hell.
A few videos are available on YouTube. It seems the TV series is an outgrowth of some YouTubery.
A couple friends agreed that Adam is like me, but with a budget.
I approve of shows like this. While I doubt they have much real impact – how many True Believers in alien abductions or gun control or newage did BS! turn around? – it’s always important to counter the factually flawed. It’ll also be interesting to see the ideological ratio… some ideas tackled will undoubtedly be favored more by one side of the political spectrum than the other.