TVSquad

Like a lot of my TV Squad assignments, I went into this one under the belief that it would be a hoot. I figured that unreal reality shows would have a high camp value and I could enjoy them the same way that I enjoy The Last Dragon.

Here's what I learned: Gene Simmons... Bruce Leroy you are not. The next time I refer to something as a potential "hoot", I've given my wife permission to beat me unconscious with a shovel. A severe beating would be less painful than watching another minute of our nominee shows.

That said, I did enjoy the process of figuring out which show would "win" this award. After careful consideration of the words of my wizened TV Squad colleagues and the input of our enlightened readership, we have finally found our winner.

Penn Jillette has always been outspoken. He and his silent partner in magic, Teller, have more than three decades showing audiences the secrets behind their most spectacular tricks. And on Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, which is about to enter its sixth season on Showtime, the pair debunk commonly-held beliefs about everything from the Bible and people who claim to speak to the dead to gun control and what the 9/11 conspiracy movement.

But those two platforms aren't enough for Penn. Up until recently, he hosted a syndicated talk radio show, which he gave up in part to concentrate on his stint on Dancing with the Stars this season. But he hasn't stayed silent; in January, Jillette started posting a series of short videos called Penn Says, which can be seen on the C Spot portion of Crackle, a Sony Entertainment website that has a number of exclusive video series. In these shorts, Penn turns on the camera and speaks extemporaneously about a topic that comes to mind, from Thomas Jefferson to the shelf life of calling Hillary Clinton a "bitch."

I spoke to Penn about Penn Says, the Hillary joke, Bullshit! and what he got out of being on Dancing with the Stars. The interview is after the jump.

Not only is magician Penn Jillette doing his radio show from New York City Halloween week, but he and his silent partner Teller are going to be making a ton of appearances on Halloween and the following week.

The magic duo will be on The View on October 31 (oh, if they could make one or two or the hosts disappear, oh please, oh please, oh please...). Then, on November 1, they'll be on the local New York morning show on the CW and, later that night, The Colbert Report. Then, we'll see them on the CNN Headline News show Glenn Beck. Which seems like an, um, interesting choice.

Penn & Teller's Showtime show Bullshit has been renewed for a fifth season.

Penn and Teller: Bullsh*t! is one of my favorite shows on right now, despite the fact I never watch it. You see, I don't have Showtime, so I have to catch it on DVD, or whenever I happen to be visiting my parents. For the third season, the skeptical duo takes on such issues as circumcision, family values, college, gun control, and all sorts of things guaranteed to make you think, make you angry, or possibly do neither of those things. I assume, though, that you will have some kind of mild emotional reaction. The set was originally supposed to come out this month, but obviously that has changed. Also, there's no word on bonus material, but I'll keep you posted on such developments.

Yesterday, magician Penn Jillette's wife gave birth to their second child, Zolten. "Zolten" is his wife's maiden name. In a scenario that was quite suitable to the magniloquent magician, his wife actually started giving birth at the hospital while Penn was doing his radio show. Halfway through the show Penn was forced to leave it in the hands of his co-host as he bolted from his home studio and drove through Las Vegas traffic, staying connected to the radio show via his cellphone while his wife and her doctor made calls to the radio show to let Penn and everyone listening know how things were going. You can listen to the chaos in all its glory by clicking here and then clicking on the "May 22" show.

I recently started listening to the podcast of Penn Jillette's radio show. Jillette is the loud, boisterous half of comedy/magic team "Penn and Teller," whose show Penn and Teller: Bullshit! is currently in its fourth season on Showtime. At one point, Jillette suddenly went on a hilarious rant about one director's alleged desire to have Paris Hilton play the role of Mother Theresa in an upcoming movie. Ever the contrarian, Penn's rant was not against Hilton, it was against Mother Theresa, whom he claimed did not actually help people get well, but merely set up places where people came to die due to what Penn claimed was some kind of sick perversion on her part.

I almost blogged about this when I heard it, but I think I was distracted by a shiny object or something, because I forgot about it. However, the AP reports that another radio host didn't cotton to Penn's rant, and sarcastically offered to pay a listener $5,000 to kill Jillette. The host, John London, was fired for his comments, along with the show's producer, Denis Cruz, and Chris Townsend, a sports reporter.

Click here for an MP3 of the Penn Radio episode.

While many of the networks will undoubtedly keep a lot of crap on the air for another two seasons, this is actually good news. Showtime just picked up seasons four and five of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! The program is along the same lines as their live show, except, instead of debunking magic tricks, they debunk all sorts of things like magnet therapy, reflexology, Feng Shui, Ouija boards, baby myths, and chiropractors (don't shoot the messenger!). Season four of the show starts April 3 on Showtime. New episodes include examining the death penalty, prostitution and virginity.