History YMMV / PennAndTellerBullshit

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Penn and Teller are often prone to opposing mainstream aesops in their show. Perhaps an especially memorable case is Holier Than Thou, wherein they had some memorably harsh criticisms of such popularly revered figures as Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, but especially Mother Teresa.

** There are three main positions they argue from: skepticism, atheism, and libertarianism (both social and economic). Since, in America at least, the first two are associated with Liberal politics; episodes dealing with the third tend to be the ones that divide the fanbase.
* BrokenBase: Although many of their "opponents" in the show are scammers, fanatics or just not very nice people, some of the audience does not accept the fact that the discussion nature of the show is purely formal, and most of the episodes represent a demonstrative derision and insult to supporters of the ideas that Penn and Teller criticize. This reached a special level after their episode about passive smoking, when they were forced to apologize after research that fully proved the harm of it.

** The study they used as a reference for the second-hand smoke episode was a corporately funded exercise in LiesDamnedLiesAndStatistics, and had already been discredited when they made the episode.

* FridgeBrilliance: At the end of the Season 4 intro, when Penn and Teller get hanged, Teller's feet are twitching. Teller is smaller than Penn, so of course it would take longer for him to hang. [[note]] This is even brought up in the Death Penalty episode. The point with hanging is having the victim's neck snap so they'll die instantly, but if you're too light, the neck might not snap so you'll suffocate instead.[[/note]]

** One of the jokes in the [[AnimalWrongsGroup PETA]] episode is about the logistical problems of 'freeing' all the domestic animals in the world and the point that if they have rights they have social responsibilities. Since the episode aired it came to light that PETA actually has a plan to deal with this: ''[[FinalSolution utter extermination]]'' of domesticated animals.
*** In that episode they already noted that PETA actually ''euthanizes'' most of the animals it rescues, making their stance for animal rights seem hypocritical. This extermination plan just adds to it. In fact, according to the state of Virginia, the percentage of animals euthanized by PETA the last few years has escalated ''over 90%.''

** Their episode on Vaccinations was incredibly important and brought to light some info that is much needed about vaccinations and autism. But as of February 2015 the Anti-Vaccination movement has seen a return and measles are coming back.

%%** In their episode on PETA they presented PETA's stance against animals in circuses and Sea World as examples of the group's fringe lunacy. Public opinion has since shifted against such performances as new information came to light about the highly restrictive and physically & mentally damaging circumstances under which many of the captive animals live.
%%* ValuesResonance: The immigration episode has become this in recent years with the rise of controversial figures like Donald Trump and events like Brexit, both of which were criticized for perceived anti-immigration stances.

** In their episode on PETA they presented PETA's stance against animals in circuses and Sea World as examples of the group's fringe lunacy. Public opinion has since shifted against such performances as new information came to light about the highly restrictive and physically & mentally damaging circumstances under which many of the captive animals live.
* ValuesResonance: The immigration episode has become this in recent years with the rise of controversial figures like Donald Trump and events like Brexit, both of which were criticized for perceived anti-immigration stances.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Since the show, being quasi-documentary in nature, went out of its way to find people in the public eye willing to talk about a particular subject the show was covering, it's likely you'll recognize someone who appeared on this show on other news or information programs (Jack Thompson from the "Video Games" episode, Richard Cohen from "Family Values", Roy Moore from “Bible: Fact or Fiction”, Dennins Prager from "PETA" or Paul Watson from "Endangered Species" are particularly visible individuals, not to mention Sheriff Joe Arpaio). Given the show, you could call this trope, "Hey, it's that asshole!"

* RetroactiveRecognition: Since the show, being quasi-documentary in nature, went out of its way to find people in the public eye willing to talk about a particular subject the show was covering, it's likely you'll recognize someone who appeared on this show on other news or information programs (Jack Thompson from the "Video Games" episode, Richard Cohen from "Family Values", Roy Moore from “Bible: Fact or Fiction”, or Paul Watson from "Endangered Species" are particularly visible individuals, not to mention Sheriff Joe Arpaio). Given the show, you could call this trope, "Hey, it's that asshole!"

* CriticalResearchFailure:

** There are three main positions they argue from: skepticism, atheism, and libertarianism (both social and economic). Since, in America at least, the first two are associated with Liberal politics episodes dealing with the third tend to be the ones that divide the fanbase.

** The Prostitution episode argued at one point that banning prostitution amounted to de facto discrimination against unattractive people. The Incel movement has since developed, and its members have carried out multiple mass shootings, which they justify largely by claiming ugly men are discriminated against in the sexual marketplace .

** [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath The descriptions of botched executions]] in the Death Penalty episode. Pre-lethal injection anaesthetics not working properly, hanging where the victim's neck don't get snapped (both leading to strangulation) and the electric chair with the victim's flesh melting off, not much different from a certain execution in ''Film/TheGreenMile''. Not to mention the medieval execution they mentioned on the side.

** In their episode on PETA they presented PETA's stance against animals in circuses and Sea World as examples of the group's fringe lunacy. Public opinion has since shifted against such performances.
* ValuesResonance: The immigration episode has become this in recent years with the rise of controversial figures like Donald Trump and events like Brexit.

** The NASA episode blamed government cost-cutting for the Discovery and Challenger disasters, and implied that such things would be less likely under private corporations such as Virgin Galactic. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VSS_Enterprise_crash Then came 2014...]]

** The Prostitution episode argued at one point that banning prostitution amounted to de facto discrimination against unattractive people. The Incel movement has since developed, and its members have carried out multiple mass shootings, which they justify largely by claiming ugly men are discriminated against in the sexual marketplace

* MemeticMutation: (You need... to) [[PunctuatedForEmphasis SHUT.]] [[NoIndoorVoice THE FUCK.]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PaHcZUHI00 UP!]]

* ValuesResonance: The immigration episode has become this in recent years with the rise of extremists like Donald Trump and events like Brexit.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: In the "Apocalypse 2012" episode, while discussing the idea that a brown dwarf star will destroy the world in 2012, they cut to Penn & Teller going up to Gary Coleman and asking if he's planning on destroying the world in 2012. He says yes. Coleman died unexpectedly in 2010.
** Penn has told of his original pitch to the executives, which came 2 weeks after 9/11. As a part of it, he said that although he himself wasn't psychic, he could reasonably predict that within 6 months, psychic John Edward would announce a broadcast where he would channel the spirits of those who died in 9/11. It only took 3 months for Edward to do that, and the execs were impressed enough to greenlight the show.

** The episode on conspiracy theories, on top of showing and replaying footage of 9/11 and the Kennedy assassination, has Penn & Teller interview a firefighter who was one of the first responders on 9/11. The man explains how so many innocent Americans - including his fellow first responders - lost their lives in the attack, illustrating [[DudeNotFunny how horribly insensitive the 9/11 conspiracy theories are.]]

** The Prostitution episode argued at one point that banning prostitute amounted to de facto discrimination against unattractive people. The Incel movement has since developed, and its members have carried out multiple mass shootings, which they justify largely by claiming ugly men are discriminated against in the sexual marketplace

** There's also the chiropractor operating on a little girl in ''Alternative Medicine''. Penn even stops the film and sincerely warn us about the content beforehand.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Since the show, being quasi-documentary in nature, went out of its way to find people in the public eye willing to talk about a particular subject the show was covering, it's likely you'll recognize someone who appeared on this show on other news or information programs (Jack Thompson from the "Video Games" episode, Richard Cohen from "Family Values", or Paul Watson from "Endangered Species" are particularly visible individuals, not to mention Sheriff Joe Arpaio). Given the show, you could call this trope, "Hey, it's that asshole!"
* TearJerker: The episode "Mount Rushmore" ends with one. Throughout the episode one of Penn&Teller's people was soliciting signatures on petitions at the National Mall in Washington D.C. The petitions start out questionable, the first one is for a declaration of the supremacy of the United States to be brokered at the United Nations, but get progressively darker, with the last one essentially eliminating free speech. No matter how bad the proposal was, there were people who would sign the petition. At the end Penn notes that the people signing the petitions in the footage were the only people who actually signed; the vast majority of people refused to sign the petitions when they realized what they said.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Penn's (and occasionally Teller's) use of profanity instead of straight out accusations of corruption and lies is meant to protect them against lawsuits. As weird as it may sound, it is safer to call someone a 'motherfucker' (which expresses an opinion, and thus is protected by Freedom of Speech) than a 'liar'. Though, since they gave away the "code" during the first episode, they still had to be a little careful. Seeing as how no one managed to successfully sue them over the show, [[CrazyEnoughToWork it seems to have worked]].

* HilariousInHindsight: In the 2005 episode on government surveillance, they're impressed by the competence of a Kenyan immigrant compared to the other agents they study. "Yep! You gotta go to Kenya for a real American who can follow fucking directions!

** One of the jokes in the [[AnimalWrongsGroup PETA]] episode is about the logistical problems of 'freeing' all the domestic animals in the world and the point that if they have rights they have social responsibilities. Since the episode aired it came to light that PETA actually has a plan to deal with this: ''utter extermination'' of domesticated animals.

* ValuesDissonance: Considering that P&T often deal with the extreme fringe of many ideological groups, this comes up a lot. For instance, the duo believes violence is only justifiable in defense of self or of innocent people, so much horror and disgust ensues when interviewing someone who thinks violence is excusable to advance political causes, like environmentalism or animal rights.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: In the episode on old people, when discussing right-to-die issues, they say that, even though they're opposed to the physician who wants to keep physician-assisted suicide illegal, it's hard to call him an asshole when all he wants to do is ''not kill people''.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Since the show, being quasi-documentary in nature, went out of its way to find people in the public eye willing to talk about a particular subject the show was covering, it's likely you'll recognize someone who appeared on this show on other news or information programs (Jack Thompson from the "Video Games" episode, Richard Cohen from "Family Values", or Paul Watson from "Endangered Species" are particularly visible individuals, not to mention Sheriff Joe Arpaio). Given the show, you could call this trope, "[[HeyItsThatGuy Hey, it's that asshole!]]"

* CriticalResearchFailure: The study they used as a reference for the second-hand smoke episode was a corporately funded exercise in LiesDamnedLiesAndStatistics, and had already been discredited when they made the episode.