Line #9 YMMV/PennAndTellerBullshit


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3	* {{Anvilicious}}: Given that the entire point of the show is to expose things the duo think are wrong, subtlety isn't to be expected.
4	** The main flip between this depends on whether they're debunking people who are accidentally (or intentionally) using faulty scientific claims and/or simply don't understand the subject, and when they're talking about things that, to a degree, boil down to little more than opinion and cultural values.
5	** 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.
6	* BrokenBase:
7	** 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.
8	** Some fans of the show were not happy about the fact that the naked men were eventually gotten rid of while the naked women were still there.
9	* 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]]
10	* HarsherInHindsight:
11	** 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%.''
12	** The NASA episode blamed government cost-cutting for the ''Columbia'' 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...]]
13	** 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 several preventable diseases have had minor outbreaks throughout the U.S. Anti-vaccine hysteria now seems to focus primarily on the COVID-19 vaccinations, since their introduction and use, but hysteria about other vaccines still continues.
14	** The Prostitution episode argued at one point that banning prostitution amounted to de facto discrimination against unattractive people. Since then the western world has seen the emergence of the Involuntary Celibacy movement, a.k.a. incels, who believe that ugly men are discriminated against in the sexual marketplace and have gone so far as to carry out multiple mass shootings as a result of their beliefs.
15	* HilariousInHindsight:
16	** 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!
17	** A RunningGag in the animal activism episode was that you could accurately guess which side someone was on by their girth. In 2015 Penn really did lose more than a hundred pounds by switching to a (mostly) vegetarian diet.
18	** That snail "mucus mask" gag from the first season became an actual fad about a decade later. Rendered down instead of applying the snails directly, but the justification is identical.
19	* MemeticMutation:
20	** (You need... to) [[PunctuatedForEmphasis SHUT.]] [[NoIndoorVoice THE FUCK.]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PaHcZUHI00 UP!]]
21	** "Into the trash it goes!", and any number of mutations from there such as "discarding" others' opinions into the trash. This later lead to Penn in general being associated with throwing trash away, and identifying garbage content in general.
22	** [[SuddenlyShouting "I LOVE YOU DOG!"]]
23	* NauseaFuel:
24	** The "mucus mask" bit, with the snails that wind up clustered around people's eyes.
25	** In the “Death Inc.” episode, the detailed explanation of what happens to your body in a sealed casket. Also, the shot of the vampire sucking actual human blood.
26	* NightmareFuel:
27	** The shots of the baby receiving the operation in "Circumcision".
28	** 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. The same chiropractor admits that he used his technique on NEWBORN BABIES as well. Penn rightfully informs us that the man should be in prison.
29	** [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath The descriptions of botched executions]] in the Death Penalty episode. Pre-lethal injection anesthetics not working properly (rendering the executee aware and likely feeling their own suffocation), hanging where the victim's neck doesn't get snapped (leading to a more drawn out and painful death by 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.
30	* 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. Penn and Teller would probably call this trope "Hey, It's That Asshole!" A small (and probably not all-inclusive) list of people who have appeared elsewhere:
31	** Jack Thompson ("Video Games")
32	** Richard Cohen ("Family Values")
33	** Roy Moore (“Bible: Fact or Fiction”)
34	** Dennis Prager ("PETA")
35	** Paul Watson ("Endangered Species")
36	** Sheriff Joe Arpaio ("War on Drugs")
37	* TearJerker:
38	** 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.
39	** 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 how horribly insensitive the 9/11 conspiracy theories are.
40	* UnintentionallySympathetic: Many of the interviewees in "The Good Ol' Days" (which examines the pitfalls of [[NostalgiaGoggles getting too attached to a romanticized version of the past]]) come across as fairly normal and well-adjusted people, despite the episode going out of its way to paint them as delusional idiots. Of note: the episode prominently features a group of devoted fans of ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver'' (who are supposedly attached to the 1950s), and a group of performers and attendees at a Renaissance Festival (who are supposedly attached to the Elizabethan era). But while the people spotlighted in those segments might have a ''few'' misguided ideas about past eras, the ''Leave it to Beaver'' fans mainly just come across as normal people who happen to like a TV show, and the Renaissance Festival attendees mainly just come across as normal people who enjoy historical dress-up.

Context YMMV / PennAndTellerBullshit