Great sumation and review, Oubliette! I don't know if it matters much but FYI- Amy Bruni produced the radio talk show that J&G used to host. So she was on-board a long time before she started getting screen time as a ghost hunter.
She was kind of introduced into the show as being a California TAPS family member and that was all but that was not the case- there's more history there than that. Why they wouldn't want folks to know that she produced their radio show is anybody's guess…
The radio show, although currently on 'hiatus', has a myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/beyondrealityradio which seems to be another vehicle used to promote their training conferences or fleece-ings or whatever you want to call them.

Oubliette,

Excellent review. This "aw shucks" and "we're here to help" mentality has worn very, very thin. The fact that they presented the points you listed as their best work to present on this "special" show is really quite sad.

I also found it interesting when they showed "a very rare piece of TAPS history, the original presentation reel used to sell the show that you now know as Ghost Hunters to the Sci Fi Channel." Isn't it interesting they said they turned down 5 different production companies before they accepted (Pilgrim)? Amazing that 6 different production companies, all in the same time frame, wanted to film them specifically with actors "playing" them and the one they chose was the "reality" show pitch by Pilgrim? And, by the way, he was the "founder" of TAPS and he "founded" TAPS from 1990 to 1992? Huh? 2 years? I've never heard of taking 2 years for anyone to "found" a company. I'm guessing he's saying that to give Grant his co-founder status. What a bunch of bs.

I still laughed when I heard Josh ask J & G "Is there a line that you won't cross in your investigations?" to which Grant says "we don't want to summon a ghost that wasn't there before". Huh? I just wanted the camera to pan over to their faces because I'm sure there were grins on everyone's faces from ear to ear but instead it stayed locked in on Josh. Guess I missed that at Boot Camp. Supposedly they don't even know if there is a ghost let alone who they are going to supposedly "summon up".

Here's the status of the "crew" that had "experiences". None of them are still working on GH:

Brian Hodge, Camera Operator – Pilgrim Films employee working on Greensburg
Kendall Whelpton, Camera Operator – Pilgrim Films employee working on Greensburg
Dave Hobbes – camera operator yet not on crew list – but listed as a "cast" member
and "worked" only on this episode – NO other credits
Steve Blanco – "sound man" – cannot find him credited anywhere
Frank DeAngelis – Sound Man on numerous reality shows – no longer on GH either

Here's a suggestion since they said they have no way to thank everyone for what they "do for us": Instead of showing some of the items they send you, go ahead and charge them regular rates at the Inn when you have your Boot Camp and not charge them for the ridiculous packages.

Now I'm going to borrow a closing line from Josh Gates, "and there you have it folks, the humble beginning of Ghost Hunters."

Nice summary! Didn't they also showcase the pool table figure at the Moon River Brewing Company in Savannah? Another case where it has been shown that what was said (regarding no way to get back there) was not quite true!

@Alicat: Oh yes, that "rare promo". I'm still on the fence, regardless of what they say, as to whether this happened or the idea first originated with Pilgrim, who then conducted a search for the proper group. There are posts elsewhere on the Internet that TAPS was not the first choice, but then again rumors have always followed this show around.

@Nosfer: As for Moss Beach–thanks for mentioning it. I later realized that it was left out of my review because you are correct about the exit. There is one out of camera range on the right hand side. Someone has put up a pic of it and I'll try to find it and post the link.

Why would they lie about something that people can go there and see for
themselves? Pretty foolish of them.

At the Pilgrim web site, there's a page about Ghost Hunters:

http://www.pilgrim-films.com/show.php?title=Ghost%20Hunters

"TAPS, The Atlantic Paranormal Society, is a group of fairly ordinary people – office managers, factory workers, teachers and even psychic-hotline gurus – moonlighting to understand seemingly unexplainable disturbances."

Oddly, they don't mention plumbers, cops, web designers, or any other profession we've seen on the show.

Not sure what it means. Just a mistake by some intern at Pilgrim? Or is part of this blurb left over from before they signed the TAPS we know?

Stephen,

I've seen this description before but can't remember where exactly. I think it's just a PR blurb. Here is Sci Fi version in the "About" section of GH. It actually has a bit more of a description and the link is below.

"Enter Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, plumbers by trade who head up The Atlantic Paranormal Society. TAPS is a group of fairly ordinary people — office managers, factory workers, teachers and even psychic-hotline gurus — moonlighting to understand seemingly unexplainable disturbances."

http://www.scifi.com/ghosthunters/about/

If you look at the members of the RI TAPS group on the TAPS website today versus the archived TAPS site, membership changes quite frequently.

@Oubliette: Post number 18 in this thread:

http://www.skepticalviewer.com/forums/ghost-hunters/has-anyone-else-had-their-groups-raided-for-personnel-by-taps-affiliates/page-1

Nosfer, thanks. That's what I was thinking of. Have memory problems, can't you tell?

This is just so ridiculous of them. Do they think no viewers will visit any of these places? How can we trust anything they say?

And that "plumbers by trade" really galls me. Every search on licensing, whether R.I. or nearby states, turns up nothing. Makes for a good premise for the show, though, I must admit. And now they're coming out with that ghost story/plumbing book. When will it end?

I'm not sure if this has been posted before or not, but according to SAPS, Jason and Grant were employed by Roto-Rooter.

I don't know if they are still employed by them, but perhaps we should ask them.

That would get at least one question answered.

@J: This has been done in extensive detail.

Oubliette- As always, nice review.

You said: "The passage of time can sure make a difference. I would have had more respect for Jay and Grant if they were to admit that some of the evidence (i.e., the locker figure) was simply misinterpreted by them at the time. As far as the more dubious bits–well, we have certainly addressed these numerous times. A lot of things just don't wash."

So true. They didn't have to say anything was hoaxed (which some things might have been). They didn't have to say that they were wrong (which many of their evaluations of the evidence might have been). Just saying that a couple of things may have been "misinterpreted" at the time would have at least been something. It would have been honest. It would have meant "You know, at the time, we were really excited about this one piece of evidence. But, after looking at it and LISTENING TO SOME OF OUR VIEWERS…it may not be what we originally thought."

Yet…we don't even get that. We get the typical, on-going arrogance of "it is what it is, so deal with it" attitude. Great. Not being able to objectively look at your own evidence isn't exactly a key ingredient in scientific methodology. So much for furthering the pursuit of the paranormal in a scientific manner…

Interesting if you go here -
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.the-atlantic-paranormal-society.com

and go to the first page listed in each year and then click to the TAPS Members.

Just how many of their "good friends in the TAPS family" have fallen by the wayside.

Link above dosen't work … you need to cut n paste the whole line

Great review as always, Oubliette. After watching a few of the re-runs, I have to admit that everything they present as evidence is suspect to say the least. It's just amazing how things went from o.k., to downright unbelievable after the first season. All places they visited after the first go' round seemed to be hurting financially or otherwise needed publicity. You hardly ever see a home investigation anymore. I wonder why that is? Hmmm. No Dough, No Show! That's why. It's also befitting to mention that Craig Peligian, (sp), produces the show. If you go have a look at some other shows he produces you will see that the things that happen on those shows are VERY suspect too. Shady is as Shady does.

The plumbers thing? Does that REALLY upset you all that much? Even when they explicitly state that they don't do it much?

And they work for Roto-Rooter, they may not have an independant plumbers license–they may not need it in RI.

They've also stated that the staged plumbing segments are part of the way they maintain their jobs with Roto-Rooter. They're ads. Product placement.

Are you all really saying that you don't get that? Even after they've said so?

Likewise the office crap–surely you understand that they're not going to film constantly–that they're going to HAVE to restage the set-up calls because the film crew wasn't there–so they re-enact it–cheesily, because they're not actors.

Jack, it's a credibility issue. If such and such is staged, how can we be sure about this or that? If this was recreated, how do we know that something else isn't being recreated.

No real difference between staging a plumbing shot for an intro to make an interesting tie in and staging some piece of evidence to make something interesting. Not saying that's what happens (except in a few cases) but the precedent for them showing something not real has been established, so I have trouble trusting any of it.

Addition:

Couple THOSE issues (staged plumbing shots etc) with known incorrect statements such as the description of the Pool Room at Moon River Brewing, or incorrect (and uncorrected) statements by Steve when he is describing a scene at Fort Mifflin (and knowing that the video footage sequence was altered to match HIS story) or seeing camera timestamps that don't match Program timestamps such as at ESP and the whole trust thing goes down the tube so far it creates a clog even J&G couldn't unplug!

Jack,

Obviously you have a case of selective reading and haven't checked your facts. As Nosfer has said, it is a matter of credibility. To me it is also a matter of integrity which, unfortunately, is not a strong suit of either Jason or Grant's.

You base your opinion on hearsay from media reps and newspaper articles. If you do your research, you will find that neither Jason or Grant are licensed in RI, CT or MA. CT and MA require the same as RI – to be a plumber you MUST BE LICENSED and that license must be issued by the State where you are working. I have previously posted an email from the State License Department in RI explaining this as well as links to the respective State License Departments. There is no such thing as an "independent license" in RI.

Jason and Grant do advertisements for Roto Rooter. That's it. They do not work as plumbers for Roto Rooter which was confirmed by Roto Rooter itself to the State of RI. That, my friend is "acting" as plumbers not being an actual plumber as they would like you to believe. So, yes, it does make a difference as to whether their claims on GH are legitimate because it is a matter of credibility and integrity. If you don't have that – you have nothing.

"No real difference between staging a plumbing shot for an intro to make an interesting tie in and staging some piece of evidence to make something interesting."

Of course there is. No sane person really thought that the GH cameras were following them around on their plumbing job. People are not that stupid. Only the most mentally deficient could not see that these were staged/re-enacted to highlight their staus as non-professionals, as 'real people'.

I think this attitude about the plumbing and set-up scenes coming from so many skeptics really calls into clarity where many of those skeptics are coming from–and it's not a good place.

And what description are you talking about with the brewery? You seem to take this description as invalidating the footage. Mistakes are made in descriptions all the time–hell, sometimes I think Steve does it deliberately so that fans can 'catch' him. But what is this invalidating description?

Jack: No access to the pool room…check out the link above to three photos which shows that very access very clearly. That's not only a description issue, but the description difference makes the difference in whether or not someone could get back there and out of there. The description given indicates that would not be possible, the photos show otherwise, thus invalidating the claim that no one could get back there. That's not a "description mistake" someone is going to accidentally make. That "no access" was used as supporting evidence. If that evidence is false….

Okay, so shots are staged to show something ie, "real people" Yes, I agree that most people would not expect that they were followed daily. The point I'm trying to make is that if they stage that or recreate that, where is the line drawn.

If Steve makes mistakes directly so his fans catch him, what difference is there between that and maybe faking evidence so fans can catch them?

"Mistakes are made in descriptions all the time" Yes, maybe so (well, not ALL the time), but when those mistakes are made, it makes you question RELIABILITY of the other things they present.