Hi, everyone! I'm new to the forum, but love the approach you take to the shows.  I love all these paranormal investigation shows in theory, but of the ones I've seen . . . well, it leaves me more of a skeptic than when I started.  That, or makes me develop a theory that the ghosts hide out of spite.

I'll accept that, perhaps, I've just seen some sub-par episodes — I'll admit I've only seen a few — so I'm asking for recommendations.

Which episodes of Ghost Hunters do you consider to be the best?  Not just in terms of results, but in their approach to the investigation — no turning off all the lights when the sighting was reported in a well-lit room or anything like that.  Failing that, anything that comes with a good story attached — I'll be happy to simply relax and be entertained.

Thanks! Any specific episodes that are worth checking out?

Ah.  From what I saw, they've got a habit of going "OMG WHAT WAS THAT!" and then keeping the camera focused on the reaction rather than whatever it is that provoked a reaction.  They listen to accounts of sightings and then do nothing to recreate the conditions of the sighting — if it's caused by a shadow in a well-lit room, you're not going to prove anything one way or the other if you do the investigation with all the lights off.  And they'll say they're alone in a room when they're quite clearly being filmed by a person rather than a standing camera or something, which .  . . really.

I suppose what I was trying to say was "What episodes make you want to throw things at the television the least?", but needed to gauge how polite I needed to be about it.

Most of the time, I'm left with the impression that, were I a ghost in the same room as them, I'd quietly leave and do my best not to set off any equipment; I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of showing up and scaring the crap out of them.

If it's intended as entertainment, they've missed their mark.  It's certainly not entertaining me.

thetalkingmongoose said:

They've been faking since the get-go, so choosing episodes based on investigative techniques is a fool's errand, which leaves the old "but I just watch Ghosthunters for the entertainment value" claim, which only works if you enjoy watching people act really stupid while doing next to nothing.  As it happens, I kind of do, so I strongly suggest choosing episodes based on whether Brian Harnois is in them or not.  Not that everyone else doesn't act equally stupid – it's just that Brian has a certain joie de vivre that makes watching it much less excruciating.  To that end – the second episode of the first season (Mishler Theater and Railroad Museum in Altoona) is stellar for Brian in night-vision goggles expounding upon "zero lux."  At the New Bedford Armory (also first season) he tries to explain what a Geiger counter is (plus Frank di Angelo gets knocked down by something – one of the only episodes I still sort of believe).  Of course, there's the infamous Eastern State Penitentiary ep, which has the bonus of Brian Harnois dragging back Brian Bell from a bar across to the street to work (B.B. claims he had to wash his hands of slug slime). 

Otherwise, um…there's not much to recommend.  It's all too fake and too dull.  It's entertaining in the way a scab is.  I think you'd be better off reading a book.  Ian Wilson's In Search of Ghosts is much more fun.

I personally put the point where they started faking evidence at Race Rock…..not that any of the episodes previous had any real _scientific_ merit, but being naive and lummox-like is better than being deceptive.

I'd recommend the New Bedford Armory ep…if only because it's the only major evidence-yielding ep that I can't really debunk.  Not that I think it's proof ov teh GHOSTSIS or anything, but it's a puzzler to look at, even if you approach it from a "how did this happen naturally?" angle. 

And yes, getting rid of Harnois was the biggest mistake they ever made.   Sure everyone hated him, but having a scapegoat, a villain, a doofus, a Curly, a Kramer, an Archie Bunker…is vital to any show, "reality" or not.  There's just no tension without him in the mix, and then all we're left to look at is….*groan* the 'evidence'. 

Which nowadays seems to bore both the skeptic and the believer viewers, honestly–I occasionally wander over into the TAPS forum no-man's-land–they seem just as bored with it as we are, just in a different…'special' way. : )

I also miss Andy Andrews…annoying, yes, but fun to watch as he geeked out like a nerd at his first anime convention everytime spooky stuff happened.  Now it's just Jason, Grant, and a rather forgettable team of red shirts.