TV Series

Series Name:	Ripley's Believe It Or Not!
Format:	TV Series
IMDB:	IMDB Page
Years:	1982 - 1986
Country:	USA
Language:	English
Genre:	Reality TV
Rating:	7.3 Rate
Collection:	Seen It Wishlist
Community:	6 Have Seen
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Selected Cast	Jack Palance
	Catherine Shirriff
	Holly Palance
	Marie Osmond

Notes

Inspired by the long-running comic strip and the then-current trend towards reality-based network TV programs. Followed by another series of the same title in the 2000s.

Comments and Reviews


Neil Forbes 1st Jul 2015		@23skidoo, I think you missed my point. I got yours about two different types of reality shows. You cited "In Search Of....", "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" and "Cosmos" in your comment. I can't really make a comment on Cosmos as I never watched it, but Ripley's I've seen quite a fair amount of that show, and as I said, it was so-so, a TV schedule gap-filler with the occasional interesting tid-bits here or there, then there was That's Incredible, along the same line, and now I realise my mistake, That Wes Harrison segment was actually in That's Incredible, rather than Ripley's. And of course, In Search Of... The late Leonard Nimoy presented a great half-hour documentary on all sorts of material, Easter Island statues, ghosts and hauntings, missing persons, all manner of subject. And again I say, dated though it is, even now it's far better than the crap thrown up at us these days. Re-runs of "In Search Of..." would make a great replacement for QI on ABC here in Australia at 8.00pm on Wednesdays.



23skidoo 1st Jul 2015		@Neil We'll have to agree to disagree, but I will agree that shows like Ripley's and In Search Of retain their interest decades later. I do not expect Survivor or Big Brother to still be viewed 30 years from now. Idol, yes, as the show does feature people at the start of their careers, so future music and film fans and historians will look upon it the same way we look upon Ed Sullivan. So sadly that show and its variants do and will have value in years to come from that perspective. But not The Bachelor.



Neil Forbes 1st Jul 2015		@23skidoo, yes, I agree. I really liked "In Search Of...." But I would baulk at blaming shows like you mentioned along with "In Search Of...." for being progenitors, or even inspiration for the crap we're seeing now. Shows like "In Search Of...." were more of an informative documentary-style programme that was, at the same time entertaining. Dated as they are, they'd still make great viewing even now, instead of that other "reality" crap.



23skidoo 1st Jul 2015		@Neil But there are two types of reality TV. There's the Survivor/Extreme Makeover Home Edition/American Idol reality TV that I consider the bane of the TV industry. And then there's reality TV like In Search Of, Ripley's and Cosmos which I'd be more than happy to have whole nights devoted to. So when I said this series was sort of a harbinger of reality TV I'm talking about the good stuff, not the mental baby food type. The original Ripley's Believe it or Not was a very intelligent show - where else would they devote a segment to Dadaism? The remake I thought was a bit too much devoted to T&A for my tastes.



Neil Forbes 1st Jul 2015		What we have now, RC?.... Ugh! What a horrible thought!



Record Collector 1st Jul 2015		Saturday night right after six o clock news back in the 1970's it was happy days fast forward forty years look what we have now



Neil Forbes 1st Jul 2015		Oh, please, 23skidoo, don't say that! Our Australian TV is riddled with this insidious cancer of "reality" TV(and 100 times out of 100, it ain't "reality" at all! It's totally contrived rubbish). I'm with Record Collector on this one! We need to totally "purge" our TV of this so-called "reality" trash! I hate to think this "magazine"-style show, Believe It Or Not was the progenitor of that vile bile which is "reality" TV.



23skidoo 30th Jun 2015		A lot of today's reality shows I think owe a bit to this one. I was just watching William Shatner's Weird or What and it was basically the same show, with a touch of his friend Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of thrown in.



Neil Forbes 30th Jun 2015		I have the cassette("You Won't Believe Your Ears") and have transferred it to CD myself, then saw a commercially-issued CD of it some time back. Yes, RC, buy it if you can find it. It's absolutely hilarious!



Record Collector 30th Jun 2015		Wes Harrison had this on a cassette years ago it's available on CD if I see it I'll buy it



Record Collector 30th Jun 2015		This was on same time as that's incredible or as I used to call it years later that's not so incredible



Neil Forbes 30th Jun 2015		I remember episodes of this on Station NBN-Newcastle(in Australia) years ago. So-so TV. Filled a scheduling gap but that's about all it did. Occasionally something interesting came on, like a live performance by vocal sound-effects comedian, Wes Harrison, that's about the only bit that I can recall of this otherwise forgettable show.



23skidoo 5th Jun 2015		I accidentally clicked UK instead of US for this show. I've asked the mods to correct. I have fond memories of this show. For some reason Marie Osmond giving a passionate reading of some of Hugo Ball's gibberish "dada" poetry still sticks in my mind!

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