"Paranormal State" (2007) TV series

User Rating:

4.4/10   

Director:

Gary Auerbach

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

10 December 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Reality-TV

Plot:

Story follows members of the famous Penn State Paranormal Research Society as they investigate strange and unusual phenomena across the country. Story also features their hectic lives as college students and faculty.

Plot Keywords:

Penn State Paranormal Research Society | Penn State

Cast

Ryan Buell

...

Founder / ... (37 episodes, 2007-2009)

(more)

Series Directed by
George Plamondon		(6 episodes, 2008)
Norm Green		(2 episodes, 2008)
Gary Auerbach		(unknown episodes)

Series Produced by
Rick Sasson	....	co-executive producer / executive producer (34 episodes, 2008-2009)
Jake Laufer	....	supervising producer / co-executive producer (31 episodes, 2008-2009)
Alan LaGarde	....	executive producer / co-executive producer (28 episodes, 2007-2009)
Sumithrin David	....	supervising producer / producer / ... (26 episodes, 2008-2009)
Chris Chaffin	....	producer / story producer (20 episodes, 2007-2008)
David Miller	....	co-executive producer (19 episodes, 2007-2008)
Libby Niles	....	story producer (15 episodes, 2008-2009)
Stacie Nice	....	field producer / producer (8 episodes, 2009)
Jen Gsell	....	field producer (7 episodes, 2007-2008)
Justin Bogardus	....	producer (7 episodes, 2009)
George Plamondon	....	executive producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Christopher Bozak	....	field producer (4 episodes, 2007-2008)
Gary Auerbach	....	executive producer (2 episodes, 2008)
Julie Auerbach	....	executive producer (2 episodes, 2008)
Lang Yee	....	line producer (2 episodes, 2009)
Daniel Powless	....	line producer (unknown episodes, 2007)
Autumn Humphreys	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Cinematography by
Brian Antonson		(23 episodes, 2008-2009)
Matthew Woolf		(unknown episodes)

Series Film Editing by
Yvette Mangassarian		(46 episodes, 2007-2009)
Jesse Friedman		(23 episodes, 2007-2008)
Jocelyn Rose Tarquini		(18 episodes, 2007-2009)
Jack Farrell		(17 episodes, 2007-2008)
Jonathan 'Shaw' Grandi		(15 episodes, 2009)
Sunny Bresin		(8 episodes, 2008)
Katie Covell		(unknown episodes)

Series Production Management
Lisa Dyer	....	production manager (2 episodes, 2008)
Stephen Curry	....	production manager (2 episodes, 2009)
Leigh Broadbent	....	production manager (unknown episodes)
Tommy Coriale	....	production manager (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Phil Lynch	....	sound editor (8 episodes, 2007-2008)
Vance Walden	....	sound re-recording mixer (4 episodes, 2008)
Julian 'Champ' Williams	....	assistant sound (2 episodes, 2008)
Sam Londe	....	sound supervisor (unknown episodes)
Matt Vowles	....	sound re-recording mixer (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Trevor Velin	....	camera operator (41 episodes, 2007-2009)
Brian Antonson	....	camera operator (19 episodes, 2007-2008)
David Cavallo	....	first assistant camera / camera operator / camera operator (19 episodes, 2009)
Malcolm Serrette	....	first assistant camera / camera operator (5 episodes, 2009)
Julian 'Champ' Williams	....	second assistant camera (4 episodes, 2008)
Jason Auerbach	....	cinematographer: additional footage (unknown episodes)
Joel Craig	....	camera operator (unknown episodes)

Series Editorial Department
Neil Fernandez	....	assistant editor / lead assistant editor / ... (33 episodes, 2007-2008)
Jason Auerbach	....	lead assistant editor (20 episodes, 2007-2008)
Chris Morey	....	on-line assistant editor (20 episodes, 2007-2008)
Shane Lefler	....	assistant editor (20 episodes, 2009)
Will Vano	....	post-production assistant (16 episodes, 2009)
Austin Michael Scott	....	assistant editor (13 episodes, 2007-2008)
Yvette Mangassarian	....	lead editor / Lead Editor (6 episodes, 2008-2009)
Melissa Cochran	....	first assistant editor (6 episodes, 2009)
Amy Poitinger	....	post-production coordinator (6 episodes, 2009)
J.D. Richardson	....	apprentice assistant editor (6 episodes, 2009)
Ali Solaymanieh	....	assistant editor (6 episodes, 2009)
Benjamin Lindemuth-McRobie	....	assistant editor (unknown episodes)
Ryan Waara	....	post-production intern (unknown episodes)

Series Music Department
Jon Ernst	....	composer: theme music (20 episodes, 2007-2008)
Andrew Payne	....	composer: original music (19 episodes, 2007-2008)

Series Other crew
Melissa Fuller	....	office production assistant (20 episodes, 2007-2008)
Andrew S. Kahn	....	production assistant (16 episodes, 2009)
Shelby Michlin	....	assistant story editor (16 episodes, 2009)
Jesse Mang	....	production coordinator (15 episodes, 2009)
Brett W. Slakoff	....	production coordinator: office (10 episodes, 2008)
Dorit Avganim	....	production coordinator (8 episodes, 2008-2009)
Mark Meloccaro	....	rights and clearances (7 episodes, 2008)
Sean Nichols	....	production assistant (2 episodes, 2007-2008)
Jennifer Gjulameti	....	story production assistant (2 episodes, 2008)
Aisha Reyes	....	story assistant (2 episodes, 2008)
Will Vano	....	production assistant (2 episodes, 2009)
Dominique Biancosino	....	story logger (unknown episodes)
Joel Craig	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)
Darin J. Patterson	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)
Dina Saunders	....	production accountant (unknown episodes)
Grey S. Wears	....	story assistant (unknown episodes)
Dan Zarenkiewicz	....	production coordinator (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Four Seasons Productions (II)
• Go Go Luckey Productions

Distributors

• A&E Television Networks (2007-) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• Gotham Sound  walkies provided by
• Wow & Flutter  sound post-production

Also Known As:

"Out There" (USA) (working title)
"Paranormal U" (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

30 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Four Seasons Productions (II)

Terrible. Absolutely dreadful.

There really are no redeeming factors about this show. To put it simply, its just terrible. Absolutely dreadful. It's just a dreadful "reality" show. Not only that, it's dreadful fiction.

Imagine this: A bunch of overly-imaginative teenagers get together one night and go "Hey! Let's make a paranormal show just like "Ghost Hunters" and whatnot!" So they grab a camera, harass local residents and film random landscapes behind a painfully "trying-to-be-dramatic-yet-failing-misreably" monologue. This show is basically a bunch of teenagers running around with a home movie camera trying to make a really bad horror documentary. The only difference is this show actually has a budget and writers. A wasted budget and terrible writers.

Oh, the problems, how do I count thee? Well, first off, let's talk about this from a personal level. I am not a total skeptic when it comes to the paranormal. I am willing to believe in whats paranormal and whats not, and I'm sure there are a lot of people who feel the same. So, if you're going to do a show about the paranormal, you have to do a good job convincing the viewer that what they're seeing is either paranormal or not, because the viewer can easily believe otherwise. I hate to compare, but I don't see why not at this point. Take "Ghost Hunters" for example. In "Ghost Hunters" you can tell that the cast is leveled with the audience. They're not totally skeptical, yet they're still willing to keep the possibility of any paranormal anomalies in mind. They have to look at something and be willing to say "this is possible that its simply nothing". And, with that in mind, they set out to try and prove themselves wrong. They use technology and several other gadgets along with constant moderation to determine what is paranormal along with bearing the fact that what they may be monitoring could be nothing in mind. Not only are they trying to convince themselves what is real and what is not, in the process they are trying to convince you. That element of doubt is not present in "Paranormal State". Strike one.

In "Paranormal State", the cast simply says "there's this spooky place, and its HAUNTED, so we're going to find some SPIRITS!" And immediately you know and saying to yourself "Okay, convince me otherwise". The cast is not professional in their interviews. In fact, sometimes it seems like they're just harassing local residents of these so-called "haunted" areas. They have no real evidence to back up their claims besides assumptions and theories, and the best they can must up is somebody who "claims" they can contact the dead, with no one ever backing up who this person is and how valid they really are. They could have easily just picked some random person off the street and said "pretend you can contact spirits for our show" and went at it. In the "Mothman" episode, this just happens. Without any convincing evidence towards the end of the show, they bring this sort of individual out where he does a random, painfully scripted "reading" of a supposed area of how something is "haunted" in order to convince its audience. Very, very poor effort. I feel that one of the main problems with the show is that it feels scripted. During one of the episodes, the cast gets attacked by one of these "paranormal anomalies" at times in an attempt to be dramatic. These sort of dramatic sequences would make any skeptic laugh and even those who are on the fence realize what they're watching is just a bunch of tabloid-esquire trash. If the show's aim was to try and convince their audience that these "paranormal" events are real, they're doing a horrifically poor job at doing so. Strike two.

However, there is always the counter. Just one last viewpoint to see if the show is actually worth something. What if the show isn't trying to convince you that these paranormal events are real and are simply trying to entertain you with good fiction? It even fails on that level as well. If the show's creators were trying to craft fiction to entertain its audience, the writing is too poor and even on a fictional level, it fails to convince the audience that its cast members are really experiencing the unknown in all its full, horrifying glory. The writing is simply not compelling and even, dare I say, boring. Strike three.

So what remains of this show is simply a bunch of teenagers who are too willing or too gullible to believe in the paranormal simply because its simply much more amazing than reality who set out with a camera, a bad script and bad actors to generally just make a really bad horror documentary. Thats all the show is at this point. There is no reason to see it, not even for the entertainment factor, and there's no reason to care about it. To be blunt, its lame. There are absolutely no redeeming factors about this show.