» Psychic at Large Options

[Young and Free]

"Psychic at Large" is a reality show about psychic Char Margolis. It airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on the Sci Fi Channel.

The first two episode have aired. I hated the first episode (the one where Char went to the nudist camp) because it seemed too gimmicky. And then there was that totally random scene of Char going to the home of Burt Ward (who's best known for playing Robin on TV's "Batman") and she gave his wife a reading. His wife is a terrible actress--her crying seemed so rehearsed. The whole episode looked more staged than what we typically see on reality shows.

Episode 2 was better. I thought the scene where Char did the reading in the diner looked realistic, with the couple who was coping wiht the death of their baby. It didn't look like those people were acting. The police officers who were on the radio show with her also seemed credible.

This post has been edited by Young and Free: Apr 2, 2006 @ 2:23 pm.

[elmothefuzzy]

I don't like how she used the her gifts at the car dealership to get some money off the price for a care. There is just something bad about using her gift in that way.

This post has been edited by elmothefuzzy: Apr 1, 2006 @ 1:53 am.

[SVNBob]

I think the title of a current NBC show made them change the name of this one. Because I'm constantly reminded of the old joke about the APB for the escaped psychic midget.

[Young and Free]

I don't like how she used the her gifts at the car dealership to get some money off the price for a care. There is just something bad about using her gift in that way.

I didn't like that either. It makes me wonder what other lengths she goes to for monetary gain.

When I watched this show, I was reminded of a news program I saw about two years ago that exposed TV psychics (people like John Edwards and James Van Praagh) for being phony. Some former employees of the psychics came forward and spilled the dirt. What they would do is when people signed up to be studio audience members, they had to give some personal info like their home address and phone number, and people who worked for the "psychics" would find out where these people lived, go to their homes and try to "accidentally" meet them in some way and get more pesonal info from them. One ruse would be to pretend to be a door-to-door salesperson or someone who was lost in the neighborhood.

Another way the fake psychics would find out info about people in the studio audience would be to plant their employees (incongito) in the audience while everyone is standing in line to get into the studio. The employees would then start small talk with the unsuspecting audience members and find out personal info about them and then secretly tell the "psychic" so the "psychic" would have the info in advance.

When I found out what lengths these fake psychics went to to get personal info in advance on unsuspecting people, I was disgusted to say the least.

I do believe there are real psychics, but the ones with their own TV shows are suspicious, in my opinion. There's a lot on "Psychic at Large" that looks staged/recreated.

This post has been edited by Young and Free: Apr 1, 2006 @ 1:41 pm.

[Kat D]

When I watched this show, I was reminded of a news program I saw about two years ago that exposed TV psychics (people like John Edwards and James Van Praagh) for being phony. Some former employees of the psychics came forward and spilled the dirt.

Maybe you're thinking of other psychics. That's never been the case with Edward or van Praagh. The rap on them is "cold reading".

What they would do is when people signed up to be studio audience members, they had to give some personal info like their home address and phone number, and people who worked for the "psychics" would find out where these people lived, go to their homes and try to "accidentally" meet them in some way and get more pesonal info from them. One ruse would be to pretend to be a door-to-door salesperson or someone who was lost in the neighborhood.

James Randi wrote about a much less famous psychic years ago who did that (and it was proven that Arthur Ford used research to pad his readings). Randi also did it himself as a young man, just to show how effective it could be.

But I'm pretty sure that no one has documented anything like that with the current group of famous psychics.

I think the general position of most skeptics now is that most people are gullible enough that psychics can do pretty well with cold reading (and tv editing) and don't even need to use the tricks.

This post has been edited by Kat D: Apr 1, 2006 @ 4:09 pm.

[MysteriousKitty]

I am someone who goes to a psychic. I have gone to her for a few years now. She is very much on the money and doesn't just read my thoughts. I am always however skeptic of the psychics on tv becuase you can edit so much in and out of the show and stories. Cindy seems to be more genuine than John and James. But I still have doubts.

[Young and Free]

Maybe you're thinking of other psychics. That's never been the case with Edward or van Praagh. The rap on them is "cold reading".

Actually, the show that exposed the phony psychics was about John Edwards and James Van Praagh because I specifically remember that the former employees who came forward and spilled the dirt used work for them, and Edwards' and Van Paraagh's talk shows were on the air at the time. They even showed footage from the talk shows when the employees were pointing out the phony readings.

Cindy seems to be more genuine than John and James. But I still have doubts.

Do you mean Char, not Cindy? Char Margolis is the psychic. Cindy Margolis is the blonde bikini model who claims to be the most downloaded woman on the Internet. (She also used to host "Wild On" on E!)

There's so much of "Psychic at Large" that could be staged, edited or recreated that it's hard for me to believe that everything on the show really happened that way in real life.

This post has been edited by Young and Free: Apr 2, 2006 @ 2:23 pm.

[trifle]

John Edward is accused of both hot and cold reading:
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/jaroff/...,100555,00.html

As for Psychic at Large, the first episode was so cheesy I couldn't watch more than a few minutes. If we're supposed to take her seriously, why send her to a nudist camp? What the heck does that have to do with anything?

I forgot it was on last night. It's that unique type of show: instantly forgettable.

[Kat D]

Char Margolis has done live readings on Larry King Live several times. (Transcripts available at his CNN site). She was horrible--just kept guessing initials, getting it wrong, guessing some more.

What an embarrassment! No wonder this show is so cheesy and unconvincing.

[Young and Free]

Thanks for the info, Kat D. I don't watch "Larry King Live" and I'd never heard of Char Margolis before this Sci Fi Channel show. So it sounds like she really is a phony.

[wansen]

I actually enjoyed last night's episode. The dating was cute, even if the second guy was kinda creepy. Char looks great, she shouldn't have too much trouble reeling them in.

As far as the real/fake issue, I'm conflicted. I've never gone to a psychic or had any personal experiences in that realm, but I do have some amount of belief in it. What makes me think that show isn't staged is that everyone would have to be in on it--cast, crew, producers, network. While many of those people may have a vested interest in keeping the fact that it's a fraud secret, those that she "reads" probably don't. Shes probably read for dozens and dozens of people during the course of filming. It just seems inevitable that if it were a huge conspiracy and completely staged that it wouldn't stay secret for long.

There are some aspects of it that are definetly staged, the "Laguna Beach" effect of being told to go here or here and talk about this or that. Except here its, wouldn't it be fun to read a stripper, and take a road trip to vegas? And the producers make it happen. Which is pretty standard for reality shows.

[ChicagoCita]

The dating was cute, even if the second guy was kinda creepy.

Totally agree on both counts. I thought the second guy (at least as they edited him) was someone I'd not want to see again... ever.

I don't care much whether this show is real or not. It's just goofy (and therefore highly entertaining). Where else can you get ukelele solos? Or a show where the top celebrity is Janice Dickinson? Or see a psychic reading take place ten feet from a pole dancer?

My favorite: Char showing up at Burt Ward's house. (Man, neither he nor I look a thing like we did when I was eight and just lurrvvvvvvved him.)

I watch this show just to see what Wacky Char is up to now.