Penn & Teller: Fool Us
| Penn & Teller: Fool Us | |
|---|---|
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| Also known as | Fool Us Penn & Teller: Fool Us in Vegas |
| Genre | |
| Created by |
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| Presented by |
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| Starring |
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| Judges |
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| Narrated by | Dominic Byrne |
| Composer(s) | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 35 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Johnny Thompson |
| Location(s) |
Fountain Studios (season 1) Penn & Teller Theater (season 2-) |
| Running time |
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| Production company(s) | 1/17 Productions & September Films |
| Distributor | DCD Rights |
| Release | |
| Original network |
ITV, STV, UTV (U.K.) The CW (U.S.) |
| Picture format | 1080i |
| Original release | 18 June 2011 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Penn & Teller: Fool Us is a British-American television programme. It was hosted by Jonathan Ross in its first two seasons, then Alyson Hannigan from season three. Fool Us was filmed at Fountain Studios in London, England (Season 1) and the Penn & Teller Theater in Las Vegas (Season 2 onward). Fool Us is a magic competition in which magicians perform tricks in front of American magician-comedian duo Penn & Teller. If Penn & Teller cannot figure out how a trick was done, the magician or magicians who performed it win a five-star trip to Las Vegas to perform as the opening act in Penn & Teller's world-famous show, also at the Rio Hotel & Casino.
It was announced on 28 June 2012 that ITV had cancelled the show, despite its averaging 4 million viewers, higher than the timeslot average. After finding moderate ratings success in running the ITV-produced episodes during the summer of 2014, The CW ordered a second season of original episodes to air in 2015. The second season was a ratings hit for The CW, giving the network its highest ratings in that time slot compared to the previous 5 years. On August 11, 2015 the series was renewed for a third season by The CW. Season 3 premiered on July 13, 2016, now hosted by Alyson Hannigan. On October 24, 2016, The CW renewed the show for a fourth season.
The plot of Fool Us was first commissioned by John Kaye Cooper, the controller of entertainment for ITV. In February 2011, it was announced that due to good viewing figures, a series of eight episodes had been commissioned, and would be produced by September Films and 1/17 Productions. The eight episodes were shot in a ten-day filming block, and began airing in June 2011.
Each episode starts off with the introduction stating the purpose of the series. Penn and Teller come out and take their seat towards center stage, and hopeful magicians perform their acts in front of them with a live studio audience. After each performance, Penn and Teller privately confer and may examine any of the trick's props, while the host interviews the magicians. Penn and Teller then reveal if they know how the trick was performed, typically using cryptic language or writing down the method and presenting it privately to the magicians to confirm, as to avoid exposing the secrets behind the trick. If Penn and Teller are wrong, or cannot come up with how the trick was done, the magician wins the opportunity to later perform at one of Penn and Teller's Las Vegas shows. At the end of the episode, Penn and Teller perform a magic act of their own.
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