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I'm making this post because this is going to be the last time I mention TAPS in hardcore rant style on this forum. Firstly, I present the Sci Fi channel's official description of the show.


http://www.scifi.com/ghosthunters/about/

Plumbers, guys. They're plumbers. They are not real investigators and not a one has a degree of any kind. Not even the guy in charge of their tech equipment.

The MH team has a frickin parapsychologist. The guy has a doctorate for crying out loud. The host has reporter experience. Granted, it's just with cooking and how to shows and the such, but it's a heck of a lot more experience than the plumbers. The camera guy has REAL experience with cameras. So what if he's an artsy fartsy and likes the extreme close ups? I remember MTV's FEAR had a thing for those close ups too. It's TV and the show is really about their reactions, as is the TAPS show. We can leave out the psychic because of the nature of his trade. It's not important and he hardly ever talks anymore. Besides, at least he's not claiming to be possessed every 10 minutes.


Anyway. It's TV. TAPS was created for the same reason that MH was created. To entertain.

As a final jab to all the enfatuated fans of TAPS, I give you this quote from the Sci Fi Channel's "about" page concerning the show.

"Plumbers by day — ghost hunters by night. This one-hour weekly docu-soap from the creator/executive producer of American Chopper..."


Professionals my foot.

I recently showed the Tombstone Arizona episodes of "Ghost Hunters" to a group including two ladies from Australia. They were amazed by the "plumbers by day, ghost-hunters at night" premise of the show and called it bizarre.

It may be different in the U.K. and in Australia, but in America there's no such thing as a "professional" parapsychologist. Few colleges offer degrees in parapsychology.

Many paranormal and ghost-hunting groups exist, most have people who had day jobs and pursue their hobby at night-time. What's the problem with that? These folks have families to support and bills to pay, and they don't charge clients for ghost-hunting. (Though I'm sure Sci-Fi pays them now, and underwrites all the trans-Atlantic travel.)

As for being plumbers, it seems this is a suspicious profession in Great Britain, but it's a respected one over here. I mean, it's not as if Jason annd Grant were garage mechanics, is it?!

But yes, both GH annd MH are in the business of entertainment, and both have their fans.

Pat D.

Don't know what part of the US you're in, but in my part and anywhere in between, plumbers are seen as overweight with a low rise pants that make you wanna say "say no to crack." They're not as respected as you think. Now then, it is my point that these TAPS people are amateurs and that it is ONLY a hobby. The problem I had with some of TAPS's militant fans is that they kept claiming that TAPS were professional. No college in the UK offers parapsychology as a major either. But that's where the psychology part comes in. I guess you can focus your psychology major down to paranormal psychology. Anyway, this was just my way to shut up idiots claiming that just because someone has a cute little uniform and doesn't use a medium; it doesn't make them a professional. Not by a longshot.

I come from the same state as the guys from TAPS, and eventhough plumbers are seen as overweight with low rise pants and make you wanna say no to crack, it is NOT a disrespected profession. Plumbers make good money, and in some cases, very good money. I would hardly say Grant or Jason fit those descriptions.

I guess an actress, a make up artist/hair stylist, and a rock star are much more respected?

I would rather say yes to crack than yes to acting....

The only actress is the host. The others were actual tech crew before the show made it big in the UK. Anyways, just because they get paid good money, doesn't mean they're respected. They work for roto-rooter(sp), that automatically makes them a joke. Now, if they were self employed plumbers, that would be different. But they are employed by a national chain. They are the butt of many jokes. Like it or not. :P Also, the shrieking brit is far more entertaining then the bickering plumbers. If I wanted to watch bickering, I would watch American Chopper, the show that TAPS's producers have on another network. Besides, cool bikes and bickering are a lot cooler than ghost buster wannabees and bickering. :P

You do have one problem Ghost Hunters as a show has been on for just a few years TAPS as an organization has been around since 1991.

So TAPS has been doing this longer.

From what i understand the only thing staged on Ghost Hunters is the job aspect as from what i recall Jason is a regional manager for Roto Rooter and got Grant his job but take heart some former TAPS members are getting a new series on SciFi called Ghost Hunters International and they'll basically be TAPS in Europe.

Starts January...maybe they can ask Ciaran to tag along.

Just because they've been around since 1991 doesn't mean they are any better than Most Haunted. They are still NOT professionals in anything but the field of plumbing. It is still all pseudoscience, no matter how much they repeat that they are scientific. They're still just running around with cameras. No different from MH. Just accept it and move on.