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Is Homeopathy So Bad?

by Kirsten Sanford, Jul 10 2009

This video is a brilliant piss-take on holistic healing. We are quite lucky the Brits evolved such a fantastic, dry wit. This kind of programming would never make it on US television for fear of offending an advertiser. Found via Boing-boing and Cory Doctorow.

That Mitchell and Webb Look: Homeopathic A&E

21 Responses to “Is Homeopathy So Bad?”

  1. uksceptic says:

    I watched this when it went out. Excellent.

    In the same episode there was this great sketch on pareidolia.

  2. Brian says:

    It’s kind of amazing how rapidly this video propogated through the skeptical blogs. Fully deserving of the exposure, though.

  3. John Ellis says:

    And there is another one about nutritionists http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SavsJYXWgm8

    • Max says:

      This kind of programming would never make it on US television for fear of offending an advertiser.

      It airs on BBC Two, which is commercial-free public broadcasting.

  4. Brian M says:

    That was great. I love this kind of stuff.

  5. Drew says:

    Those guys did a sitcom called Peep Show as well. Here’s a great clip from it that skeptics would appreciate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iIWCFW8o5A

    Sorry for the crappy video quality.

  6. Pat in Montreal says:

    Wow, I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time! :D

  7. Durk Adurka says:

    Oh really, “this sort” of satire wouldn’t make it onto US TV? Yeah you’re right, the Simpsons, Southpark, Family Guy, My Name is Earl, Saturday Night Live etc are very constrained and mild compared to the fearless Brits!

  8. Miles Rind says:

    Check out this video from the same show, in which atheists find a “revelation” of the non-existence of God inside a watermelon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xfqht0LEOWQ

  9. Smorg says:

    Roflmao Thanks for posting this! :o)

  10. oldebabe says:

    Too funny. More! More!

  11. Max says:

    Mythbusters did an episode showing that commercial teeth whiteners don’t work, but it was shelved because advertisers like Colgate protested.
    They were set to do an episode on hacking RFID chips, but it was canned due to pressure from all the big credit card companies.

  12. ScepticsBane says:

    “SkepticBlog is a collaboration among some of the most recognized names in promoting science, critical thinking, and skepticism”

    Critical thinking?? By ridicule?
    Promoting Science?? By Misrepresentation?
    Skepticism??

    Surely you jest, what you promote is the pretension of adherence and devotion to science while quietly undermining alternative viewpoints by ridicule.

    Do amuse yourselves because the general public has advanced to the wise avoidance of routine use of antibiotics, unnecessary surgeries and pharmaceutical drugs with killer side effects.

    Hilarious take off on Homeopathy? Wait till you’re so sick you can’t get out of the bed and Homeopathy is the only thing that works. I guarantee a rapid recant and conversion.

  13. Scott Carnegie says:

    // Wait till you’re so sick you can’t get out of the bed and Homeopathy is the only thing that works. //

    How can it work, there’s no active ingredients! Feel free to continue believing in magic.

  14. ScepticsBane says:

    @Scott Carengie

    It is the task of real genuine scientific researchers to find out how Homeopathy can work.

    For example the research by M. Ennis published in Inflammation Research, vol 53, pg181, clearly showing that a high dilution solution with all the molecules of a stimulant diluted away was STILL able to stimulate a biological effect as though the missing molecules were still there. The interesting thing is that Ennis is a skeptic of Homeopathy and set out to disprove that such a thing could happen but instead ended up seeing the effect for herself and she had the courage to publish it and admit that there was no scientific explanation. Yes the experiment has been repeated, with similar positive results, by others in other laboratories.

    This experiment does not “prove” Homeopathy but does indicate that there might be some physical basis, necessitating investigation.

    Feel free to indulge in your ridicule about magic but know that you are damaging real science and their right to investigate unknown or anomalous phenomena, which is what science is all about.

    But don’t insult our intelligence by pontifically asserting the mantle of science after peremptorily dismissing Homeopathy based on your personal feelings, outmoded conceptions of chemistry or half witted statistical analysis about “placebo” effect.

    • Yngve says:

      //It is the task of real genuine scientific researchers to find out how Homeopathy can work.//

      It is actually the task of real genuine scientific researchers to find out IF homeopathy works. Thus far there are no properly conducted studies concluding that homeopathy works better than placebo.

      The theoretical underpinnings of homeopathy are ludicrous. IF there were studies showing the efficacy of homeopathy (beyond placebo) the existing theory would still be an unlikely candidate for an explanation; it defies our well-supported understanding of physics and chemistry!

  15. names.txt says:

    Everything Family Guy is genius! I was upset to hear about another banned episode, but I guess why they get released on DVDs XD

  16. Melkor says:

    Truly awesome! The only drawback is they don’t speak distinctly enough for a foreigner. Could someone please write the script of the video for me so I can spread it with subtitles among our sceptical group?