''America's Psychic Challenge'' is a competitive reality TV series on the
Lifetime Television Network.
The show originated in the UK with the title ''Britain's Psychic Challenge''.
Bunim/Murray Productions
Bunim/Murray Productions is an entertainment production company based out of Glendale, California, and is considered a pioneer in the reality television genre. It is best known for '' The Real World'', ''Road Rules'', ''Bad Girls Club''. Mary-El ...
produced the American version for Lifetime TV.
During a national search of thousands, sixteen self-professed psychics were interviewed and tested to gain a spot to compete on television. For the program, tests were created by the production company with the stated goal of assessing contestants' supernatural abilities. As each psychic is tested, they are awarded points based on the results of the tests. At the end of every show, the two psychics with the highest scores move forward to continue in the competition, and the low-scored contestants leave the series. Ultimately, the final two psychics face off to compete for the grand prize of $100,000 and the title of "America’s #1 Psychic".
The show premiered on the Lifetime Television Network on October 12, 2007.
Eight episodes aired with
John Burke as the show host.
The winner of the first season was
Michelle Whitedove.
In the final challenge, Whitedove and her challenger Jackie Barrett were handed a photograph of a man. As psychic detectives, they were given thirty minutes to find a stuntman that was buried underground in ten acres of California desert. Whitedove laid the photograph of the man on the exact location, as men dug up the box in which a stuntman lay buried with an oxygen tank.
Other competitors were
Tori Allah, Jeff Baker, Sloan Bella, Jamie Clark, Silvana Fillmore, Joseph McBratney, Lynn Miller, Naryza Sanchez, Catherine Powell, Karyn Reese, Zenobia Simmons, Kim Stempien, Joseph Tittel, and Robin Zodiac.
February 2011 winner Michelle Whitedove was invited to participate in
Psychic Challenge International or Het Zesde Zintuig.
Winners from six countries were brought together for extreme psychic challenges in the Netherlands.
As of January 2012, the Psychic Challenge format has gained worldwide success.
Zodiac Rights was sold the Psychic Challenge franchise and script into 15 countries or territories: USA, Norway, Great Britain, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Belgium, Romania, Chile, Australia, Russia (on the TNT channel), Latvia, and Ukraine (on the STB channel). Russia is airing the twenty-second season, and Ukraine is airing the twenty-first season.
See also
*
Bitva extrasensov – Similar TV show in Russia
*
Exploring Psychic Powers Live – Similar TV show aired live on June 7, 1989
*
List of prizes for evidence of the paranormal
References
External links
America's Psychic Challenge website (via Internet Archive)WATCH the TV show on lineRDF World Wide Rights
The Psychic Challenge Franchise
Internet Movie DatabaseMovie WebNY TimesLiving2 UK TVBritain's Psychic ChallengeBulgaria's Psychic Challenge - "Ясновидци" ("Yasnovidci")Michelle Whitedove WINNER!
{{Lifetime Shows
2000s American reality television series
2007 American television series debuts
2007 American television series endings
Lifetime (TV network) original programming
Paranormal reality television series
Television series by Bunim/Murray Productions