Urban Legends

2007

Seasons & Episodes

  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 0

6.7| 0h30m| en| More Info
Released: 18 June 2007 Ended
Producted By:
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Urban Legends is a 30 minute 2007 television documentary-style series hosted by Michael Allcock. David Hewlett became the new host in 2011. In each episode, three urban legends are dramatized and presented to the television audience; the audience is then to speculate which one or two of the three is true. Each legend has witnesses to tell the story. For the one or two fake legends, the witnesses are actors, while the true legend uses real people affected by the story. Included in each episode are two quick quiz-like stories, called mini-myths, which air before the commercial breaks. Each will begin with the number of the mini myth and its name, followed by the story. After the commercial, the answer to the mini-myth is announced and the rest of the programming continues as it previously had. The show originally aired on the Biography Channel in the U.S., History Television in Canada and FX in the United Kingdom where it was hosted by Mark Dolan. It has also aired in Argentina, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Australia, Finland, Estonia, The Netherlands, Russia, Hungary and Denmark. The series briefly returned to the Syfy network as an "Original Series" with new episodes starting on Monday April 18, 2011, then moved to the regular time, Fridays at 10. The new episodes followed exactly the same format as the original but were narrated by Stargate's David Hewlett. The show now airs occasionally as reruns and mini-marathons on both SyFy and Chiller.

... View More
Stream Online

Stream with Prime Video

Cast

Director

Producted By

Trailers & Images

  • Top Credited Cast
  • |
  • Crew

Reviews

George Puckett As other reviewers pointed out, it's really easy to guess which stories are fake. Very little research is done on the U.S. locations, and it's clear they donno what they're talking' aboot. For instance, in one episode they say a city is in Maryland when the text on the screen says (Town), WA. There's no W in Maryland, c'mon guys.In one episode, the narrator pronounces conquistadors "con-kwiss- tadoors." It may seem pedantic but somebody got paid to make all these stupid mistakes, and someone else got paid to not correct them.There are innumerable bad puns and unnecessary alliterations. It almost seems like they took a script and then intentionally made it worse for each episode.
egbp1978 I'm only giving this show a 2 because the urban legend stories are sometimes interesting. Here's the problem: the "false" stories are TOO easy to identify because the "actors" in the story have major Canadian accents. Take some dude from Baltimore who, while out jogging, beats the crap out of another jogger who accidentally bumps into him. He thought dude stole his wallet, so he reclaimed it - only to get arrested because in fact, it was not his wallet, but the wallet of the guy who bumped into him and who he beat the crap out of. First, no young, good looking men in Baltimore would wear a bad wig (LOVE how at the end the actor's like "This isn't even my real hair what's that all aboot?!" SECOND, this guy and every 'actor' in the 'false' stories on the show have a thick Canadian accent!! IT IS SO OBVIOUS. I am from Philadelphia and I can tell! If you want to guess correctly which stories on this show are 'true' just pick the ones where A) The story derives from Canada (thus, Canadian accents) or B) the stories that derive from the United States have actual people in them (not actors) that do not have thick Canadian accents. Even the host has one - faint, but it's there. Accent aside, the actors are realllllly bad actors. I am sure, even with a limited budget, the show can at least do a little better than the worst. Where do you find these people?! Wait for it... while you're just 'out and aboot'?
el7 This only takes some of the enjoyment out of this Canadian import currently airing on the SyFy channel. They are still interestingly told, especially since you've heard about them before and wondered for yourself if they're true or not. Each episode has three main stories told in some detail, at least one of which is fake, along with a couple of filler stories ("mini-myths") told in broad strokes.Ironically, the silly filler stories told with bobble-head Photoshop animation are harder to guess correctly. They sound ridiculous to a fault, but they are as likely to be true as not. It's amazing how often truth is stranger than fiction. The show offers swifter gratification on the outcome of the mini-myths, revealing the truth after the commercial break, while waiting until the episode's end for the reveal on the three main myths.The three main event stories, however, are much, much easier to guess. The giveaway is the actors. The Canadian actors in the interview sections just cannot hide their pronunciation of "about." It sounds like "aboat." Every time I hear that distinctive pronunciation from a supposed interviewee, I am sure the story is fake, and lo and behold, it is.This is still a good show to have on in the background while you're doing other things. It's a good conversation starter.
greginess7878 This show presents you with three stories, two of which are urban legends, and one of which is supposedly true. Right before the show ends, the "true" story is revealed to you. Being an avid fan of all things 'urban legend', I decided to give this show a try. The episode I saw presented two urban legends (the kidney thief and the flashing car lights gang initiation) and one supposedly "true" story of a man who got shot in the chest, had the bullet lodged next to his spine, and then miraculously "coughed up" the bullet by way of divine intervention. This supposedly "true" story really piqued my interest, as it would be ostensibly impossible for that to have happened, seeing that the location of the bullet was nowhere near his airway or digestive system. After doing 2 minutes of internet research, I found out that the gentleman in question was actually shot in the mouth. Makes coughing up a bullet seem a little less "miraculous", right? What angers me the most is when writers insult the viewers' intelligence in such a patronizing manner. Don't get me wrong: I love fiction just as much as the next guy... just don't go claiming it to be "true", and then expect people to believe it was a bona-fide miracle. That's what TV evangelists are for!