EXORCISM: LIVE!
Destination America, 9:00 p.m. ET
This is not a recommendation – just a note to those seeking bizarre Halloween-themed programming tonight. Not since Geraldo Rivera entered Al Capone’s vault has live TV offered up such an obvious carney stunt – but here it is. The exorcism scheduled to be performed isn’t on a person, but on a house – which makes it a minor exorcism, not a major one. (I would have considered this a minor TV event, regardless.) It takes place at the same suburban St. Louis house in which a reported 1940s demonic possession of “James Doe” inspired author William Peter Blatty to write The Exorcist. Trying to rid this house of its evil spirits – who, if they’re still present, must really like hanging out in the suburbs of St. Louis – is a team led by James Long, Archbishop of the United States Old Catholic Church, which is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Long, however, is affiliated with several paranormal TV programs, including The Possessed, Gates of Hell, and The Haunted Boy: The Secret Diary of the Exorcist. Helping the Archbishop on this televised Long shot: a group of paranormal researchers who call themselves the Tennessee Wraith Chasers. Sounds more like a drink. Will I be taping this to watch later? Yes. Would I watch it live with a World Series game on, or recommend it to you? In two well-chosen words: Hell, no.