- Monsters Inside Me
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Monsters Inside Me Genre Documentary Directed by Kyle McCabe Country of origin USA Language(s) English No. of seasons 2 No. of episodes 17 Production Running time 60 min. Production company(s) Optomen Productions Distributor Animal Planet Broadcast Original channel Animal Planet Original run July 1, 2009 – present External links Website Monsters Inside Me is a television documentary series about parasites that live on or, in many cases, inside the human body.
Contents
Summary
Each episode has dramatizations that show illnesses caused by parasitic infection. Once the parasites have been identified, their life cycles are illustrated. Justin Peed is the narrator, and biologist Dan Riskin, PhD, explains how and why each parasite finds its host.[1]
A season 2 has been announced and Animal Planet is currently taking parasite story submissions on the show's website.[2]
The second season premiered on Wednesday June 9, 2010.
As of January 7, 2011, Monsters Inside Me can be seen in Canada on DiscoveryScience.
Episodes
# Title Directed by Written by Original air date 1 "Sleeper Cells" Alexis Siggers Alexis Siggers and Dominic Stobart 7 January 2009 An examination of how slow-acting organisms can wreak havoc on the human body. A one year old boy is affected with Baylisascaris procyonis worms that affect his vision and life. A veteran in the vietnam war is affected with Wuchereria bancrofti. A man is an affected with Schistosoma worms that affect his brain. 2 "Outbreak" Steve McLaughlin Steve McLaughlin and Dominic Stobart 8 July 2009 A closer look at the parasite outbreaks from across the U.S. A group of kids is affected by Angiostrongylus cantonensis worms after they eat salad that had infected snails. An outbreak of Cryptosporidium hominis occurs in a south part of the city. A man near Dallas, Texas had Leishmania parasites transferred from Sandflies. 3 "Sex Maniacs" Alexis Siggers Alexis Siggers and Dominic Stobart 15 July 2009 A look at the different strategies parasites use to reproduce, including Bed bug infestations, maggots 4 "Masters of Disguise" Sally Freeman Sally Freeman and Dominic Stobart 22 July 2009 The most deceptive parasites. A teenager is infected with the acanthamoeba that almost destroys her sight. A senior is infected with strongyloides from 74 years ago. A runner is infected with babesiosis. 5 "Living with the Enemy" Kyle McCabe Kyle McCabe and Dominic Stobart 29 July 2009 About parasites people must live with that doctors cannot cure. A woman is infected with Tapeworm cysts that reduces her flow of spinal fluid. A child is infected with toxoplasma that threatens to take his sight. A New York banker is infected with malaria. 6 "Hijackers" Edward Hambleton Dominic Stobart 5 August 2009 Parasites that take over bodies. A 10 year old is infected with the brain-eating amoeba. A man is infected with African sleeping sickness. A boy is infected with toxocara that threatens to take his sight. 7 "Suicide Attackers" 9 June 2010 A fit and active dance instructor is suddenly stopped in her tracks by unbearable abdominal pain and vomiting, and a mysterious mass in her colon is revealed to be decaying Anisakis worms. A middle-aged banker gets seizures from the pork tapeworm that he picked up from traveling to his home country, Haiti. A scientist is infected with the worms that cause river blindness. 8 "Feeding Frenzy" 16 June 2010 The vicious Entamoeba parasite attacks a schoolteacher from the inside out. A dancer becomes concerned when her allergic outbreaks become lumpy and infected which is discovered to be the result of the parasite, Trichinella spiralis. A retiree gets scabies from mites he got from staying in the hospital in the past. 9 "Cold Blooded Killers" 23 June 2010 A nine-year-old hockey player comes down with encephalitis from the Acanthamoeba, which causes him to lose his concentration and balance, almost killing him. A computer programmer gets severe malaria from the Plasmodium parasite that makes him lose control of his mind and post-malarial neurological symptoms two weeks after an apparent recovery. A marathon runner deals with Leishmaniasis, which causes his spleen to swell 10 "Lurkers" 7 July 2010 A girl is infected with cryptosporidium that causes her to lose a third of her body weight; a man suffers from a severe brain & spinal infection which paralyzes and eventually kills him. Reception
Mike Hale of The New York Times said that "there’s science amid the frightening stories and said that the series really grossed him out."[3] Anne Louise Bannon of Common Sense Media said that "parents need to know that there is a lot of gross stuff in the series and the show has good educational content except for the tips on how to protect yourself from parasites because the information is vague".[4]
References
- ^ Perigard, Mark (2009-07-01). "Buggin’ out: Animal Planet’s horrifying ‘Monsters’ worms its way into your brain". Boston Herald. http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/television/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1182282. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ "Monsters Inside Me: Get On The Show". Animal Planet. http://animal.discovery.com/tv/monsters-inside-me/casting/. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
- ^ Hale, Mike (2009-06-30). "The Enemy Within: Wrigglies From Hell". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/arts/television/01monsters.html?_r=1. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ Bannon, Anne Louise. "Monsters Inside Me Review". Common Sense Media. http://www.commonsensemedia.org/user/anne-louise-bannon-0. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
External links
Categories:- 2000s American television series
- 2009 American television series debuts
- Animal Planet shows
- American documentary television series
- Parasites
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