Live from St. Louis, it’s Pazuzu Tonight! According to Deadline, Destination America will be hosting the first live televised exorcism in U.S. history.
Unfortunately, Exorcism: Live! (that’s not a joke, that’s the real title) will not feature Joel Osteen shouting “the power of Christ compels you!” Rather, the exorcism will be performed by the cast of Ghost Asylum, better known as the Tennessee Wraith Chasers. The Tennessee Wraith Chasers, according to their website, are not only “an elite team of paranormal investigators and researchers,” but judging by the looks of them perform in a P.O.D. tribute band on weekends.
The boys—who apparently have not gotten the memo that women can also feel good by bustin’ ghosts—will be joined by psychic medium Chip Coffey and will use “state of the art technology to do daytime and nighttime investigations,” collecting as much evidence as they can of demonic entities on live TV. The home in question is located in the suburbs of St. Louis and is known as “the original Exorcist House” after an exorcism was performed there on an anonymous teenager, “Roland Doe,” in the ’40s. The Tennessee Wraith Chasers are advised to avoid the stairs and refrain from pissing on the carpet.
In 1991, ABC’s 20/20 aired 26 minutes of a six-hour exorcism; at the time, producers defended the journalistic integrity of the segment, saying America is “absolutely fascinated with the idea that tangible evidence of the devil might be on television.” Barbara Walters and company, unfortunately, were about 16 years too early—The Pickup Artist premiered on VH1 in 2007.
Exorcism: Live! will air on Destination America on October 30th.