''Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed'' is a series of television shows in which the methods behind magic tricks and illusions are explained. In its original incarnation there were four shows in 1997–1998 and a special in 2002 broadcast on the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

network in the United States, and on

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

and ITV in the United Kingdom. In 2008–2009, a new series of thirteen shows was broadcast by

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...

in the United States and

ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a line-up that consists of sports, cult classi ...

in the United Kingdom. On May 1, 2012, reruns of the first season began airing on BIO in the United States.

Cast

The first four specials and the full series featured incognito magician

Val Valentino Val Valentino (born Leonard Montano, June 14, 1956)Brownfield, Paul (October 31, 1998)"Fox Isn't Disillusioned as Masked Magician Series Ends". ''Los Angeles Times''. is an American magician. Valentino starred in a series of four television sp ...

as the Masked Magician performing large-scale illusions and a few smaller-scale close up magic tricks before revealing the secrets of the tricks. The performers for the 1997–1998 specials were Sybil Azur,

Michelle Berube Michelle Berube is an American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of ...

, Marisa Gilliam, Denise Holland, Kelly Danielle Jones, Jennifer Keyes, Diane Klimaszewski, Elaine Klimaszewski, and Elizabeth Ramos. The show returned for a special in 2002. Kimi Bateman, Kelly Cooper, Noelle Naone, and Kadee Sweeney performed with the magician (who, for this iteration of the show, was not Valentino, but instead an unknown performer). A 13-part series was televised across 2008 and 2009. Allie Cohen, Lyndsay Haldorson, Samantha Faye Lee, and Lauren Melendez were the principal performers. The original series was presented by actor

Mitch Pileggi Mitch Pileggi (born April 5, 1952) is an American actor. He played Horace Pinker in '' Shocker'', Walter Skinner on ''The X-Files'', Colonel Steven Caldwell on '' Stargate Atlantis'', Ernest Darby in ''Sons of Anarchy'', and Harris Ryland in t ...

. In the fifth special, Pileggi was replaced by narrator

Mark Thompson Mark Thompson may refer to: Sports * Mark Thompson (American football) (born 1994), American football player * Mark Thompson (baseball) (born 1971), baseball player * Mark Thompson (footballer) (born 1963), former Australian rules football premie ...

, who served as the introducer for all the other episodes. Pileggi returned for the revived series where he solely serves as narrator.

Episodes

Production

The series is made by production company

Nash Entertainment Nash Entertainment is a reality television and feature film production company. Founded in 1994 by Bruce Nash, the first production under its name was Before They Were Stars. The company is located at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood, Calif ...

. The title alluded to the magician's code: the promise by working magicians not to reveal the basis of their tricks, or else risk getting blackballed by fellow magicians. The first special, which aired in November 1997, scored the highest ratings for any Fox special to that point; another three specials were broadcast through 1998. Fox returned on May 15, 2002, with ''Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed 5''. A new magician was wearing a new mask with artificial hair, and a purple glistening outfit. It was never revealed who portrayed the magician in this episode. MyNetworkTV bought thirteen new episodes for broadcast in the U.S. starting in the fall of 2008, with the first episode shown on October 2. They were shot at 516 South Anderson Street in Los Angeles, () during the summer of 2008. The assistants learned the illusion the same day they shot it and filmed four to six illusions per day. These specials were also shown on

TVB Pearl TVB Pearl is a terrestrial television channel in Hong Kong owned by Television Broadcasts Limited. Established on 19 November 1967, it shares headquarters with TVB's other properties at TVB City at 77 Chun Choi Street in Tseung Kwan O Indus ...

in Hong Kong, with the first episode shown on June 13, 2010. Valentino was credited as a producer and

returned as narrator, although he did not appear on camera. The show also aired in the UK on ITV4, and in Australia on 7Two with new narration by

Grant Denyer Grant Craig Denyer (born 12 September 1977) is an Australian television and radio presenter and motor racing driver, who has worked for several television networks, including Seven Network and Network 10, mostly serving as a presenter. In 2018 ...

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

divas

Maria Kanellis Mary Louis "Maria" Kanellis-Bennett (born February 25, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling manager, actress, model and former singer, She is best known for her time in Impact Wrestling where she was a member of ...

and

Eve Torres Eve Torres Gracie (born Eve Marie Torres on August 21, 1984) is an American actress, dancer, model, martial arts instructor, and former professional wrestler. She is best known for her time with WWE, where she was the first ever three-time WW ...

appeared in the first episode as part of a trick. There is an Australian version of the show that first aired at 7:30 Monday, June 14, 2010, on

Network Seven The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

and has changed to Sundays at 6:30 on 7Two. This is the same show as the US version with some minor changes. This show also began to air on Australian pay television network Fox8 on Wednesday September 21, 2011. This version is a duplicate of the American version. Since the first run of the series, the shows have been rerun many times on Sundays on Channel 7. The show also had a Portuguese adaptation in the public TV Channel SIC, essentially a duplicate of the American version only with a different Portuguese narrator.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Breaking The Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed 1990s American television series 2000s American television series 1997 American television series debuts 2002 American television series endings 2008 American television series debuts 2009 American television series endings American television magic shows Fox Broadcasting Company original programming MyNetworkTV original programming Television shows filmed in Los Angeles