The History Channel - the Fox News of the Social Sciences for terminal dumb asses

[Douglas Carpenter]

For a few days I have been switching to the History Channel hoping to find some sort of history documentary even if from a pop culture version of history. All I found were programs like that silly show about a pawn shop in Las Vegas or spinoffs from that show. Or I have found shows about truckers in Alaska or spinoffs shows about truck drivers in Alaska. Tonight I had a moment of hope when I saw that the programming was not about pawn shops, Alaskan truck drivers, swamp people or lumber jacks. What I found instead was show after show speculating preposterous and downright loony conspiracy theories about UFO’s, Atlantis and Nazi experiments with time travel. Now, I am all for unconventional theories. But this crap did not even come close to presenting any case for alternative world views. It had no more intellectual content than any crackpot theory you might find on the back of some cheap dime store magazine of yesteryear.

How could this happen? I know that the so-called “History Channel” has no golden age of the past when they offered anything resembling a true critical and intellectual interpretation of history. It has always offered pop culture versions of history similar to what many of us learned in elementary school. But the direction it has now taken is simply ridiculous and frankly it embarrasses America as this network reaches around the whole world. The very fact that this cultural and intellectual depravation ino doubt is a response to ratings and an effort to please the masses in order to sell advertisement space is sad. What is happening?

[theaocp]

1. Ahem.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

23. This.

+1

[Douglas Carpenter]

114. that very much sums its up

[liberal N proud]

2. Hey - Pawn Stars and American Pickers talk about history of the junk they show

It is just further dumbing down of America. When the History Channel was first conceived it was educating people more than the ruling class could handle so they introduced Ice Road Truckers, Axe Men and the Pickers to bring the overall IQ of the viewer down.

In the process, they made Chumlee a rich hick in the desert.

[WI_DEM]

51. Actually I don't mind 'American Pickers' all that much

it at least goes out in Americana and finds a lot of interesting junk people have in their attics, garages, etc.

[DonRedwood]

58. History of Egypt, Israel, India, China... ancient and in-depth vs. history of junk

it is sad that they have stopped making all of their old history shows. Pickers is interesting sometimes (mostly filler though) but it is a few minutes out of 30. Those older shows on real History were 45 minutes of actual history.

Sort of like how the news used to be actual news.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

77. You can find them on H2...

formerly History International. There are more reruns than new programming, however. You'll also find shows like "How the Earth was Made" on H2. At 4:00 pm today H2 will be airing Super City: New York...The evolution of Manhattan from the 17th century to the present.

[liberal N proud]

70. Those guys are in your back yard

They are good ol' Iowa boys, boys from home, I can relate to that, I am from Iowa but I have to admit, we need something deeper than junk.

[HereSince1628]

3. Television is for me an increasingly bad recreational investment.

I blame this on changes in myself. It seems like both my age and my education put me outside the marketing demographic of the advertisers.

And the demographic on DU increasingly seems to be that same demographic.

I might be forced into having a life beyond media!!!

[datasuspect]

9. throw off the mantle

it's better without media.

[TeamPooka]

88. Pawn Stars, Lady Hoggers, and Swamp People......I miss Hilter.

Never thought I'd say that.
But I did like all the old History Channel programming about WWI and II etc.
Made me think we learned that war is bad...

[UnrepentantLiberal]

4. Once in awhile they would have something good

like the one about the War of 1812 and a few others. Now it's a channel for morans.

[ashling]

43. H2 .... Oh

I get it

I just don't get H2 on my TV

[oberle]

73. Back in the day

They had a wonderful series of shows on the Visigoths, the Vandals, and all of the other non Christianized groups like that. But that was when the History Channel first began.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

83. I saw that.

That was very good. The fall of Rome was good as well.

Remember James Burke's "Connections" on The Learning Channel? http://www.youtube.com/user/JamesBurkeWeb

[Blue_Tires]

89. Yeah, my high school teacher used to show us episodes of that...

[UnrepentantLiberal]

90. Cool.

Great teacher.

[backscatter712]

113. Connections was awesome!

Worst Jobs in History with Tony Robinson was great too!

Now the Discovery Channel and it's sister channels have little other than Ice Road Truckers, Pawn Stars and Honey Boo Boo.

[grasswire]

106. A new series on the Vikings begins in March.

I'll be watching it.

[Atman]

5. I think "history" is now on H2

I watched some great documentaries about the space program on History 2 this weekend. I think they added a second channel to do what the original was supposed to do. Same thing happened to MTV. They started doing more and more "reality" shows and eventually added an MTV channel to show videos again. It's about getting more channels on the cable systems.

[Carnage251]

18. I noticed that about H2 also

Its kinda like both channels roles reversed because I never watched H2.

[get the red out]

34. Agree

I still catch some great documentaries on H2 from time to time.

[Blue_In_AK]

75. I like H2

It's not bad.

[KharmaTrain]

6. And Cut Into The Profit Margin???

"Reality" shows create hours of cheap programming. Just set up a camera or two and follow a couple of characters around for a couple days and you have a season's worth of episodes in no time. It's even better if you can find subjects who can make tons of side money off the shows so you end up paying them next to nothing as well.

There is some stuff still left on H2...but it's usually on the weekends. Some of the old WWII shows have shifted over to the "Military Channel" (if that's available on your system). I've found some very interesting watching lately on the Smithsonian Channel...

[deutsey]

8. Bingo...

Plus, their sensationalized stuff guarantees a larger audience than documentaries and dramatizations of "boring" history can deliver.

[Atman]

24. Charter switched Smithsonian to a pay channel

We have 97 free God channels and sports channels I never watch. We have 6 or 7 versions each of HBO, Showtime, Encore and Cinemax. Smithsonian used to be a part of this package, but when it was added to the HD lineup, Charter started charging extra for it. I hate Charter!

[KharmaTrain]

25. So Much For "De-Regulation"...

I only get Smithsonian on SD...but I know a lot of people have been hosed by the cables and satellite companies lately; moving channels to extra pay tiers (Smithsonian, Current) and charging more for HD channels while limiting the SD ones. You're squeezed into more and more expensive packages with little say in what you get.

Good news is the advances in streaming video...I have several friends who are hooked on their Roku boxes and are able to pick and choose what they want to watch for what I paid for cable back in the 20th century.

Cheers...

[Atman]

62. We've tried to get rid of channels to reduce our bill...no go.

We pay a ridiculous amount for monthly cable/internet. I've tried to eliminate the stuff we don't watch, but everything is "bundled." If we drop Encore and Cinemax, we have to pay for HBO and Showtime a la carte, which costs MORE. If we drop them all, we have to pay more for an HD package. If we drop EVERYTHING but basic cable, our nice tv is almost worthless except for watching Blu Ray discs. If we keep the HD but get rid of all the "premium" stuff, it literally saves only about $5 a month.

I know plenty of DUers like to cock-a-doodle-doo about how awesome they are for not watching any television at all. Sorry, I'm not one of them. There is a big difference between "not watching any tv at all" and "I watch Honey Boo Boo and Swamp People" and using the medium for the good stuff. And gripe all you want, there IS a lot of good stuff on the box. But probably not if you're limited to basic cable. That's probably by design, too.

[madrchsod]

26. smithsonian is a very good channel

it`s on my remote fav list

[Le Taz Hot]

7. In reality

there are only a handful of owners in the media who control virtually 100% of the content. Content is produced/bought/leased and broadcast via several different stations, often having nothing to do with the stations' stated objective. Broadcasters' objectives are to produce content. They're not real worried about the quality or accuracy. They're trying to appeal to what they think the masses want. And when the masses indicate, by their viewing habits, that they prefer Housewives and Honey Boo-Boo, it just reinforces that viewpoint.

Here's a link to an interesting article spelling out who owns what in the cable/TV industry:

Who Owns What

http://www.freepress.net/blog/12/04/26/who-owns-what

[annabanana]

76. So Disney owns the controlling stake in The History Channel? (42%)

That explains some stuff...

[Godot51]

10. Mystery...

The tragical history tour is coming to take you away,
take you away,
take you today...


Apologies to The Beatles and The Rutles.

[jberryhill]

11. Alien Amish Pawn Brokers!

[shenmue]

22. I love that show

[Squinch]

104. Alien Amish Pawn Brokers Hunting Bigfoot in Logging Trucks. On Ice.

[Buzz Clik]

12. The channel should probably change its name.

Clearly, The History Channel has NO appeal to anyone, so it turned to crap. And now it has an audience.

Commercial endeavors often die when they have no patronage.

[eggplant]

16. They could merge with Oxygen

The second History channel, I mean. Then they could be the water channel. Maybe it could be announced on the Science channel.

[Buzz Clik]

20. Not a bad idea, but let's go full-on geek.

History ("H&quot and Oxygen spin off to form OH, The Free Radical Channel, or simply, Radical. Of course, it won't have to be radical at all, but it would have a great name.

[Thor_MN]

32. As long as they left it in basic cable, it would be the free Radical

[Ty Templeton]

49. No, because you still pay something for basic cable

Which is a charge for the electrical signal to your TV.

So, perhaps, an electrically charged free Radical.

Cue the Heisenberg Compensators and beam me up.

[eggplant]

68. No, Heisenberg is on AMC

Although I'm still a season behind with Breaking Bad at the moment.

[morningglory]

13. They have jumped the shark. Once in a while I find something on there. nt

[loose wheel]

14. They're all actors

All the pawn shop and pickers shows are all done by paid actors. Not that it's a surprise, the average pawn shop owner isn't going to know much about that doo-dad that was last made in the 1700s.

History channel and H2 average about 2 good hours of history in a week.

It's like the Scifi channel and actual Scifi.

[dangin]

15. Gangsters

We watched it for four hours last weekend. Al Capone and then Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde. Early mornings have the pop docs usually.

[AnnieK401]

17. Now wait, I believe all those 12/21/12 "doomsday" shows the History Channel runs.

The world will end then right, oh wait.

[catbyte]

19. It's like Honey Boo Boo & Sister Wives on "The Learning Channel", well, TLC.

We're turning into Idiocracy more and more each day.

[dotymed]

47. Honestly, when I first saw "Idiocracy,"

I thought "how inane," but it has proven itself to be quite prophetic...sadly.

[catbyte]

53. And I don't think it's going to take 300 years for us to turn into it, if the species survives.

[reverend_tim]

78. Yes, it has

I use it to punish on of my right wing friends, it's working, he is starting to learn.

[reverend_tim]

81. Welcome to Costco! I LoveYou !

[backscatter712]

115. Coming up next on the History Channel:

[hatrack]

21. What, no Nostradamus? What's the world coming to?

Seriously, though, even a return to its status two or three years ago as The Hitler Channel would be an improvement over what they've got now.

Bear in mind, Honey Boo-Boo is a denizen of "The Learning Channel", so we shouldn't be surprised . . .

[CanSocDem]

27. It works for me.

Of course I see it as a historical chronicle of the last days of the American empire. Instead of the glossy, "morning in America" fantasy, straight out of MadisonAve, we're entertained by the desperate, handheld camera confessions of real people looking to hang on to their last shred of dignity.
As for educational value, the one thing that is obvious is that it is hard to retain your dignity in a free-market economy where everything is for sale.

I watched as they savaged the trucking industry with their portrayal of drivers as hard driving, risk-takers willing to sell out their peers and the values of the industry for their moment on camera.
I always appreciated pawn shops and was a good customer for years. I'm not comfortable watching the pawnshops take advantage of people like me...
American Pickers gets me into yards that I never had time for in my travels. And introduces me to the 'salt of the earth', quiet Americans who still have a connection to a tangible history.
However, it is still just television.
Despite the sweat-popping drama of scrounging for gold, in a foreign jungle or under a frozen lake, or preparing your family for the world-ending boogeyman coming down the street, the reality of these scenarios isn't that far off the modern culture. A lot of people are taking notes.

A phrase that gets under my skin is "I watched it live...on television!" It suggests that people are forming their history knowledge on what they've seen on television. As someone who has been around since its' infancy, I'm quite sure its only purpose is to entertain.

.

[Scuba]

28. I find "Ice Road Truckers" very educational ...

Whenever it airs I turn off the TV and read a book.














Kudos to Groucho Marx for inspiring that line.

[formercia]

29. This is all useless news to me.

I don't watch TV.

I feel a lot better for it.

[Diclotican]

30. Douglas Carpenter

Douglas Carpenter

History Channel - have going downside for a long time now.. Its bad when your airtime is fulled by pawn shops, alaskan truck drivers - swamp people and lumber jacks. It is not just in the US this have happened I'm sorry to say;/

But you do have you tube, where you can get tonnes and tonnes of history channel stuff, of interest for anyone.. I have used you tube for a long time to look at things - as the History channel have been ruined by this silly shows who is fulling up the airwaves today..

Or, you can read a good book about history - that also works..

Diclotican

[CrispyQ]

31. There was a time when TLC stood for "The Learning Channel."

I'd spend hours watching shows on implosion, Junkyard Wars, how extreme heat & cold impact the human body, canine snouts that can sniff out cancer & on & on & on. Then all of the sudden it was just TLC & all the cool programming was gone & now it's stuff like Honey Boo Boo & Say Yes to the Dress.

No wonder we are a nation of nitwits.

[Ian David]

33. They should do what the Sci-Fi channel did, and change their name to "The Hystery Channel." n/t

[get the red out]

35. Animal Planet too

There used to be shows on Animal Planet that were actually about animals.

[tularetom]

36. The National Geographic Channel is another one thats pretty much down the crapper

Today they seem to be running a "Doomsday Preppers" marathon interrupted only by a couple of "Alaska State Trooper" episodes.

[leveymg]

37. It's a cartoon channel for middle-age white guys drinking beer and munching cheetos on the couch

who are trying to expand their consciousness -- such as it is -- without all the effort and hassle of illegal drugs. Like the SciFi channel. No big sweat.

[RomneyLies]

38. Aliens?

[obama2terms]

39. Yeah the history channel isn't what it

Used to be. Now it's all the pawn star like shows you mentioned or those weird conspiracy theory shows, there's nothing truly to do with history that I can seem to find.

[arely staircase]

40. Yeah, MTV used to show music videos.

History Channel used to show history (albeit a pop culture version). A&E actually stands for Arts and Entertainment.

Go figure.

[caraher]

41. South Park nailed it

"You're watching the History Channel... where the truth is history."

[Douglas Carpenter]

94. wow! it is pretty bad when a South Park satire is no more far out than the actual History Channel

[Botany]

42. It along with much of basic cable has become "dumb fuck" T.V.

Gators, dumb asses having interpersonal problems, people trying to figure
which $600,000 + house they are going to buy, gun nuts, some idiot bothering
a pond's snapping turtle, a boss yelling @ an employee who has deliberately
made a mistake in order to add drama to the show, rebuilding cars and then
having some idiot say "that paint really makes it pop," people ripping the
Alaska environment looking for gold, and ...... I really think "they" are trying
to dumb down the American people on purpose.

BTW the History Channel used to have on some really good shows.

[dotymed]

55. I must seem really dumb to most people.

When they start talking about "mail box money" and so many other (IMO) idiotic shows that they actually, regularly watch on tee vee, I do not know what they are talking about. Then they 'splain to me these cool "reality" shows. When I respond that these shows are scripted and the characters are paid actors, they think Ive lost it.
Wresslin' anyone?

[Botany]

61. reality shows have very little to do w/reality ......

..... the boss yelling at an employee because they have little time to get something
done and then they have some sort of mishap that adds more time to the project meme
is a constant.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

96. Why I steadily downgraded my cable package and totally cancelled it last month

All I watch on broadcast is PBS and a couple of nostalgia programs on ME-TV (which isn't even on cable), and the rest is DVDs or streaming.

[smiley]

44. I do agree... however...

I do rather enjoy watching Ancient Aliens. I know the empirical evidence is lacking, but the show does bring to light some very interesting ideas on megalithic building. Especially about Gobekli Tepe, in Turkey. If you don't know about this archeological dig, then you should definitely check it out. Very interesting stuff, even without the alien connotations.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/gobekli-tepe.html

[Douglas Carpenter]

72. I am all for taking a look at unexplained phenomena including an open minded look at unconventional

theories about unexplained phenomena. But this is one show after another presenting the goofiest uncritical explanations without even an attempt to balance creative speculation by even exploring the possibility of more conventional rational explanations.

[rurallib]

45. History Channel and Discovery are two good reasons we don't need public TV

I believe the Newt of Gingrich made that statement.

[cstanleytech]

46. Umm whats happening? People are tuning in to those shows is whats happening.

And its not just that channel its happening on the syfy channel (formerly the scifi channel) which now airs wrestling and its happening on TLC which now airs shows like Honey Boo Boo

[jeff47]

69. Not really

The ratings for almost all cable channels are below Nielsen's margin of error. The only ones that get statistically valid ratings are the most popular cable channels, like ESPN.

Basically, the people running these channels are guessing that we're morons who want dumber programming, which just happens to also be cheaper for them to produce.

[Posteritatis]

112. That's it, pretty much. They think lowest-common-denominator content gets the most views.

So you run into things like Sci-Fi changing its name in order to justify removing any sci-fi content from their lineup, after which they get all confused because fewer people are tuning in...

[Sissyk]

116. I must admit.

I LOVE Duck Dynasty on A&E! Just can't help myself. lol!

[WI_DEM]

48. I remember when the History Channel was nothing but shows about Hitler

and the JFK assassination, but at least it was history. Now it's just more of the dumbing down of this country.

[bullsnarfle]

50. Public Broadcasting

is mostly what I watch now. Lot's of history there; recently, during the holiday breaks, I got to watch a treasure chest of shows --- from the history of Sparta, to the golden age of Egypt, the dust bowl, the American Civil War, etc... Even Downton Abbey (which is, I admit, a bit "soap-opera-y&quot is light-years better than most of the crap elsewhere.
Also, Ken Burns' series are all on PBS, I could watch them again & again - The Civil War, National Parks, Baseball, Prohibition - the guy rocks.
We are lucky to have 4 PBS stations in my veiwing area...which comes in handy since I can't afford cable/dish, and most broacast tv stinks (reality {not!} tv makes me sick).
Virtually everything that came out of Romney's mouth hacked me off, but when he threatened to kill PBS he REALLY hacked me off. To steal a line from the redneck gun nuts: "You can have Big Bird when you pry him from my cold dead fingers".

[WI_DEM]

54. I agree. I spend more time on PBS when watching TV

I also love their Saturday evening british comedies, KEEPING UP APPEARANCES & WHEN TIME GOES BY.

[toby jo]

52. Now I get it

They switched to digital and my tv went to 2 stations.

No problem, every once in while PBS. Then PBS took a crap.

When they put HS football on the tube, I finally broke down and got cable. They hooked it up 4 days ago.

I sat there switching through these 'great' stations, looking for interesting anything, & all I got was crap. I guess I missed the golden age of cable.

A 2-yr contract, too. Jokes on me.

[MrYikes]

56. I watched tv the other night

and watched a re-run of Rocky. Nothing much has changed.

[Dash87]

57. TV is a dying medium, like radio.

The Internet, on-demand programming, and streaming are taking over.

[Atman]

65. No, it's not. It's a SHIFTING medium.

I still listen to "radio." But I never, ever listen to over-the-air broadcasts. I don't think my car radio has ever been tuned into an AM or FM broadcast...just satellite radio. At home, I listen to internet radio; Soma FM or Radio Paradise are my faves. But the medium, the 24/7 music isn't going away. It's just shifting delivery systems, much like books are. Ironically, the demise of paper books was brought on by the stupid people managing the brick and mortar book stores. They drove small book sellers out of business, failed to adapt to the changing market, then found their market had moved on.

TV is much the same. Apple TV, streaming video...it's still TV. It's still the same programming. I can send any movie to my TV via my Mac. I have zones in my house and can listen to internet radio in any room, and can control it from my phone.

It isn't going away. It's just changing.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

59. Then you'd love the Sarah Palin History Channel!

Tip o' the hat to Conan O'Brien on that one. It had me tearing up with laughter the first time I saw it.

[Kurovski]

91. OOOO, now I know how impordant tommy guns was to George Jefferson an' his frens'!

Now I can see what she meant by "doin' good for America in other ways" when she left halfway through her term in Alaska.

[Douglas Carpenter]

99. when parody is barely distinguishable from actual,,things have gotten pretty bad

[Javaman]

60. oh don't you know? history is relative on the history channel...

since shows are shot then broadcast, their content could be construed as being in the past, so therefore...it's history.

Ow. my brain just warped when writing that.

[ReRe]

63. I hate those shows too...

.... as far as I'm concerned, History Channel is a goner. H2 is way better. H2 has some pretty good history on during the day. Right now I'm looking at H2 and they have "Super City: New York", i.e. Manhattan Island as it looked when Henry Hudson found it in 1609. History Channel is garbage: Modern Marvels all day long and into this evening when the REAL garbage starts. I always check the Doc channel.
It's 57 channels and nothing on. Actually it's about 157 channels now and nothing on.

[amb123]

64. The History Channel - The Apocalypse, Nazis and Rednecks Channel

Sad.

[reformist2]

66. It's one of the reason I downgraded my cable package - it's a vast wasteland.

[dogknob]

67. All the cool stuff the Nazis would have done/built if they had won the war...

That's the best one... except of course for Hitler Maidens.

[Odin2005]

71. All the "educational" channels have degenerated into...

...the lowest common denominator of Reality TV and BS. Discovery, TLC, History, etc. have all gone to hell, inane crap gets more viewers than good educational shows, thus it brings in more ad revenue. There are simply not enough smart people and too many idiots.

[Douglas Carpenter]

87. I hate to think that this is based on what the ratings say the public wants to see. Although it if

is a question of ratings versus production cost - they might in fact get more viewers per buck spent having shows where "UFO experts" explaining how turkey stuffing may be an extraterrestrial recipe than producing interesting shows with good ratings about the intellectual history of early modern Europe.

[Rex]

74. ALIENS!

Great next thing you will be telling me Ferengi don't exist, saw a two parter about them on the HC.

[kydo]

79. Smithsonian Channel has the better

of the old history channel programing. But the Smithsonian Channel is not a free channel on brighthouse.

A&E is just as bad these days, every time I turn to A&E they have Storage Wars on.

Once there was a time on cable when they showed more then 10 programs on the millions of channels.

Now, every day, its Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, Parking Wars, American Pickers, Ice Road Truckers, Swamp People and those rich people with breads and ducks. Oh and at least once a month it is Aliens and Bibles to break the monotony of the other crap programing.

These days unless its football, an original star trek marathon, a criminal mind marathon, a suv law and order marathon, or a criminal intent law and order marathon I just leave it on msnbc and watch reruns or the ed show trms, and what ever they show before they go prison programing.

[Recursion]

80. It used to be "All Hitler All the Time"

I'm not sure whether the recent lineup is worse. Plus I like Pawn Stars.

[Douglas Carpenter]

109. If Pawn Stars was one of a couple of shows that were not history docs. I could handle that

but almost the entire programing is a mixture of "he-man" shows and very badly done UFO and paranormal type and similar such programs. In modest doses I would not object to any of that. But it is pretty much their entire programing formula now. Maybe my memory is playing tricks on me - but it does seem that there was a time when most of their programs were actually about history thus the name, "The History Channel".

[Recursion]

110. Fair enough

Plus Pawn Stars and American Pickers are at least more or less commercial/Americana history.

But, yeah. Years ago I remember the History channel airing a panel discussion on the 30 years war. That would never fly today.

[nadinbrzezinski]

82. History channel. where History goes to die

[tabasco]

84. Turn that shit off.

'nuff said.

[Coyotl]

85. Just part of the Dumbing Down Movement

Stupid people vote Republican every time

[Populist_Prole]

86. The offshoot 'Military History Channel' has become atrocious

It used to be pretty good with a variety of different programs. The last couple of years saw a big change: It's clear they made a decision to pander to USA! USA! USA! Flag waving conservatives.

The shows are now so superficial as to be an insult to even a moderately well-read reader of history, and it's very US-centric. Way way too much programming on the modern Iraq/Afghanistan wars, and indeed, it seems the stated goal is to glorify hawkish US foreign policy.

Can't tell you how many times I've groaned and rolled my eyes when I hear a coworker or acquaintance explain/relay some historical tidbit based on what he saw on the History or Military channel. I then sound like a killjoy egghead when I correct them and go into further detail. They were not interested......

[Posteritatis]

111. I get a similar experience

I've got two history degrees and am currently lucky enough to work at a museum in a research capacity to boot, so I've kind of been around the block a few times in that regard.

Several of my friends watch the various atrocities masquerading as history channels and tell me about stuff they've seen on them, not because they're convinced by it but because they know full well my opinions and find the resulting rants entertaining.

Oh, the price of knowledge..

[Uncle Joe]

92. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Douglas Carpenter.

[Liberal_in_LA]

93. History channel, A&E, TLC, Discovery channel have some weird shit on.

some entertaining reality stuff also.

[eppur_se_muova]

95. History is owned by A&E, which is 50% owned by BSkyB, which is 39% owned by NewsCorp (Murdoch).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_(TV_channel)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%2BE_Networks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSkyB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_Corporation_takeover_bid_for_BSkyB

When any media outlet turns to shit, ALWAYS SUSPECT MURDOCH AND HIS CRONIES.

[usregimechange]

97. I endorse the above message, and I don't watch that channel anymore, sadly.

[Jack Sprat]

98. I agree

If you ever find something we can do about it, besides not watching, let me know.

[DianaForRussFeingold]

100. I agree & rec. Ken Burn's documentaries like "The Dust Bowl" PBS- Best.Ever.

I hope PBS replays it..I loved the old pictures, video and family stories--I want to watch it again!
Trailer:

"The Dust Bowl | Lessons | PBS"

"Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." George Santayana

[sasha031]

101. you mean something like this? South Park History Channel Thanksgiving

[Historic NY]

102. The gone reality TV...

Many years ago they had good stuff. I actually worked on a few. I'm sick of Billy Jo bob and alligators.

[Douglas Carpenter]

107. I suspect that like the much misnamed "reality tv" they discovered that "reality" schlock is a lot

cheaper to make - and whether or not it has higher or lower ratings - they might actually get more viewers per $ spent producing producing shows about truck drivers or making pseudo-documentaries with "UFO experts" or "Atlantis experts" or "time travel experts" than spending the resources to make serious historical documentaries.

[MzShellG]

103. That's a pretty broad statement......

Plus thats incorrect. I enjoy some of their programming. Especially their sci-fi documentaries. Do I believe it to be 100% true? Ofcourse not. There is most likely a lot of science fiction mixed with a little truth thrown in to make it seem facual. It's just sheer entertainment. But I do enjoy some if it.

[rightsideout]

105. I'm guilty of watching the History Channel . . . . almost everyday

I remember it used to show alot of World War II documentaries but now it's alot of "Reality" if you would call it that, TV. Yea, I admit to watching Ax Men, Pawn Stars, American Restoration and others. Modern Marvels is good and pretty educational.

I've had independent producers that create shows for the HC approach me about doing stories on electric powered drag racing since I'm involved in promoting electric drag racing events. That's happened twice and twice the idea has been shot down by the executive producers of the HC. Apparently, the owners of the HC are heavy into Baja Racing and gas cars so the idea of electric powered cars doesn't appeal to them. Even though I've worked with producers from MotorWeek, the Discovery Channel, Speed Channel, Planet Green and the Travel Channel who have filmed and aired stories on our electric drag races.

So yea, their viewership is heavily conservative, middle aged male. It's like 80 percent male. But I think a gal actually runs the programming for the History Channel. I forgot her name.

[Scurrilous]

108. K & R

[Jack Sprat]

117. Tonight is Gates of Hell

and Angels & Demons Decoded. Lots of history in that I bet.