What is wrong with the History Channel?

[Smithfan]

Millions may love the monsterquest stuff, but the fact remains that virtually all of it is psuedohistory and psuedoscience.

If I need a laugh during a bout of insomnia, I can always tune in to that weird guy who lives in a trailer somewhere in the Nevada desert and talks on the AM dial all night with the clinically paranoid and the truly deranged. Just the place to be if you believe in conspiracies behind conspiracies behind conspiracies...

But I'd rather read or look in on real history and real science.

Bill

 

[boats1]

Originally posted by beach elvis:
One of my fiance's biggest selling points was she had cable and a big screen TV.

Well, now I have much more fun torturing (and being tortured by) my guitars and handloading.

Fox news and that's pretty much "it" for me.

Oh no...wait..."American Idol". My wife2B lived for it. I watched it with her as an experiment.

The journal with the findings will be out soon.

The title will be, "How Long Can Sammy Keep His 629 Classic DX's Muzzle Out Of His Mouth?"

That was a toughie.

We're in the minority, but SO TRUE!

 

[jaegan]

Originally posted by gunsmith11:by they way,,,what happened to VICTORY AT SEA shows

If you mean the very old B&W documentary show, check your local Wal-Mart's $5 dvd bin. I picked up the whole series in a dvd box set(3 or 4 discs can't remember, but it's in a double sized dvd case) a couple months back. I remember those being on on PBS on Sunday afternoons when I was a kid.
Edit: Oops, didn't see GatorFarmer had already beat me to it.

 

[RonJon]

Speaking of the ads, my pet peeve is with the AARP ads.

Sometime back in '04-'06 they "invested" enough $ to make only 2 long ads and they still show them about 90,000 times per day - It drives me NUTS! - You can't get away from them on any channel!

You know: (1) Old broad says "Let me tell you about my very important phone call ...."; or (2) Old grey haired guy says "This is an AARP card - You know whats great about this card? ...."

And FOX News (and perhaps the other channels as well) gets their jollies sometimes by showing 'doubles' of them just to torture us (the same one right after another during the same break). I think I'd prefer water-boarding!

I wish they'd at least change to newer and shorter ones and change them often!

RonJon

 

[Amici]

Originally posted by gunsmith11:
I normally watch the military channel, history channel does not offer much,,,,,by they way,,,what happened to VICTORY AT SEA shows

Rhode Island PBS shows them.

LOVE the "Marianas Turkey Shoot!"

 

[RonJ]

There's still a few show's that I watch on History.
I switched it on a few minutes ago and there's an episode of Dog Fights about the Flying Tigers. The mix of historical photos, interviews and CG recreations of the battles works pretty well for me.

 

[Igiveup]

I well remember watching VICTORY AT SEA when I was a kid. I'll try to find it at Wal-Mart. Does anyone remember another program that ran about the same time frame called THE BIG PICTURE? It maybe alternated with the former, and was about the ground fighting of the war.

 

[PR24]

Yea, the History Channel has tanked: Embrace the Suck!

 

[Frank237]

And a NEW RECORD!!!

A thread that's FIVE years old has been resurrected!

(I think it's amusing how some threads simply come BACK even after years and years)

 

[Dennis The B]

The History Channel isn't the only perpetrator of the garbage that is passing for new programming. It's become a problem of the cable/satellite era. There isn't enough real programming to fill all the time slots. As a result, we're inundated with
'Real Housewives of ...", "Pawn Stars", "South Beach Tow", and any other number of **** that passes for programming.

There are limited financial resources from advertising and production companies, so we get quantity over quality. The 24-Hour new stations are no better. There just isn't enough hard news to occupy a full day. So Fox and CNN run a huge amount of commentary shows. The news channels are also limited in their budgets. Ever wonder why Fox News only has one assigned reported out west, and he operates primarily in LA?

The premium movie stations are no better. They get their movies only after they've been out for a year, or so. The movies run on pay-per-view and disc for a long time before HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, etc., ever get them. The movie channels are resorting to ever-increasing original programming. They have hit some home runs. "The Sopranos", "True Detective", "Game of Thrones", etc. But, even a lot of that programming is cheap, and badly done.

In another thread, there's a discussion of The History Channel's" World War II program. It was cheaply, and badly done, and left huge gaps in the history of WWII.

To top it off, we get huge blocks of commercial tripe selling everything from vitamins to collapsible hoses.

 

[NCTexan]

And a NEW RECORD!!!

A thread that's FIVE years old has been resurrected!

(I think it's amusing how some threads simply come BACK even after years and years)

"The more things change... the more they stay the same."

 

[cowart]

by they way,,,what happened to VICTORY AT SEA shows

All 26 episodes are available in full, online at

Watch Victory At Sea Free Online

 

[CajunBass]

Since this is five years old, I guess nobody is interested in what I had to say anyway.

 

[dmar]

You guys should check out CSPAN 3 on the weekends, it's all history. And real, research-based history. Really good stuff, notable authors, professors presenting their research, great interviews, etc.; plus, no commercials. Watched a show this afternoon that featured a WWII correspondent's experiences from just prior to the D Day invasion up through capture of Germany. The show featured this guy's narration from 1976 along with his video that was taken. Very, very interesting narration that related his first-hand experience along with the historical context and description of many of the personalities/figures that were in the films. And did I mention, no commercials...?

As for History Channel, Discovery Channel, etc., with the industry consolidation that happened with the cable networks, they are all owned by big corporations that are solely focused on maximizing ad dollars. They truly could care less about anything else. They sell advertisers on programming that delivers the greatest number of eyeballs, not on quality, factual programming, or programming that is consistent with the original intent of the network. That truly does not matter. Many networks were launched promising to deliver unique, niche programming, and have been converted to lowest common denominator program that offers cheap-to-buy programming that maximizes ad sales potential. This is what happens with industry consolidation; higher prices, increased profits, lower quality (due to less competition), and less consumer choice. That being said, there are still some good shows to watch, just have to find them.