What Happened To The History Channel?

[Homicidalheathen]

Ufo's.....ape people....all kinds of crazy crap these days.

Saw this last night.

http://www.bigfootencounters.com/hominids/stonehill.htm

I don't buy it.

But they did show actual footage of this:

http://www.clevescene.com/1999-12-09/news/...enstein-factor/

'But the dog brain was really just a warm-up act for the monkey head. In the 1970s, after a series of extensive experiments, White performed the first successful brain transplant on a primate, surgically attaching one monkey's head to another monkey's body. When the newly attached monkey woke up, he tried to bite off the finger of an attending doctor, and everyone cheered.

Its just wrong.

[CandyQuackenbush]

The History channel, just like everyone else, has to show different shows everyone once in awhile. UFO shows, well, they get the attention of some, just like the Modern Marvel's *one of my favotire shows*, attracts a different group. They are just testing each form of water to see how the ratings do.

I mean did you see that 25 hour long program on PBS about WW II? I watched like I want to say about 2 different episodes, and it was almost like sitting through the longest viewing of "Saving Private Ryan". Then again, that movie is based off of that war.

But it really just comes down to what I said above, they are just trying something new to see if they can attract new and more people.

[Destroit]

Ugggh... something that totally got flushed down the crapper, in addition to the History Channel, was TLC. When I was little my Boshy and I would watch it all the time since she is a teacher, and it would have badass informative stuff about EVERYTHING. I mean especially body and biology stuff, it IS The Learning Channel right?

WRONG. Not now. I dare you to try and learn something from TLC now, I would bet my hard earned money that you can't. Why? I think a girl must have taken over the channel because it is full of horrifically trivial and boring estrogen infused shows along the likes of (I'm making these titles up, but basically it's the same crap they show allllll day long now):

"Our big fat wedding"

"Let's Get Married"

"Babies, babies, babies!"

"YES! Quintuplets! FOUR BABIES!"

"w00t! I'm Pregnant!"

"Trick Your Man Into Knocking You UP!"

"Let's Watch a Baby Slide out of Someone's Crotch and Pretend it's BEAUTIFUL!"

"More WEDDINGS! I LOVE WEDDINGS!"

"Bringing home Baby!"

You get the point...totally worthless channel now. I figured they had Oxygen and Lifetime for stupid crap that you couldn't pay me any amount of money to watch for more than five minutes. Since there's few things in the world that I think are uglier and more boring than babies...I would rather sit through a Fall Out Boy concert twice rather than watch even an hour of that dribble. Weddings rock if it's someone I know and it's open bar, end of story.

If TLC starts playing horrible shit such as "The Nanny" (I still have nightmares, my roommate in college would watch that show all night when I had to be up the next morning at 6) the world is over. I hate Fran Dresser's vocal cords, you think someone would have voted to remove them by now, but nope, still hasn't happened.

That's a shame the History Channel is going the same way, I liked that channel. Man, it's like a war on REAL education and intelligence or something, I'm starting to lose faith in America and FAST (or at least the people and their interests).

I have no problem with Roswell, Chupacabras, Big Foot, The Jersey Devil, Nain Rouge, Loch Ness Monster, or Marilyn Monroe's ghost haunting an old hotel someplace in California, but I'd also like to watch the History Channel for, oh I dunno...HISTORY maybe. Those shows are interesting now and again, but it should also be mixed in with programs that are say, educational AND informative about our human ancestry (i.e. History once again, I cannot emphasize that enough). Try starting with Greece, Egypt, Feudal Japan, The Renaissance, first man on the moon, ANYTHING. That's what the HISTORY channel should be there for, right?

The world's gone crazy...

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Keep in mind just how many channels there are now... they each have to cater to different interest groups.

but really... this is todays schedual...

12:00AM Modern Marvels: Cold Cuts

1:00AM Lost Worlds: Secret U.S. Bunkers

2:00AM MonsterQuest: Russia's Killer Apemen

3:00AM Decoding The Past: Nazi Prophecies.

4:00AM Informational Programming: Info-Documentaries. (Which is a fancy way of saying Infomercial)

6:00AM THC Classroom: Gold! Cold Hard Cash.

7:00AM Tactical To Practical: 18 - Deep Sea Exploration/Blimps and Dirigibles/Snow Gear

8:00AM Seven Wonders of the World: Seven Wonders of the World.

10:00AM Lost Worlds: Atlantis.

11:00AM Cities Of The Underworld: 10 - Beneath Vesuvius

12:00PM Cities Of The Underworld: 03 - London's Lost Cities

1:00PM Modern Marvels: Heavy Metals

2:00PM Seven Wonders of the World: Seven Wonders of the World.

4:00PM Lost Worlds: Atlantis.

5:00PM Cities Of The Underworld: 10 - Beneath Vesuvius

6:00PM Cities Of The Underworld: 03 - London's Lost Cities

7:00PM Modern Marvels: Heavy Metals

8:00PM Modern Marvels: Freight Trains.

9:00PM Gangland: Gangster City

10:00PM Gangland: 07 - Stone to the Bone

11:00PM Lost Worlds: Al Capone's Secret City

[Destroit]

Keep in mind just how many channels there are now... they each have to cater to different interest groups.

but really... this is todays schedual...

12:00AM Modern Marvels: Cold Cuts

1:00AM Lost Worlds: Secret U.S. Bunkers

2:00AM MonsterQuest: Russia's Killer Apemen

3:00AM Decoding The Past: Nazi Prophecies.

4:00AM Informational Programming: Info-Documentaries. (Which is a fancy way of saying Infomercial)

6:00AM THC Classroom: Gold! Cold Hard Cash.

7:00AM Tactical To Practical: 18 - Deep Sea Exploration/Blimps and Dirigibles/Snow Gear

8:00AM Seven Wonders of the World: Seven Wonders of the World.

10:00AM Lost Worlds: Atlantis.

11:00AM Cities Of The Underworld: 10 - Beneath Vesuvius

12:00PM Cities Of The Underworld: 03 - London's Lost Cities

1:00PM Modern Marvels: Heavy Metals

2:00PM Seven Wonders of the World: Seven Wonders of the World.

4:00PM Lost Worlds: Atlantis.

5:00PM Cities Of The Underworld: 10 - Beneath Vesuvius

6:00PM Cities Of The Underworld: 03 - London's Lost Cities

7:00PM Modern Marvels: Heavy Metals

8:00PM Modern Marvels: Freight Trains.

9:00PM Gangland: Gangster City

10:00PM Gangland: 07 - Stone to the Bone

11:00PM Lost Worlds: Al Capone's Secret City

That's not THAT bad I suppose, I'd watch a good amount of that. Russia's Killer Ape Men...? Do go on... History Channel definately wins over TLC still, that's for sure.

[CandyQuackenbush]

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Moderen Marvels?

[Destroit]

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Moderen Marvels?

Yes, good show man, good show. High fiiive. I'd catch it more, but I never remember to watch TV.

[ttogreh]

The Discovery Channel isn't so bad... still, their new shows are a little light on the learning, heavy on the slick. "Smash Lab"? Have you SEEN this show??? Good lord, do I ever hate "Smash Lab". Then Discovery's answer to History's fight show... that's ok, I guess... The show with Brian Unger, "Some assembly required"... it's a cross between Mike Rowe's "Dirty Jobs" and "Mythbusters" double act between Jamie and Adam.

"Weapon Masters", where an autodidact engineer and an ancient history buff (double act a la Mythbusters) try to improve upon the weapons of the past looks pretty good.

Of course, they all seem unoriginal repackagings of other successful shows...

[jadnifer]

I really dont watch that much television anymore but The History Channel when I was younger was always called The Hitler Channel because they were always showing things about WWII and about Hitler and the concentration camps. Do they still show a lot of that?

I like Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs too...but I think thats on the Discovery Channel if Im not mistaken?

[ttogreh]

Yes, "Dirty Jobs" is on Discovery.

[CandyQuackenbush]

Man, I love Modern Marvels!

[Burrich1]

Hey Candy, You're missing Modern Marvels.

[CandyQuackenbush]

Hey Candy, You're missing Modern Marvels.

DAMN!

*shakes fist*

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

I really dont watch that much television anymore but The History Channel when I was younger was always called The Hitler Channel because they were always showing things about WWII and about Hitler and the concentration camps. Do they still show a lot of that?

No, thats mostly on The Military Channel

[CandyQuackenbush]

The History Channel has Modern Marvels!

[CandyQuackenbush]

The History Channel has Modern Marvels!

[ttogreh]

I'm not sure, Candy, but I think, what you are trying to say, is that even though the new shows might be crap, since Modern Marvels is so awesome, the History Channel is still ok.

Still, you are kind of vague... I could be wrong...

[CandyQuackenbush]

There best Modern Marvel's episode was about the Autobahn.

I didn't know about all the stuff they talked about.

I also like it when they talked about birth of the M16 series.

And, when they talked about sweet factories.....

I love Modern Marvels. You really get the strangest information from that show.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

I tend toward Science & History. With science its especially Astronomy/Cosmology/Evolution and History tends Toward history of Christianity (and religion in general) The Founding, Civil War, Civil Rights and WWII eras.

I just went to the History Channel website, i dont see any signficantly larger portion of filler garbage than before. Maybe even less now than before if anything.

But, I always felt there was WAY too much "chaff" on the channels. Stuff that caters toward the less plausible and singles out the random quack scientists/historians that have virtually zero credibility in the legitimate historical/scientific community.

Then they base a whole show around their BS and presents it like its some secret that only they know about, rather than the fringe, often totally discredited hypothesis that it often is. But you would have NO CLUE unless you looked it up afterward in detail.

When i used to watch cable TLC/History/Discovery/PBS were my mainstays.

Now i get mostly everything from netflix so i get specific shows , rather than just whatever happens to be on, and i can watch it whenever.

PBS seems to make the best "quality" stuff. American Experience, Nova, Nature etc.

I also prefer "big picture" subjects, rather than the random trivia crap were they show something that has like virtually no historical or scientific relevance , but they can reveal "the secrets of some minor little BS thing.."

Having said that, I'd much prefer people watch even the "chaff" shows that do have some semblance of academia rather than the mindless entertainment that is on 80% of all channels.

Really though on-demand is the way to go , Netflix, Blockbuster, TiVo whatever.

And yeah Modern Marvels is good.. lol@ candy. (But i'm big on picking specific episodes about specific subjects) I actually watched the Manhattan Project one just recently at home from one of my many um.. "back up copies" from netflix. =D

[Burrich1]

But, I always felt there was WAY too much "chaff" on the channels. Stuff that caters toward the less plausible and singles out the random quack scientists/historians that have virtually zero credibility in the legitimate historical/scientific community.

Then they base a whole show around their BS and presents it like its some secret that only they know about, rather than the fringe, often totally discredited hypothesis that it often is. But you would have NO CLUE unless you looked it up afterward in detail.

Having said that, I'd much prefer people watch even the "chaff" shows that do have some semblance of academia rather than the mindless entertainment that is on 80% of all channels.

Here here Troy. I am lucky if I watch 2 hours of television a week, and when I'm in the mood to watch some boob tube, and nothing's on, I will sooner watch a 1974 rerun of "Abducted by Alien Overlords" on Discovery or History Channel over any of the other drivle out there.

[Destroit]

But, I always felt there was WAY too much "chaff" on the channels. Stuff that caters toward the less plausible and singles out the random quack scientists/historians that have virtually zero credibility in the legitimate historical/scientific community.

Then they base a whole show around their BS and presents it like its some secret that only they know about, rather than the fringe, often totally discredited hypothesis that it often is. But you would have NO CLUE unless you looked it up afterward in detail.

I just thought of something, in addition to THC (The History Channel, 'cause when I see that abbreviation it makes me think something entirely different ) they need a new channel called TTHC, "The Tin Hat Channel"

When i used to watch cable TLC/History/Discovery/PBS were my mainstays.

Refer to my above post near the top. If you saw TLC now, Troy, you would cry and then throw up in that order. Unless you really really love babies and want to watch non-stop programs about them, which don't teach you anything even about babies just shows them and housewives talking about how cute they are, you're not missing anything.

[jadnifer]

AWWW...but babies are cute!!!

ANYWAY....yeah and then most channels take off shows that were getting excellent ratings to put on shows that dont even make it past the first season and they wonder why people stop watching their station. DUH!!