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Neal Clayton
09-19-2009, 3:32 AM
i'm sure i'm not the only one that used to watch the usually interesting historical documentary type stuff on the history channel, and i'll bet i'm not the only one that has noticed how it has deteriorated into an endless stream of conspiracy theory BS recently.

nostradamus codes in the bible?
crystal skulls predicting armageddon?

what horse****.

the two mentioned above even had "experts" presented with no verifiable expertise, but who did dress up like indiana jones including the hat.

whoever they hired to produce this crap, hopefully they wake up soon and fire them so we can get back to it being a decent documentary channel on the HD tier you can watch when there's no football on ;).

David Freed
09-19-2009, 5:04 AM
+1--------------

Bob Genovesi
09-19-2009, 7:02 AM
nostradamus codes in the bible?
crystal skulls predicting armageddon?



It's because of December 21, 2012

Brent Leonard
09-19-2009, 10:36 AM
"Demon Haunted World" by Carl Sagan is an excellent read into the phenomenon of what you are noticing on History Channel.
He demonstrates quite convincingly that the human intellect is PROGRAMMED for that kind of stuff.

History Channel is tapping into surefire ratings that cannot fail. Kinda like giving water to millions of people dying a thirst.

Greg Peterson
09-19-2009, 11:36 AM
It's because of December 21, 2012

I was told by the street preacher that May, 2011 was the end. And he was holding a bible!;)

jerry nazard
09-19-2009, 1:00 PM
I enjoyed a comment Jay Leno made on Sept 28 several years ago: "On this date in 1939 the Nazi's invaded Poland, thus creating The History Channel."

I don't watch the History channel much anymore, and the new Jay Leno show is awful. Thanks to NBC, I have more time for woodworking!

Bruce Page
09-19-2009, 1:41 PM
It’s all the gang/prison crap that I hate on HC. I couldn’t care less about those scum bags.

glenn bradley
09-19-2009, 2:30 PM
I think they are just trying to draw people away from all those amazingly foolish reality shows and of course, American Idol. Well let me tell you, that's it for me. From now on I'm only going to read my facts in print. Anybody know when the latest edition of Weekly World News or the National Enquirer hits the stands :D.

jerry nazard
09-19-2009, 4:20 PM
It’s all the gang/prison crap that I hate on HC. I couldn’t care less about those scum bags.

Gee, I kind of like the gang/prison shows. It's always cool to spot people that you know....

Rory Talkington
09-19-2009, 4:25 PM
I agree to some extent. The History Channel brought me back to TV years ago when THC, TLC, Discovery were all good to go. Now its hit and miss on all of them. I have truly enjoyed the "Dogfights" series on the Military Channel(?).

Matthew Joe
09-19-2009, 5:11 PM
Agreed...History has gone downhill fast, as have most of the "educational" channels on tv. How many shows does one really need about killer asteroids, megavolcanoes, spotting bigfoot, or medical freaks of nature?

Ben Franz
09-19-2009, 5:36 PM
the two mentioned above even had "experts" presented with no verifiable expertise, but who did dress up like indiana jones including the hat.

As long as they have the right hats, no problem!

I remember my parents and others of their generation complaining about the decline of _______ (art, music, books, etc.) and I'm sure they had the same experience with their parents. It seems like the older we get, the flaws in the world seem more obvious. Maybe we're more aware of the trivialities or maybe, as Neal says, things really are going downhill. Probably a combination of both. My $0.02 only.

Matt Walton
09-19-2009, 6:32 PM
Gee, I kind of like the gang/prison shows. It's always cool to spot people that you know....
You really need to get some new friends! :D

Pat Germain
09-19-2009, 6:54 PM
Agreed...History has gone downhill fast, as have most of the "educational" channels on tv. How many shows does one really need about killer asteroids, megavolcanoes, spotting bigfoot, or medical freaks of nature?

You nailed it, Matthew! I'm always complaining about the same thing. Not long ago, I could almost always turn on History Channel and find something interesting. Now it's just a TV tabloid.

I don't think this is like older people complaning about the decline of art forms. This is a tangible, verifiable decline. There's a big difference between previous programs like "The Dark Ages" and current programs like "UFO Stories". :rolleyes:

I do still find some good programs on National Geographic Channel and Science Channel. Of course, one has to pony up an extra $10 a month to get those channels. Wait a minute. Maybe that's the objective here...

Jim Rimmer
09-19-2009, 8:03 PM
Me, too! :( I have had enough of UFOs, monster hunts, gangs, and tattoos. I really enjoyed the series sponsored by Enterprise about the Eenterprise and the dogfight series. Now about all I watch is R. Lee and his shoot'em up show.

AL Ursich
09-19-2009, 8:43 PM
Even PBS is dying in my opinion too.... Less NORM, more begging for money on Saturdays......

AL

Chuck Saunders
09-19-2009, 8:57 PM
PBS offers quality "commercial free" programming year round except during pledge drive. During pledge drive they preempt the shows that draw you to PBS with reruns of programs that (A) you have already seen, and (B) are not shows you want to see again. No I will not go into the Non Commercial comment.

Bill Arnold
09-19-2009, 9:06 PM
I spent four decades in television and cable TV engineering. I've been retired for several years but my wife is still associated with cable television. Most evenings, we would rather sit on the porch watching our cats play in the yard while the hummingbirds flit around us.

The bottom line is: if you don't like what's on TV, turn it OFF! :eek::D:confused::D:eek:

Rick Potter
09-20-2009, 2:21 AM
Speaking of Jay Leno (my Bible on historical information), several years ago he made the statement that in 1958 or so eighth graders had a vocabulary of 25,000 words, but today eighth graders have a vocabulary of about 10,000 words. I think most missing words have been replaced by ...dude...DUDE...doood or the ever popular four letter replacements we hear everywhere in public places.

I used to wash my kids mouths out with a bar of soap for that. Yup, true.

Rick Potter

Neal Clayton
09-20-2009, 5:53 AM
It’s all the gang/prison crap that I hate on HC. I couldn’t care less about those scum bags.

at least they had to put a miniscule amount of effort into those. these conspiracy shows are the lowest of low budget garbage. all they have to do is find 4 yahoos claiming to be qualified to talk about the subject in question and let them babble in their indiana jones hats.

the one with the nostradamus code messages in the bible even had their indiana jones impersonator claim that there was a coordinate listed in the hebrew text he found that he thinks is the location of the ark of the covenant.

hello? can they not spring 1000 bucks for a plane ticket and a shovel to go out there and point out the fact that this guy is a moron and there's nothing but rocks and sand at those coordinates?

pretty pitiful excuse for documentary TV :(

Darius Ferlas
09-20-2009, 10:34 AM
Nostradamus?
2012?
All that is cheap sensationalism. Now, this is a true prophecy and, sadly, already in the works to a large degree:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0yQunhOaU0

This movie is almost unknown to most, and it is yet probably the best commentary in a long while on what is happening to the world today.

Pat Germain
09-20-2009, 10:53 AM
Nostradamus?
2012?
All that is cheap sensationalism. Now, this is a true prophecy and, sadly, already in the works to a large degree:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0yQunhOaU0

This movie is almost unknown to most, and it is yet probably the best commentary in a long while on what is happening to the world today.

I was going to say, "I thought Office Space was true prophecy". Then I saw that was a Mike Judge film. He's the guy who made Office Space.

I have noticed I'm not watching nearly as much TV as I used to. But there were a few good programs I looked forward to watching. Alas, no more. Wood Works is gone. My local PBS affiliate hasn't shown NYW for three weeks. I don't know what happened to Mythbusters.

There's a BBC program I like to watch called "Top Gear". Other than that, I dont know. Oh yeah. I do like to catch old movies on TCM. Wish that channel was Hi-Def.

Neal Clayton
09-20-2009, 3:01 PM
top gear is the best show on TV ;).

for those unfamiliar with it, there are important things, such as determining which bus is best for city streets (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYqf6T7XFog)

Dave Lehnert
09-20-2009, 9:57 PM
Cable TV has gotten so expensive I don't know if it is worth it or not.

Back in the 80's when we first got it. The bill was like $18 and we had a movie channel. Now it's like $75 and no movie channels. Thats extra.:eek:

Matt Evans
09-20-2009, 11:08 PM
Now I am finally hearing other people echo what I have said for the past 12 years. Television stinks.

I was raised not watching television. When I went out on my own, I spent about 2 months GLUED to the tele. Finally, I came to my senses, and said enough is enough.

I don't watch tv. I have a small tv to watch movies on every once in a while, but it is not hooked up to cable, satellite or any converter box. My wife and I just don't watch tv. We have a huge library, and a good collection of time consuming hobbies. We travel a lot. We take walks. We do anything but watch television, and if we started watching tv, we probably wouldn't get anything done.

So, whoever said they had more time to get in woodworking, right on!

Ravi Narasimhan
09-20-2009, 11:35 PM
Now I am finally hearing other people echo what I have said for the past 12 years. Television stinks.
...

I remember the days when the Discovery Channel showed "Wings" and A&E actually had some Arts on it. These days, I don't watch tv... I don't even own one.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28694

Cliff Rohrabacher
09-21-2009, 12:03 PM
nostradamus codes in the bible?
crystal skulls predicting armageddon?


Well they started with the big bang. Then they covered all the meaningful events in human history like the wars and the inventions and breakthroughs and ended up in Peoria with fifty cents, a bagel and no audience.

Then they tried Nostradamus and suddenly all the crazies were tuning in.
Which sort of explains all the elections too.

Dave Johnson29
09-21-2009, 1:51 PM
What foresight I must have. I have not watched *any* TV for 5 years. When I moved here I decided not to hook up the already installed 2 Dish Network and decoders nor the 10' C-band dish and decoder in the back yard. :D

Michael Weber
09-21-2009, 4:10 PM
I agree to some extent. The History Channel brought me back to TV years ago when THC, TLC, Discovery were all good to go. Now its hit and miss on all of them. I have truly enjoyed the "Dogfights" series on the Military Channel(?).

I agree with Rory. If I'm in the mood for a little history I head for the military channel. It will have a military focus of course but the facts are facts and not made up sensationalism.

Brad Wood
09-21-2009, 5:39 PM
I dunno, seems to move with the tides... every Veterans day there is war stuff, and so on. Maybe over time some content is changing, but then you would complain that it was the same ol' thing if they didn't change it up a bit (the collective "you", not anyone specific)

I think the History International channel has some interesting stuff.

I think TLC has taken a nose dive, and I think that a little about Discovery too.. I really thought that Discovery had tanked until my wife pointed out to me it was the Discovery Health channel that was airing all the pregnancy stuff (and related)

Jeffrey Makiel
09-22-2009, 8:32 AM
Years ago, all the History Channel showed was World War II footage. Every time I'd turned it on, I saw the same ol' black and white footage with different narration. In fact, they showed so much of it, I heard people referring to the History Channel and the "Hitler Channel".

Then, the History Channel realized there was more to history than war and created lots of other interesting content. I believe this was their heyday. Now, the History Channel seems to be entering another new era where facts are boring and costly to investigate. Like cable news, opinionated sensationalism is apparently much cheaperto produce and gets better viewership ratings.

-Jeff :)

Pat Germain
09-22-2009, 8:44 AM
I remembered another show I watch. It's on PBS and it's called History Detectives. On this show, they meet with people who have what they believe to be historical artifacts or stories. One of the investigators will research the story or artifact. Some of the investigations are yawners. But many of them are downright fascinating.

One of my favorite segments was about a guy who claimed to have a component from the Hindenburg which was "salvaged" after the fire. Yeah, right. By golly, he really did!

History Channel should have put on a program like History Detectives long ago. But I guess it's cheaper to just sit around and talk about The Bermuda Triangle. Maybe the people who watch the tabloid programs are more likeley to buy a Snuggy. That would explain a lot.

Clara Koss
09-22-2009, 12:22 PM
you seem right 'bout the hist channel... and there is more theory on it than fact and lots of religious stuff... but if we all email them....:)

Eric Larsen
09-23-2009, 1:08 AM
i'm sure i'm not the only one that used to watch the usually interesting historical documentary type stuff on the history channel, and i'll bet i'm not the only one that has noticed how it has deteriorated into an endless stream of conspiracy theory BS recently.

nostradamus codes in the bible?
crystal skulls predicting armageddon?

what horse****.



Well, at least it's a change from dead nazis. LOML and I call that channel the "Dead Nazi Channel."

There is SO much I'd love to learn more about:

* What was living in Rome like around 475 AD?
* What was living in Constantinople like anytime from 476 AD to 1453 AD?
* Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals co-existed for roughly 40,000 years. What have we learned about that recently?
* How about some other wars: The Crimean, the 100 Years War, the French and Indian war, etc. There were more than three wars, History Channel. You don't have to exclusively cover the US Civil War, WWII and Vietnam.
* How about a two-hour documentary about the Silk Road? That absolutely fascinates me.
* The Chinese nationalist revolution, Communist revolution in China and the Korean war are non-events for Americans. Surely there's a program there, somewhere.
* Everything the Japanese Empire did between 1868 and Dec. 7, 1941 would be a good show.
* What we did to Laos should be required viewing for every American.

But there's a big segment that will tune in anytime there's a Nazca Plains alien show. I guess it's easy money for the history channel.

Neal Clayton
09-23-2009, 1:55 AM
well, since i started watching Top Gear, i started to notice that the vast majority of the good stuff that winds up on discovery especially, is a collaboration with the BBC. and as if that isn't enough, even the dumb shows we have that ABC/NBC/CBS run during primetime are often spin offs of BBC shows.

so i think i'm seeing more and more that there is somewhere between 0 and 1% originality in anything produced for TV here.

you should watch their international news, for example, it's so far and away better than our cable news networks that i don't even think they could be compared (not that that's much of an accomplishment, since CNN spends much more time these days on what some random person sends them over twitter than actual reporting. did it never cross CNN's mind that a guy sending twitters to CNN at 10 o'clock in the morning on a tuesday is not really a good source of information? i mean, if that guy were that smart, he'd probably have a job to be at around 10 o'clock in the morning on tuesday.)

Eric Larsen
09-23-2009, 2:04 AM
I don't mind the BBC influence. Most of my favorite shows either originated from WGBH, or were a collaboration between WGBH and the BBC, or were strictly BBC shows.

Besides, I'm a die-hard Dr. Who fan. Nothin' but love for the Beeb, here.

"It's just after eight o'clock, and time for the penguin on top of your television to explode."

[Boom!]

"How'd he know it was going to do that?"

"It was an inspired guess."

Pat Germain
09-23-2009, 8:44 AM
Eric, I also think those topics would make for very interesting viewing. If we all tune in for one of the rare, good programs and order a Snuggy, maybe History Channel will be inclined to show more good programs.

I agree about BBC programs, including their news. Somehow, they manage to be more informative about events in the US than new orgs who are based in the US.

I've never watched Dr. Who. But after seeing Billie Piper on Top Gear, I might be inclinded to check it out.

Eric Larsen
09-23-2009, 11:50 AM
If I could get a channel -- ANY CHANNEL -- to rebroadcast the Marco Polo miniseries in its entirety, that would make my year.

The best copy I've found is an Italian RAI release that only has 40 minutes stripped out of it.

Most of the copies floating around the Internet (like the Dutch Filmworks version) are missing 90 minutes. The entire plotline of war with Japan is cut.

Karl Brogger
09-24-2009, 10:01 PM
I love good TV, hate bad TV. Most of it is BAD, as in crap. In the off chance I ever reproduce I will be throwing the television in the dumpster.

I will really miss video games though.