Discovery Channel - The Dumbing Down of America

[bleedingheart]

Okay... I am a history buff... and so twice now I have fallen for the Discovery channel promos only to feel like they robbed me of time.

The first one was that proof of Moses program... I was interested in seeing how they would prove that Moses lived... not a shred of solid proof but a lot of conjecture and hooey... with commercials placed perfectly to help distract you from figuring out quickly enough that they were using really weak evidence to prove the existence of Moses.

Now the Nefertiti program... Even worse!!! Nothing about the dynasties of Egypt..nothing about Akenahten ..Nope..just glamour shots of the past that were cut and pasted between an egyptologist who kept talking about her angst over whether this was or was not Nefertiti..and don't forget enough commercials to help distract. I was so disgusted I didn't even wait for the conclusion...the actor recreated scenes of Nefertiti killing enemies was enough to do me in...(not that I would doubt serious evidence...but there is only so many times they have to show that fluff..)

I have finally given up on the Discovery channel promos of this sort because they assume that the average American can't absorb more than a paragraph worth of information and that is disgusting.

Give me PBS documentaries anytime! They are typically far more interesting and filled with great facts and lots and lots of info. If they do recreations they actually make sense and are a coherent part of the story.

[izzie]

1. I saw that show and did not see any proof.

Was it just fluff or was it me?

[bleedingheart]

2. It was all fluff...it was so stupid

I haven't done a lot of reading about that period for more than ten years but I could recall more in five minutes than that whole program offered.

And then to imply that Nefertiti was so great a queen...phooey... she may have been beloved by her husband but Hatshepsut would rank as one of the best of that early dynastic period ...

[mmm]

3. Did you see the one where they showed 'proof'

that the Red Sea actually parted. ARGHHHHHHHHHHH
After their 'objective' look at the 'facts' they actually concluded that the Red Sea might have parted, just like the Bible says.
The 'facts' and theories were so laughable..... I laughed.

[bleedingheart]

5. I vaguely recalled that... and it was laughable...

the best was the part in the Moses docu-drama where they used proof that hebrews were in Egypt because there was hebrew grafiti in a Lapis mine... in my eyes I viewed it like this.

It would be probable that hebrews, hittites, nubians..etc would have worked in lapis mines...and possibly left grafiti..

Does this prove that Moses existed? No.

[Skittles]

4. so-called "reality TV"

that is absolute PROOF of the dumbing down of America. Watching people degrade themselves on TV for money should be painful to watch but apparently a good percentage of the stupid public finds it ENTERTAINING.

[bleedingheart]

6. I don't watch any of it but the dumbing is bleeding into

all of it...

however I did watch frontier house and 1900 House... I liked those...but they were taken far more seriously... and of course PBS creations!

[LittleApple81]

7. THANKS, THANKS, THANKS...

At one point I was thinking that getting extended cable would be worth it for something like Discovery channel.
Now I know it is not.

[bleedingheart]

8. I actually went over to my mom's to watch it because I

gave up on extended cable long ago...so that is why I was even angrier...

I read with my kids, read alone or rent videos with the hubby normally.

[Bossy Monkey]

9. Science Channel (formerly Discovery Science) is still fairly good

but the documentary channels are getting progressively more awful and the advertising aimed generally at the well-to-do will drive you straight up a wall ("I'd like to get home delivery of the New York Times...")

[madrchsod]

10. fables=facts

it seems the whole moses thing is wrong-40yrs?not one once of proof thru arch. finds in the desert. it takes 40yrs to go across from egypt to the promised land?...the best program on all this was a bbc program about how the bible was written and what it meant in the time it was written..moses? the whole thing is that you didn`t need a idol to carry to worship god ,god was within you and around you.so no matter how long the journy god was always with you....the bbc in the near future will be putting it`s entire libary of program on the net for free...

[Bossy Monkey]

11. Skeptical Inquirer slammed the crap out of sham documentaries earlier

this year. Unfortunately, they don't update their site very often, so I can't get you the exact issue. Was a couple months ago, or maybe 4.

[oneighty]

12. Skeptical Inquirer

I used to suscribe to that. Interesting publication.

How are you Ms. undisclosed?

180

[Bossy Monkey]

13. Apparently I've had a sex change

I'm doing good. Still male the last I heard though. How you doin'?

[oneighty]

19. Well darn!

I shall assume no more forever!

I dunno, shoulder shrug!

Ed

[oneighty]

14. Nefertiti

Sure was a disappointment as you say bleedingheart.

Discovery used to be good. Maybe they are running out of good ideas.

180

[Uzybone]

15. I stopped watching Discovery

after they began to run the "Rescue of POW Lynch". Once in a while Ill stumble on a shark program I like but its no longer in my TV rotation. History Channel sucks, but its much much better.

[BigMcLargehuge]

16. Anatomy of a Shark Bite was kinda dumb too...

consider Shark Week is like ratings gold for The Discovery Channel I figured they would focus on much more behavior than the actions of mechanical shark jaws...

I didn't give a rats ass about HOW the shark bit, I wanted to know WHY, as Eric Ridder's whole schtick is that he's safe in the water with Bull Sharks because he knows how not to act like a prey animal.

He was apparently, wrong, and I wanted to know why. But all I got was "here's how the jaw works..."

Add to that the complete waste of time that is The Learning Channel (trading freakin Spaces ever five minutes) , and we get a nice little non-fiction black hole in the cable lineup.

[bleedingheart]

22. We watched that one while at the beach... the house we rented

had cable so we watched it and it was rather lame.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

17. Actually...

I have a major problem with most of this ancient "history" stuff. Much of it is pure conjecture that is based on little more than a European's biased attitude.

For example, how many "documantaries" have you seen where they show us how the dinosaurs lived? Exactly how can they tell how the dinosaurs lived from fossilised bones?

Sure they could tell whether they ate meat or whether they stood on two or four legs, but how do they extrapolate physical properties to behavioural properties? In fact, I recently saw an episode of "Walking with Dinosaurs" where they stated an exact time period that Tyranosaurus Rex stayed with its young after hatching before they were abandoned. They even suggested that if the young didn't leave within this time period, the mother would eat them herself!

I mean come on! How the fuck could they possibly know that?

I have also seen documentaries where they give you a fully detailed societal structure of an ancient human settlement based on a few bones and broken tools. Sure they can come up with theories, but they present them as facts, not suppositions.

As for the biblical "documentaries" nearly every single one of them has a Christian group of some sort behind it. I mean, I am really gonna believe that it is impartial when it is sponsored by the "Christian Archeological Society" or some such organisation.

[maveric]

18. Have you watcthed TLC (The Learning Channel), lately?

Shows about hidden cameras that catch criminals "I Detective", and "What Were They Thinking?" that shows home and/or hidden camera videos of people doing stupid things. Then "The Worlds Worst Drivers" show which basically shows video of bad drivers and the dumb things that they do.
What are we supposed to "learn" from shows like these?
There used to be some educational content on TLC now its getting to be like UPN.

[Gloria]

20. A & E has also sunk into the pits....

Once in awhile they throw you a Mayor of Casterbridge, a Hornblower, and a repeat of Pride & Prejudice (last week)...but...COLUMBO???? For the umpteenth time???

ANd those City Confidential things?

Crap TV.

[bleedingheart]

21. Egads! Columbo is considered A&E material???

yeah....cable is becoming filled with more crap.... then there will be extended extended cable in order to get the good programming...