History Channel sucks

[pokerfan]

and we're not the only ones who have noticed...

[azmouse]

1. I like the WWII shows and the shows on ancient history.

The rest of it... meh.

[jmm]

2. Where are the conspiracy theory and "monster" shows?

:shrug:

[NoPasaran]

3. Coming this summer: Ice Cube Truckers

Intrepid ice deliverymen battle LA traffic to get their precious cargoes to convenience stores before broiling summer temperatures melt them away.

[Kaleva]

4. Hitler alone accounts for 80% of all human history. The other 20% is truck drivers.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. .

:spray::rofl:

[old mark]

5. Don't forget Nostradamus predicting Obama, the antichrist in everyday life, and

Mayan death predictions---will we all die or just most of us?

At least Hitler was actual history....



mark

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. LOL

[MiddleFingerMom]

8. Yeah, I know it's not "history"...

.
...but I really REALLY liked the "Deadliest Catch" series
when I was watching it.
.
In the case of that particular show -- GO HISTORY CHANNEL!!!!
.

[dropkickpa]

18. Too bad it's on the Discovery Channel

Not the Hitlory Channel.

Damn!

[MiddleFingerMom]

26. I can believe that.

.
I watched it in the hospital.
.
The hospital is the ONLY place I get good drugs anymore.
.
YAY DRUGS!!!
.

[ScreamingMeemie]

9. Pawn Stars is awesome though...

...you have to admit. I am an addict. It is "sort of historical" while not really relevant.

[csziggy]

11. Check out "Pickers" - I like watching them rummage through garbage

For a few good things. If I could physically do that kind of thing, it would be a fun job!

[ScreamingMeemie]

12. I love that show!

I would do that too... if I had the chance, the van, and the money.

[csziggy]

15. I've got a truck and trailer, but no longer the strength or endurance

I grew up going to junk shops with Mom and finding treasures to refurbish. Mom once bought a sofa frame, refinished the wood, rebuilt the springs, and padding and reupholstered the thing - all alone. So looking for treasures comes naturally. I just never thought of it as a full time job.

What the "Pickers" find - the bicycle and motorcycle stuff - is not my area of interest, but I see them pass up things that I would probably jump on. Of course, maybe they have found those types of things do not bring as much return. After all, if you look at Ebay and Craigslist, furniture and antique knick-knacks are not bringing much money these days.

[Bucky]

10. You have to manage your expectations better.

If you're wanting something more in depth, you need to read a book. History channel is a business and they have to follow what the market demands.

[Orrex]

14. That flies directly in the face of the stated promise of cable television

Every time they grab another chunk of bandwidth, programming providers claim that they'll be able to provide a broader range of quality television choices.

Of course, everyone who didn't stand to profit directly from such claim recognized them for the bullshit that they were: it was obvious that the intent was to turn the programming landscape into a virtual strip mall, with each channel dumbed-down and homogenized to the point that every channel becomes more or less like two or three dozen others.

Instead of using the increased bandwidth to give us intelligent, informative programming, we get ten nearly identical permutations of Ghost Hunters and half again as many variations on the theme of "Crazy Hoarders."

The exhortation "read a book" simply misses the point. If television programmers were honest (ha!), or even lived up to their most basic promises (ha!), they'd admit outright that they're airing garbage. Instead, they claim to be giving us high-end entertainment.


At the very least, they should be cited for blatantly false advertising.

[pokerfan]

22. We have a block of five educational channels

I think most cable companies do. The problem is that there's no guide. You just have to tune in and see what's on. If the programs showed up in the listings I'd probably watch more.

[pscot]

24. Congeratulations "Blatantly false advertising"

is a rare triple oxymorom, or "stupid hat trick" as it's known colloquially.

[Orrex]

25. .

:wtf:

[RandomThoughts]

19. You make an assumption of no lobbying.

I have read on some political peoples bios that they talk about lobbing for shows on channels like the history channel as part of their achievements.

By saying it is about what the 'market demands' you may be saying two things at once.

[PurgatoryPeak]

13. The father and son underwater logging team on Ax Men

are fascinating to me for some reason, it's like a human train wreck.

[Captain Hilts]

16. I liked watching the Luftwaffe get toasted every night. The Bible search stuff is boring. nt

[jobycom]

17. They've improved, then. When I used to watch, it was all weapons, all the time.

"At 10, we look at the most deadly medieval weapons. Now back to 'Planes that can blow the shit out of stuff and places and the men who are eager to use them.'"

[aquattro_660]

20. i hate what's on that channel these days

so i don't bother watching

[Yavin4]

21. They Do So Many Hitler Shows

That it makes you wonder.

[rcrush]

29. They havent done hitler in a while

It used to be all Hitler docs back in the day. Now its boring reality shows. I'd rather watch an entire days worth of Hitler documentaries than Ice Road Truckers.

[pokerfan]

30. I'd rather watch a Hitler doc than Pawn Stars

AKA Antiques Roadshow meets American Chopper.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

32. What if someone wants to pawn Nazi artifacts?

That's gotta be a hugh win-win.

Evil meets stupidity.

:thumbsup:

[pokerfan]

35. Hermann Goering's Shotgun

History Detectives #308: A Lewiston, NY man believes his shotgun may have belonged to Hermann Goering and was looted at the time of Goering's arrest in 1945.

[bigwillq]

23. So don't watch

I enjoy some of the programs on that station. But I do agree they have a lot of the same type of "theme" programming on a lot.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. I don't watch. I dropped all but local channel cable three years ago

and the only reasons I keep that are 1) PBS and 2) Keeping up on local weather stories (i.e. blizzards in the winter, tornadoes in the summer).

The deterioration of the cable channels (engineered by the five media companies that control everything else) is part of what is making America dumber. I remember when Bravo was all foreign films, Discovery was all science and geography documentaries, A&E was like a second PBS, and BBC America had wonderful comedies and dramas on every night.

I finally decided that it was time to downgrade my cable to local channels only plus Internet, which is actually cheaper than Internet alone.

Everything worth watching is available on Netflix or Hulu or other online sources, or, in some cases, if you have a region-free DVD player, from foreign branches of Amazon. Why pay the cable company for 200 channels (or even 50 channels) of garbage?

[bigwillq]

31. Well, I hope the OP decides to go this route

Doesn't seem like the OP is happy with History Channel anymore. I say don't watch or drop service. Problem solved.

[pokerfan]

36. Love it or leave it?

We aren't allowed to have an opinion on the demise of cable programming?

[Brigid]

28. How did you do that?

Anyway, yes History Channel seems to be going downhill lately. "America: The Story of Us" sounds promising, though.

[hobbit709]

33. Regular broadcast networks suck even more.

[Orrex]

34. Possibly, but they don't typically posture themselves as informative, educational programming

Aside from the broadcast news programs, of course, which do indeed suck.