The History Channel (from Cracked)

[realisticphish]

Great article...

*snip*

Like, for instance, Ice Road Truckers: a program that follows gruff, prideful bear-men as they drive heavy trucks over the long, treacherous routes of the frozen north. Aside from the odd truck breaking through the ice, most of the show just depicts the truckers cussing at each other over the CB and bragging to the camera about how suicidal and thankless their job is.

This show bears no more relevance to history than radish farming does to particle physics. The only link to anything historical that the show's promoters can come up with is that these cold-weather truckers are "making history" -- which sounds like the kind of B.S. logic we'd use to shoehorn Metallica into an eighth-grade social studies paper on "any historical topic."

*snip*

The History Channel also seems obsessed with the future -- or rather, the end of it. They have no fewer than four programs dedicated to the apocalypse. Life After People and Mega Disasters approach apocalyptic scenarios from a scientific, "what if?" perspective, while Armageddon and The Nostradamus Effect give credence to the prophecies of ancient peoples, who supposedly could foresee our demise, despite being completely surprised by their own.

But perhaps the most disturbing development on the History Channel is that even their history shows are being invaded by ample amounts of "WTF?!". In April they debuted "America: The Story of Us," a miniseries that uses live actors and CGI to recreate everything from starving Jamestown settlers to Henry Ford overseeing his factory.

The odd thing about this show is that the usual tweed-jacket professors have been replaced by a random selection of famous people with no history credentials whatsoever. So, if you've ever wanted to hear Melissa Etheridge's opinions on Westward expansion, or fashion guru Tim Gunn's take on the industrial revolution, you're in for a treat! You'll even get a rare opportunity to hear Sean Hannity talk about how much he loves America.

http://www.cracked.com/funny-5720-the-history-channel/

[onager]

1. Great related rant from Jezebel.com

Ancient Aliens? Dan Brown? 18th Century Carrie Bradshaws? I never thought I'd say, let alone write this, but: Give me Adolf Hitler - please.

"Requiem for the History Channel" by Sadie Stein (Nov. 11, 2009)

Now, the network is beyond parody. The viewing public is, the programmers seem to feel, unwilling to watch anything that doesn't involve Da Vinci-Code-style speculation, cryptic pseudo-historians, and, whenever possible, the paranormal.

Three times in the past week I tried to find a comforting educational program. I was presented with "Ancients Behaving Badly," something about Lord of the Rings involving what looked like a reenactment of the movies, and "Ancient Aliens," respectively.

Take a smattering of shows from the current schedule: "Nostradamus Effect: Satan's Army;" "MysteryQuest: The Lost City of Atlantis;" "Fort Knox: Secrets Revealed" and "UFO Hunters: The Silencers."

I never thought I'd be so glad to run across "Civil War Journal: Stonewall Jackson."

http://jezebel.com/5402287/requiem-for-the-history-channel-a-nerds-rant

[Behind the Aegis]

2. The History Channel is sadly misnamed.

I know many suffer from a form of ADD, i.e. no "razzle dazzle" equals "boring." I did like the miniseries "America: The Story of Us," but I was a little confused as to why historians or scientists weren't speaking. Don't get me wrong, I loved some of the guests, but it was more "fluff" than substance.

There are so many wonderful topics in history, including...gasp...non-American topics. Since I majored in languages and linguistics, I learned much history of various cultures and the history of various languages. I know it is about ratings, even for cable channels, but it really would be nice to have a "visual history classroom" on TV.

[realisticphish]

3. I'm kind of Russian history nut

especially early soviet (though I've been out of practice in terms of my non-fiction reading, with grad school). Yeah, good luck finding shows on that...


History used to be fantastic. Yeah, lots of WWII stuff, but you know what? That's what there's VIDEO of. It's a lot cheaper, especially back in the day when cable channels were squeaking by.

HInt still has SOME good stuff (if it's even still around; haven't watched TV in a while)

[Behind the Aegis]

4. I like ancient cultures.

I also history of cities. Living in New Orleans, I am surrounded by it and it is fascinating.

It is true the channel used to be WWII 24/7 and you are correct, when it started out, it really had to use what was there. Now, though, I really would love to see some of the CGI action going on (and live action).

HI is still around, but I haven't watched it in a long time.

[onager]

5. Turner Classic Movies sometimes shows old Russian flix

One night I caught the great 1930 movie Zemlya (Earth) directed by Alexander Dovzhenko. Since Dovzhenko was an artist, the visuals are stunning. The plot and writing are turgid, thanks no doubt to STALIN!!!!!!, and fall squarely in that Soviet romance genre often summed up as "a boy and his tractor."

Funniest part is when an entire farm village suddenly declare themselves atheists.

A few years ago, in the dark and nearly inaccessible corners of the Internetz, some nice person uploaded a whole pile of movies from the early Communist era - the classics like Battleship Potemkin and Strike!, but also some more obscure stuff like Fall of the Romanov Dynasty.

Nikita's Mikhalkov's documentary Anna is interesting in that it shows a Russian view of the country breaking up in the early 90's. But Mikhalkov has God on the brain, and the constant commercials for his deity really get annoying.

[realisticphish]

6. Ironically

Sergei Eisenstein is in my sig :)

I took a Russian film class in college, and absolutely loved it. Fascinating stuff