The Learning Channel.. TLC founded by NASA and now....

[Ichingcarpenter]

The channel was founded in 1972 by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and NASA as an informative/instructional network focused on providing real education through the medium of TV; it was distributed at no cost by NASA satellite. It was privatized in 1980 and was then named the Appalachian Community Service Network. In November 1980 this name was changed to "The Learning Channel", which was subsequently shortened to "TLC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TLC_(TV_channel)

[Drunken Irishman]

1. I'm watching Here Comes Honey Boo Boo as we speak...

OH...MY...GOD.

[JHB]

19. The only "Honey Boo Boo" should be...

...Yogi's little buddy after a beehive raid.

[NC_Nurse]

2. Wow. What a comedown. I had no idea.

No wonder it's been getting worse every year.

[SoCalDem]

3. TLC was the main reason we first got cable

It's disgusting now..

My boys grew up on "Connections" & REAL history we got on The History Channle and A & E when it was Arts & Entertainment..

all crap now..all the time

[Odin2005]

14. When i was a kid in the 90s I watched Discovery all the time.

They had tons of good shows, now it's all crap.

[LibDemAlways]

4. It's definitely become a co-conspirator in the

dumbing down of America.

[Tcbys]

5. I do enjoy the history channel and the Milltary channel. Discovery has good shows too.

I really love Deadliest Catch. Mythbusters another good show.

I do remember TLC being a good channel back in the day.

[Savannahmann]

9. Love Mythbusters

It started out as a stunt oriented show, but they quickly realized that to explain why something did, or didn't work, they had to get into the science. They have actually made some pretty substantial advances to the science of our world. As an example, the blue ice from airplanes. Nobody had tried to do it, just assuming it would not work that way. That is the key to science. You start with a question, and then move to test the situation and learn the answer.

That's why I can understand the doubters mistrust of Global Warming thirty years ago, when we were first seeing the evidence. However, to doubt it now is asinine. It is not ignorance, it is stupidity.

[Odin2005]

15. I remember their shock when they discovered that mice really do scare elephants.

[6502]

6. So, I've been living overseas for years now...

... so I am not in the loop.

I used to be a TLC fan when in the early days, too.

So, I wondered what all this hub-bub could be all about.

I googled.

I found a link with a short video and explanation.

I watched the video.

Read the explanation.



I have nothing more that I can add.

[BlueMTexpat]

7. When Discovery offered Sarah Palin millions

for "Sarah Palin's Alaska," I realized that The "Learning" Channel had been transformed into The Lunacy Channel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin's_Alaska

Sadly, I have not seen much reason to change my opinion since.

[longship]

8. TLC == The Loony Channel

It's great when you turn learning into loony. If you only use the initials, maybe nobody will notice.

Like the former History Channel, now know as the Histerical Channel.

Or the Discovery Channel, now known as the Let's Cover it Up Channel.

Or A&E (putatively Arts and Entertainment), but now do not look for any arts.

And don't get me started about the former SciFi Channel, now apparently named SyFy so that science fiction somehow has nothing to do with it.

Just shovel shit. Ghosts, UFOs, Bug Foot (or is it Foots, or is it Feet. Argh! How about Yeti), Exorcisms, and all sorts of woo-woo.

There is no learning on any channel except PBS. That is, until pledge week(s) when they trot out the most bullshit trash and somehow forget that their obligation is education. So we get Wayne Dyer, self-help wackaloon. Or Suzy Ormand, get rich quick wackaloon. Or any number of out of tune rock artists way past their prime. PBS may as well program 24/7 Lawrence Welk. (They do that, too, on weekends at 7:00 PM -- all that pastel chiffon and hair spray cannot go to waste.)

Thank goodness WGVU has MHz Worldview on one of their channels. At least I could watch Australian Rules Football and the original Swedish language Wallander (subtitled). Sadly, even those are gone. But I can still see Magret in subtitled French every Wednesday night, and other foreign language mystery dramas on almost any night.

Of course, there's always Doctor Who, Live at the Met, and MI-5 on the standard PBS channel.

I especially like opera. PBS and NPR are the only sources.

Fuck you, Mitt.

[avebury]

10. Wow. It has really strayed from

its roots. I never watched it and, based upon the shows it has advertised over the last few years it really should be renamed TSC (The Stupid Channel).

[Buns_of_Fire]

11. Fie on all of them. I've switched to TRU TV (formerly The Court Channel).

Where we can watch Ron and his psycho friend Bobby repossess cars ("Lizard Lick Towing&quot .

They get a call. They traipse out into the boonies. They get into a scuffle. They bring back the car (or truck, whatever), triumphant. The owners come to the office and make a lot of noise and knock a picture or two from the walls. The end. Next week on Lizard Lick Towing: We do it all again (apparently, nobody in the Raleigh area pays for their cars).

"Lizard Lick Towing: England" premieres next week. Be sure to watch as Bobby refuses to drive on the left side of the road and hilarity ensues.

Hey, it's all entertainment. Nothing more. Once you realize that, it can be appreciated (or not) for what it is.

If you'll excuse me, "The World's Dumbest CEOs" is on...

[CBGLuthier]

12. I am so old I remember learning something on the learning channel.

I also remember watching I, Claudius on Bravo.

But I am not old enough to remember A&E ever having much art.

[Odin2005]

13. I didn't know that, I always thought it was a spin off of the Discovery Channel.

[Javaman]

16. Once upon a time bravo didn't show reality tv or have commercials

and was actually a quality channel. Same goes for AMC.

dumbing down the people to vote repuke.

[hifiguy]

17. I remember when James Burke's shows were

regular fare on TLC along with a lot of space- and other science related programming. There's nothing that is watchable any longer on that channel.

[progressoid]

18. - - -

[Catherine Vincent]

20. I know this is a bit off topic but

MTV is the total opposite of what it used to be. From what I understand, it's all about reality shows.