The "History" Channel

[HarveyDarkey]

[Archaic]

1. It's a shame what has happened to History, H2, Science, and the like.

Discovery, Bravo, PlanetGreen, etc.

Those reality shows, and baloney documentaries must be cheap, enough that they can take a small audience. Why else would it be HOURS and HOURS of that crap?

[liberal_at_heart]

2. yeah at this point it is even hard to watch Discovery and Science. They are very poorly produced.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

3. The Learning Channel is even worse.

[sakabatou]

8. It hasn't been the learning channel since the early/mid-90s.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

27. Yep.

When they had shows like Connections. Sad.

[Raine]

24. TLC is literally a freak show, "MY Strange Addiction", "The Duggars 19 Kids and Counting" and who

can forget "The Palin's Alaska".

[HughBeaumont]

41. "The Duggars: 19 Unfortunately Budding Creationist Theocratic Bigots and Counting."

The worst thing you can do to your children is poison their minds with hate.

[liberal N proud]

29. TLC became The Loser Channel

Long time ago.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

17. And the Romney wanted to stop funding PBS. PBS - It's our only hope.

[Sherman A1]

25. Agreed

I can only occasionally watch any of the programing on these channels. It is truly too bad what has been done to them.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

40. CNN Headline News is the one that kills me.

During Ted Turner's heyday, it used to be a quick way to get all the days headlines in national/international news, business, sports, etc.

It's since devolved to celebrity gossip and sensationalist criminal trials.

[Archaic]

43. Headline News and The Weather Channel.

I used to be able to get everything I needed in 20m.

Now it's all gone.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

4. You can't blame em! They took one look at Fox P&L's and said "hey, that works!".

You can just pull stuff outa yer ass and the American public is so stupid that you can make lots of money! Yee haw! Proven model! Been working since tent revivals.

[olddots]

5. How can this crap get worse ?

American Chopper , Ancient Aliens , Area 51 exposed etc etc the media barons are despicable dirt bags .

[Rex]

6. It is for entertianment purposes only

Like Foxnews should not be mistaken for real news. CNN either. They are for entertainment purposes only. Don't take my word for it, ask GaRLeg - Supreme Lord ruler over Earth.

"History Channel good, aliens good, bible good, 5 dollar foot longs at subway good."

[Demo_Chris]

13. If that guy's hair doesn't tell you they think it's a joke, what would?

[Rex]

14. He looks stoned out of his gord.

I bet during the entire interview, all he could think about was a sandwich.

[Zorra]

7. My neighbor is convinced the reptilian "Ananukies" enslaved the earth

scores of centuries ago, along with a whole bunch of other wacked out stuff.

He says it's definitely true because he saw it on the History Channel.

For real, I'm not joking.

[sakabatou]

9. D'oh!

[Rex]

12. That is true.

I have documented photos;

"Took this photo at great personal peril"

Here is one of their strange alien houses is my guess and maybe a pet dog-thing.

[Kurovski]

26. Awesome! !!

I totally bet that's Fred Flintstone's time-machine!!

Dude! Sell these to someone, you'll be rich forever. You could like get your own show!

How did you do this? Did aliens help you? Were they cool or fuckers? Awesome!!!!

[Rex]

54. 30%cool 50%fuckers20%wizard

The wizard stuff was awesome. They have better CGI.

[Kurovski]

56. AWWW!!! I just shit my pants!!!!

AMAZING!!!!!

[Cleita]

35. Are you sure he wasn't watching "Dr. Who" on

BBC and thought it was The History Channel? On DirectTV, the channel for BBC is 264 and The History Channel 269. He could have put one channel on and thought he had the other. It's still pretty dumb of him.

[nadinbrzezinski]

42. So when I actually finish the novel

that actually has that partly as a premise, he will believe it is a history book?

Now that is scary.

Ok, not reptilians, but an advanced civilization...

[iamthebandfanman]

10. wait,

you mean everything in the bible isn't historical fact?
and that the show Vikings isn't based on some ancient text that was discovered ?

surely everything i see on pawn stars is real...

stop destroying my made up world that's reinforced by the name of a corporate tv channel!
noooooooooooo!

Maybe they'll change their name to "Hystory channel" soon :p

[ellenfl]

38. crap! they screwed with the vikings?! i've been taping it. haven't watched yet. eom

[awoke_in_2003]

11. They went from being the Hitler Channel...

to the bible Channel in a very short span.

[marions ghost]

50. In between

it was the Mayan Apocalypse Channel--leading up to that critical day, Dec 21, 2012.........

I look at the Hysterical Channel as evidence of mass societal mental breakdown. Living a dystopian nightmare.

[Cleita]

15. Actually, I'm enjoying the "Vikings" series but it is fictionalized.

The rest of what they offer is trash though.

[on point]

18. it is only a vehicle for christian propaganda. wait until the vikings abandon their gods...

[Iggo]

23. Yep.

They're already starting to push the evil barbarian sexually promiscuous Vikings versus the poor chaste virtuous Christians.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a conversion for Ragnar and his wife in the near future.

[Cleita]

36. Actually, they only had one rape on a raid so far.

And Ragnar's wife Lagertha kills him when he rapes a Saxon woman and then tries to rape her when she tries to stop him. We know there was much more. One of the things you never see in the horse and sword movies is the blood spattered all over the warriors. In this, they are covered with it which makes it more realistic.

[Iggo]

57. I was talkin about when Ragnar and Lagertha...

...invited the priest to come to bed with them and he was all no I love god instead.

[Cleita]

59. He refused and they said it was fine.

Why was that a problem for you?

On edit: I took more offense with Ragnar's bro, Rollo effing the slave girl before they went on their first raid, however, they weren't unique in this way. Slave women have been sexually abused throughout history and including ours.

[Cleita]

33. As long as they stick to the historical background

Last edited Mon Mar 25, 2013, 02:41 PM - Edit history (1)

because the Vikings did abandon their gods. In the first episode, Ragnar seems to be having a vision of Odin and interprets it as a sign he should sail west. However, the Christian monk, they took as a slave in the first episode, seems to be having doubts about his God as of the most recent one. He prays to his God saying how alone and abandoned he feels. So we'll see if they capitulate and make it into a Christian slob fest. Then I won't watch anymore.

[Marrah_G]

46. Well....they did...

[Cleita]

47. According to the Sagas, Ragnar didn't convert although he became

friends with one of the Christian Northumbrian kings. Here's the wiki version;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnar_Lodbrok

However, it took 400 years from his time for the Scandanavians to become Christians.

[Marrah_G]

48. I see

Thank you!

I'm still really enjoying the show. Seems like it might have been more of an hbo type series though.

[Cleita]

49. In a way I'm glad it's not. If it were HBO, they would be

throwing in all kinds of gratuitous sex and violence. We have Game of Thrones for that. They have to stick more to how the vikings ran their society and how they functioned in spite of being violent barbarians when the time was right for them. The raid scenes are relatively calm except when they are resisted or met by an army. Apparently, Ragnar according to the sagas used to tell the victims they wouldn't be harmed if they stayed out of the way of the pillage. If it were HBO every one of those scenes would be a gore and sex feast.

[bluedigger]

19. I'm liking Vikings as well.

It's a historical drama with fictional characters and events, but it still fairly accurately portrays the times and cultures in which it is set. I'm sure they get some details wrong but it's a good story.

And Lagertha is the best female lead I've seen in a long time. She's a bad ass.

[Cleita]

34. Yes, I like Lagertha too. She's one of the boys and takes no shit from them.

Also, the twelve year old son is no shrinking violet. He's a fierce little thing.

[Marrah_G]

45. I am enjoying Vikings

[defacto7]

16. Well, there's only so much history to be had in a season.

After all of the history of the universe has been displayed on TV, there nothing else to do but make stuff up. No one wants to hear the same history, over and over... gotta tweak it and make more history... like the demise of the human race after our brain rots from lack of use.


(sarc)

[fizzgig]

20. did you see the history channel/ancient aliens south park episode?

brilliant

[Turborama]

21. Murdoch owns The History Channel

And the Discovery, National Geographic channels.

That says it all.

[Smarmie Doofus]

30. I did not know that. I knew it was *shit*;

... and I knew it had nothing to do w. "history"; but I didn't know Murdoch had taken it over.

Well... as long as he doesn't start to buy influence w. actual "education"...... then we're safe, I'm thinking.

Our liberal Democratic public officials like President Obama and Sec of Education Duncan would *never* let something like *that* happen.

So let's all go back to sleep.

[ellenfl]

39. nah, the koch brothers have the 'influencing education' franchise. eom

[Codeine]

31. Actually, I think it's owned by A&E, who are in turn owned by The Mouse. nt

[shanti]

55. when did that happen?

because nat geo never used to be the bible-toting, warmongering channel that it is now.

[Live and Learn]

22. I have to admit that it has become more entertaining

but one would have to be a dolt to not view it very skeptically. Then again, considering how easily Americans have been misled (in the not to distant past and possibly forever) their new quasi-scientific\historic entertainment might be quite dangerous.

[union_maid]

28. And that's a problem

The crappy reality shows are one thing. Who cares, really. But the pseudo-documentaries on channels that have names like History, The Learning Channel, Discovery, etc. are going to be believed by a certain number of people.

[Kingofalldems]

32. I like America Unearthed

Don't know if it is bs or not, but it is entertaining.

[el_bryanto]

37. I'm not sure what the problem here is

Is it that they are putting out biased right wing versions of history?

Is it that they are essentially pro-war because they tend to focus on WW2 which was the last "good" war?

Is it that they aren't really doing history at all, because other programs are more profitable?

If it's the last - well, can you blame them? They aren't PBS - they aren't a non-profit. They are trying to make money, and, sadly, if it turns out that putting on programs about aliens or hoarders or whatever make more money, than that's what they have to do. It's more our fault for preferring those sorts of programs.

Bryant

[HughBeaumont]

44. Add HGTV to that list.

Watched something the other day about house hunting - the couple looked at a pretty decent & spacious starter house with nothing glaringly wrong and had literally nothing good to say about any room in it. I'm saying "Gee, what's this one called? Rich White People Problems?"

[vanbean]

51. Yeah, and don't forget about the pawn shop crap.

Don't you just love watching family be ugly to each other.

[Lindsay]

52. I've come to the conclusion

that the target demographic for all those shows is "people with more money than brains."

Of which there would seem to be an unending supply.

[smirkymonkey]

53. Yep! +1,000

[Coyotl]

58. Two words guys