Seriously, jump up my ass, History Channel

[realisticphish]

Perfectly good, interesting show on the history channel, when in come the fucking ghost hunters, and their fucking "psychic."

You disgust me. You used to be a real source of fascinating, informative television. Now, it's nothing but vomitous, credulous bullshit. I spit on you.

[Tobin S.]

1. I stopped watching that channel when they became the military channel

I don't know what it's like now days, but a few years back it seemed like all they showed were military documentaries; WWII flicks in particular.

[realisticphish]

2. well

at least that's HISTORY. Now it's just ghost hunters, bigfoot, and nostradamus

[TZ]

3. Discovery Channel is going the same way

With their new Ghostlab show. Ugh.

[realisticphish]

6. at least they have mythbusters

i think we just have to face the fact that science programming is going to the least common denominator.

[semillama]

4. The mysteryquest series is interesting

I saw the one on Odessa last night, and it was pretty good.

And I have to admit one of my tv guilty pleasures is Monsterquest. I really find it entertaining. Of course, I do have an anthro degree so I tend to approach such shows with an eye to the beliefs on display rather than the primary subject matter.

[realisticphish]

5. i used to love cryptozoology

i didn't believe it, but it was interesting. But that was when it was on once in a long while. Now, it's all that's ever on. My biggest problem is when "Reassuring Authoritative Narrator Guy" starts describing what morons like the ghost hunters are doing as if it's actual scientific research. Especially with the ghost hunters.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

7. I have commandeered my mom's DVR to record a bunch of NGC stuff.

I used to love HC, but gave up on them after they wondered what the fate of angels was now that we were in space.

[Warpy]

8. I hate the dumbfuckery, too

but keep watching the schedule for things like "Black Blizzard" that they showed at the crack of dawn yesterday, a truly wonderful documentary on the Dust Bowl.

Unfortunately, they cater to the dumb shits in prime time, so you have to catch it fast.

[realisticphish]

10. agreed

sometimes, at 2 in the morning, there's an awesome show on the development of shoes, or something. Not heart-pounding, but INTERESTING

[NMMNG]

9. Agreed

It saddens me that they've become a cesspool of religious twaddle and paranormal crap. And the Discovery channel is now nothing more than vapid "reality" shows about people who think spawning is something to be proud of. Ugh.

[onager]

11. RP, which show was that exactly?

So I can make sure to avoid it.

Once again...and again...I will slip in a plug for NatGeo's excellent skeptical series "Is It Real?"

This week I've caught a show about sleepwalking as a defense in criminal trials, and a really good one about ghosts and haunted houses.

I thought the ghost episode had jumped the shark, when that asshat Lorraine Warren popped up to lecture us on how the Amityville Horror "HAD to be true! I INVESTIGATED it! The Lutz family NEVER MADE A CENT!"

The show absolutely demolished those claims. e.g., it interviewed people who heard George Lutz bragging that he made at least $400,000 off the books and movies. Residents of Amityville were interviewed who never saw anything happen and unanimously denounced the whole foofaraw as a scam.

Warren was described as a "psychic" in the on-screen titles. Oh come on NatGeo! At least make it "alleged psychic" or "self-proclaimed psychic."

I got worried because this show generally starts right out by contrasting believers with skeptics. The ghost episode took a different approach and let the nutbars natter on for about half the show before wheeling out the Skeptical Heavy Artillery. So it worked out in the end.

That show is worth watching just for the segment about a haunted country-western bar...

:rofl:

[realisticphish]

12. i forget the actual name

the description was something about researching claims about alcatraz. The first bit started out as an analysis of the likelihood of that one big escape attempt. Then, it shape-shifted into woo