When did the History channel turn into sludge?

Hi there,

Its grumpy SkepticOutcast here, laying my first ovum.

When did the History channel turn into sludge?
Ancient Aliens. This is history?
That’s like saying Mickey Mouse is good example of rodent anatomy.

The history channel has become a lot of things: Light entertainment. Somewhat amusing with American Pickers, Pawn Stars, the UFO hunter crap etc. But the thing it is no longer about is f****n history. I get more history from National Geographic.

This just sux.

SO

It’s not just the history channel. ← Click colored text.

You wrote: "this chick is in a skydiving accident wherein her shute partially opens, but still slows her descent by more than 50%. She impacts the ground pretty hard but survives… Well, first they call in an air-crash investigator that explains her velocity + angle of impact could easily, scientifically, explain why she survived.

But then the narrator chips in… “But can science REALLY explain this strange occurrance?”.

At this point I’m kinda blinking strangely at the TV… muttering to myself: “Uh, yeah, he just explained it right at your face”
AH HAHAHAHA

… the narrator continues while we cut to an elderly woman: “Ms. FundyFoo believes angels could’ve saved Ms. Victim”…

At this point Ms. FundyFoo explains how angels temporarily suspended the laws of physics…
PLEASE MAKE THEM STOP"

This is stupid. They are pandering to lowest common denominator. Put this type of s***t on other channels. Like TBN. Not Discovery.

I don’t look at DSTV very often any more. I’ve basically switched to Youtube. Yeah there’s a lot of crap, but also a lot of good science, like sixtysymbols and numberphile.

I lived without a TV for many years, without missing it. Then I got one for free from an acquaintance that emigrated. The old thing only receives SABC3 and e-TV, and I basically only watch TV when I eat, plus the very occasional worthwhile documentary. Mostly it’s just utter crap, but there is no law that requires me to watch it.

So on a personal level TV is of no consequence to me. I am somewhat worried about its pernicious effect on society though. I am a school teacher, and every day I can see the effect of mindless pop culture on the youth (rather fittingly, I mistyped “pop culture” as “poop culture” - a typo so appropriate I should perhaps have left it).

On the other hand, pop culture has always existed. Most people are and always have been pretty stupid, and here we still are, kicking and breathing. I’m getting old enough now that I just can’t be bothered with fighting these fights anymore, but still young enough to enjoy life. If the youth wants to throw away three millennia of hard-earned knowledge, then it will be their price to pay in a few decades.

Welcome, grumpy SkepticOutcast!

We have had Dstv for 7 months and every month my account has been incorrect, so after the third month of deducting (trying, rather, since my account only had enough for my debit orders) too much from my account they have cut me off. Never mind that the mistakes have been theirs! And we have decided to leave it that way as there isn’t much we will miss. The good stuff is so larded with repetitious bad ads that it just doesn’t seem worth the subscription.

Hi Brian,

You wrote: “Mostly it’s just utter crap, but there is no law that requires me to watch it.”

You are right. I’ve basically switched to Youtube. I watch science, skeptic and atheist channels mostly. Some better than others. But I get to set my own viewing schedule and to pick what I like to watch. I would suggest that this is probably the future of television anyway.

Hi there Thrift,

I’ve been thinking of cutting off DSTV myself and spending the money on a bigger Internet connection. The only thing I will probably miss is live sport.

Quite possibly yes. I find that even YouTube’s light entertainment, in the form of weird or funny home movies, tends to be far funnier than anything on TV.

YouTube is also where I get most of my music nowadays.

Hi, my name is Tweefo and I have been without TV now for 32 months.

Hi Grumpy, welcome to the forum! I chucked the TV out of my home some 16 years ago after seeing the rubbish my kids were watching whilst I’m not around. They effectively grew up without the sludge and they grew up all the better for it. Both are readers and question things far more than their peers. Lose the TV, you will likely find you won’t miss it.

Maybe we should ask when did history become sludge? What is history to an illiterate Khoi-San vs a bible punching preacher vs whatever…you get my drift!

To brianvds, Faerie and Tweefo,

Seems I need to chuck the DSTV out window

To Brian,

What is history to an illiterate Khoi-San vs a bible punching preacher vs whatever...you get my drift!

hmmm, I guess I'd have to answer with the familiar saying that history is written by the victors. Not to say that the victors cannot interpret historical events fairly, but they definitely will put some of their own spin on it. For myself I interpret history from a mostly western perspective (Greece, Rome, Renaissance, Dark Ages, Calvinism etc.) as it is the perspective which I am most comfortable with and also identify with.

You probably signed a contract. You’re stuck. They got you now! Mwa-ha-ha!

I guess I'd have to answer with the familiar saying that history is written by the victors.

Thus, according to history channel, history was written by alien abductors.

As for the Hitler channel: They told all the WW2 stories so that takes care of history (according to them) and that is why only sludge remain to report on.

Yea the History channel was in trouble a few years ago. That is when
the new Manager took over and decided to fill it with junk.

I think mostly because he buys those shows on the cheap.

I’ve also been with our TV for almost two years. We watch a lot of kids DVD
at home with my son.

But hoping to get some good Docies for him to watch when he is bigger.

Hi all,

cr1t you wrote:

Yea the History channel was in trouble a few years ago. That is when the new Manager took over and decided to fill it with junk.

Good insight. Now whenever someone pipes up at the channel and asks: But is this history? The answer quickly comes: "Remember how we suffered when we did those boring history shows? No! We gotta sell sell sell baby. If we can't sell a show to the masses then its not worth producing. Bam!"

Hi Brian,

[quote]You probably signed a contract. You’re stuck. They got you now! Mwa-ha-ha!/quote]
Na they’re not bad with that. One months notice.

Hi Tweefo,

Yeah doing documentaries about events without footage means they have to produce the images themselves. That means money. So thats why the only event in Human history is WWII

Mrs Kent seems to switch her subscription on and off at will. It seems to be loosely correlated with Gordon Ramsay’s Masterchef series. Arme ek. :

Let me guess: Mrs Kent can cook brilliantly, but she lets fly with the most hideous language if you set a foot wrong in the kitchen.

Make sure you start him off with a good dose of Cosmos

There’s some good stuff on BBC Knowledge occasionally. Bit of a cut above the usual Yank bilge. Disclaimer: some of my favourite people are American, but jeeeez.

I must admit that all the silly internet memes featuring that Ancient Aliens whackjob make me ROFL, though.

Hi, my name is Lurkie. I am a Prison Break addict and have to watch at least three episodes per sitting.