What the hell happened to this channel? It used to be great and now? There's very little "history" involved in it. It's a bunch of shows about ice road truckers, obese pawn shop workers and aliens playing a part in history. I mean what the fuck? What the fuck happened? What happened to real history? I mean they've made fantastic movies like Hatfield and McCoys and the American Revolution, but 95% of the airtime on that channel is crap and have nothing to do with history. The Smithsonian Channel and the Military Channel are both much better and more relevant, but it would still be nice to see some history from the History Channel.
How about some documentaries? How about some reenactments? What? Did they run out of things to talk about?
Pawn Stars is kind of cool, but I want real historical documentaries. I want to learn something.
I watch it. It's great. But that's on Comedy Central. This is the History Channel.
Totally agree great show.
Yeah, I love it, but it seems to be mostly limited to 20th century warfare. Seems like the bulk of the programming is geared towards WWII, 'Nam and the Persian Gulf. I did love the program they did on the Third Reich and Saddam, as well as the stuff on the Kamikaze pilots.
But I thought the Hatfields and McCoys with Kevin Costner was really good.
Quote:
Drunk History. Hey, it's got history and re-enactments as Anak mentioned, and you get to laugh. Win-win.
I watch it. It's great. But that's on Comedy Central. This is the History Channel.
And I second The Military Channel.
"ancient astronaut theorists believe"....some of the most mind numbingly stupid things
We'll remember you said that, Earthling.
That's how I felt about Nip/Tuck
Just curious, but are you referring to anything in specific?
One of my big beefs is they tend use an overly-dramatic narrator (especially if the content is Nazi Germany) which I think is a disservice to the historical narrative.
For example, Civil War Journal used to be kind of cheesy, but they had really good and well-respected historians comment throughout the episodes and the show was very accurate.
Not the history channel, but you know what has really held up over time? The old "World at War" series narrated by Olivier.
But yeah whenever I'm looking for something history related I usually skip over the history channel cuz 99% of the time they're doing ancient aliens or something with aliens.
In comment 12207541 Eric from BBI said:
Not the history channel, but you know what has really held up over time? The old "World at War" series narrated by Olivier.
The World at War series and Ken Burns' Civil War, were both iconic. They both, in their own ways, transformed the documentary into something personal. Once you started watching you couldn't stop. WWII was so recent. The World at War took you out of that in-the-now narrative and came at it from the big picture context, which was so revealing. The Civil War did the opposite, Burns' genius dropped you right into it.
If I can somehow produce a fat cooking midget with an awful wardrobe and a house that needs fixing up, I'll be the king of reality TV.
As a side note, the H2 channel seemed to have more raw history. I wish we had a history channel when we were kids. They make history very interesting and a good way for folks to get a better feel for the past.
The company that owns the History Channel also own the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. In 2007 a new CEO took over and determined that the current programming (the stuff we liked)was too expensive to produce.
The new reality programming is way less expensive to make and believe it or not viewership is up increasing profits. They do not care what you or I think of the content. Apparently there are a lot of people out there that enjoy shit they are putting out.
I'm not one of them.
Where are you getting that , on CD?
For example, Civil War Journal used to be kind of cheesy, but they had really good and well-respected historians comment throughout the episodes and the show was very accurate.
Not the history channel, but you know what has really held up over time? The old "World at War" series narrated by Olivier.
Yeah, the World at War series is phenomenal. So is the "WWII in Color" and the Apocalypse series.
For example, Civil War Journal used to be kind of cheesy, but they had really good and well-respected historians comment throughout the episodes and the show was very accurate.
Not the history channel, but you know what has really held up over time? The old "World at War" series narrated by Olivier.
The World at War continues to withstand the test of time as the most outstanding military documentary. To me nothing compares. I still remember watching it on Saturday afternoon with my father and grandfather when I was a kid on WOR channel 9 in NYC
Having just binged watched Sons of Anarchy I enjoy it.
Other than that, I rarely watch History Channel anymore
This is what I remember. Being told how great some German plane was, except they couldnt make enough of them or it came too late in the war or Hitler personally mandated some ridiculous deployment etc.
But what are you gonna do? Go look up the ratings for Pawn Stars and compare it to your favorite scripted shows. Then weep.
How expensive could it be to do those shows about the storage locker auctions (and yes, I said "shows")? Once you concede that the real estate of television (ie your timeslots) are worthless because there is no limit on the # of networks, I think the whole game becomes about getting viewers as cheaply as possible.
Someone must watch these things, but who????
Someone must watch these things, but who????
Apparently, everyone in America but me, because as pointed out, the ratings are good enough to keep 'em coming.
I can't figure out what people see in most of these shows, either. I did enjoy getting a glimpse into some of these things for a show or two (like Deadliest Catch) - but who sticks around for multiple seasons? After that, it just becomes work. It's like tagging along with someone on their way to work. For a day or two, fine. Beyond that? Without a paycheck, why bother?