Am I the only one that misses the old History Channel?

[Spartacus87]

Not sure if they're all the same, but on this particular show some dudes sit around in an old jail/warehouse/castle all night while infrared cameras document the utter boredom. To punctuate the absolutely nothing which is actually happening, every so often one of the "experts" pretends to hear a "strange noise" and then they cut back to some intern sitting at a desk miles away supposedly watching a live feed, who furrows his brow and says, "What's that?" Then they spend a few minutes staring at a plot of the recorded "ghost noise" waveform on a computer screen, concluding absolutely nothing except that it's definitely a noise that sounds different from the total silence that preceded and followed it. Therefore it's a ghost, QED.

Then the on-site "ghost experts" walk toward the noise and find nothing. Meanwhile, some other guys are sitting somewhere else in the building. One of them tosses his pen, always when the camera is conveniently not looking, and blames a ghost. The pen tossing, which the camera almost-but-not-quite captures due to an apparently never-ending streak of incredibly bad luck, is replayed about 17 times while the guy overdubs a narration describing how he most definitely did not toss that pen. He SO DID NOT toss that pen. Look at what the camera once again failed to document: a ghost did it! The end.

Pretty much the formula for Monster Quest, except instead of ghosts its giant snakes, Bigfoot, or some kind of river monster.

I don't know about the validity of this cryptozoological business (although I tend to not believe most of it) but I hardly think that if these things did exist, these television shows would ever capture proof of it. Villagers in South America talk about seeing a spider the size of a car once every 25 years, and after a TV crew with some sound experts spend one night in the jungle, they can conclusively decide if that creature is real or not? Give me a break.

All of the ghost shows, the monster shows, just hack nonsense.

[zoony]

As far as the ghost shows go- I agree, most are completely boring.

HOWEVER- for some reason Ghost Adventures is pretty good. Not sure why. That's the one on the Travel Channel with the guy that's all rhoided out.

.....

[RLeVan]

Pawn Stars confirms that there are some real idiots out there. Amazing what people will sell things for.

Anyone see the episode where that guy sold the original Shelby Cobra body for 30k right after he was told it was worth 50? :doh:

That's the one where it was just the body kit that he took possession of from his storage facility right? My guess is the guy got a kickback from the History Channel to compensate for the lost price because it makes for good television.

[Elessar78]

This happens because once upon a time all these channels Discovery, History, MTV etc were their own independent entity. But in the past decade umbrella companies have bought all these channels and basically 5 companies own 90% of the channels that broadcast.

The reason a subscriber can't have a la carte programming is because these 5 companies "sell" cable providers (like Comcast, DirecTV, etc) their whole suite of channels. History is owned by AETN who also owns; A&E, History Int, Biography, Lifetime and a couple of others. I think that AETN is owned by Disney.

Anyway, before these independent channels existed as niche entertainment options. Their existence relied on the fact that they should provide interesting shows for people to watch. But now as part of big corporations that's only part of what keeps them alive. Since they "sell" as a group instead of individually the price that can be negotiated for them is reliant on "total eyeballs".

A broader cross section of people will watch (and keep returning) Ax Men, Ice Road Truckers than one-offs like WWII in HD. Not to mention shows like that cost less to produce.

[Perky72]

Pretty much the formula for Monster Quest, except instead of ghosts its giant snakes, Bigfoot, or some kind of river monster.

I don't know about the validity of this cryptozoological business (although I tend to not believe most of it) but I hardly think that if these things did exist, these television shows would ever capture proof of it. Villagers in South America talk about seeing a spider the size of a car once every 25 years, and after a TV crew with some sound experts spend one night in the jungle, they can conclusively decide if that creature is real or not? Give me a break.

All of the ghost shows, the monster shows, just hack nonsense.

I defend cryptozoology as an alternate means to define research missions, basically it's good when it's just regular zoology that relies more on anecdotes/tales, and in that strict sense it's had some accomplishments. One example is that show (not sure which network) where the guy goes to catch huge fish. He often narrows his search by relying on local knowledge.

I also think some of the more typical crytpo things may exist, such as the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, and the Thylacine Tiger. Not so much the really dubious stuff like Bigfoot or Chupacabra.

But I don't watch the shows because you're right in another way--even if the ghost-hunters or cryptozoologists found an actual ghost/cryptid, it wouldn't be presented on those shows. It would be presented on its own in a special or more likely immediately told to the media, and more investigations would take place. You're never going to be watching one of those shows and bam--very strong evidence or proof is shown. They're not the format it would be shown in even on the slight chance it's actually real.

As for History Channel, ugh. Reality TV is eating everything good in the world, we need to mount an expedition to return it to Mount Doom.

[Perky72]

That's the one where it was just the body kit that he took possession of from his storage facility right? My guess is the guy got a kickback from the History Channel to compensate for the lost price because it makes for good television.

That's the really evil thing about reality TV. It isn't actually real--the producers have a hand in everything and basically write a virtual script using real humans as "actors", and the final product can end up barely resembling the truth. Behind-the-scenes producer manipulation is shocking even on something like Top Chef or American Idol.

Oh, and editing. Reality shows manage to make time travel a reality by showing dozens of things out of context/timeline in order to ramp up drama.

[cjcdaman]

Seriously, the History Channel is to history what MTV is to music. I'm sure shows like Ax Men, Ice Road Truckers, Dirty Jobs, and that Pawn shop show have a place on TV - they just shouldn't be on the History Channel. Even all those shows about the beginning of the universe would be better placed on a science channel. Hell, they even have shows about the future. Makes me miss the days of the Hitler Channel. :mad:

Dude, could not agree more! When the History Channel goes reality TV, you know there is a problem. Is it the dumbing down of America? I don't know, but some of us look to The History Channel to get away from the nonsense on television right now and we get the same ****.

Same as some have said History International is great. I even have Smithsonian Channel on DirecTV and love it.

The Pawn Stars show is my favorite. I've learned more history on that than the other trash they used to have where they exaggerated and embellished everything.

Exhibit A

[Spartacus87]

I defend cryptozoology as an alternate means to define research missions, basically it's good when it's just regular zoology that relies more on anecdotes/tales, and in that strict sense it's had some accomplishments. One example is that show (not sure which network) where the guy goes to catch huge fish. He often narrows his search by relying on local knowledge.

I also think some of the more typical crytpo things may exist, such as the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, and the Thylacine Tiger. Not so much the really dubious stuff like Bigfoot or Chupacabra.

"River Monsters" I think is the name of that show. I do like that one, because you're right, it's an interesting look at how the mythical parts of cryptozoology can blend with real science and how some of the stories locals tell can be reasonably explained. Not just a TV crew out for sensationalism.

On the flip side, there's Monster Quest, which tries to locate the Jersey Devil by staying up all night near an RV park with some night vision equipment. When, like you said, I'm sure that if they actually filmed the Jersey Devil, nobody would know until a random episode of Monster Quest a few months later.

[Riggo-toni]

Right with ya. The History Channel now absolutely blows. History International is good. I hope they have a Season II of Battles BC - that show was great!

[scruffylookin]

I do miss the old History Channel but the channel that has gone down the toilet is Discovery. One used to be able to watch that channel and learn something. Now it's a channel for the stuck on stupid sect with garbage like Dangerous Catch and the goofy UFO stuff.

[Special K]

I'm with the people who say History International is the way to go. My husband and I also watch the military channel quite a bit, and Investigation Discovery.

And Pawn Stars!! That show is rad. We definitely don't miss an episode of that awesomeness! It almost makes me want to go home and swipe all the ancestors' military weapons and heirlooms my dad has displayed in his den and see how much they're worth. Almost. The fear of a severe butt kicking always wins out.

EDIT: By the way, I agree for the most part about the History channel. I preferred the older version...but I do like the addition of pawn stars.

[Veretax]

I find myself watching the military channel more and more. NEver thought I'd say that though.