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komakino
New Member
USA
3 Posts |
 Posted - 09/24/2009 : 11:35:07
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Not content with the hour long waste of time and tired parade of grimy images and night time photography of deer and racoons that was Monster Quest. The History Channel (a name that these days is surely less appropriate than naming your child Adolf) have started Mystery Quest. This week - the Bermuda Triangle.
Now, I really do quite like these programs. I love the earnest seriousness of the 'investigators' as they try to shoehorn the things they see or in some cases feel into their own pet theories.
"Shit did you see that? I have never seen anything like that before, I think it was a Pterodactyl."
No...mate....it's a sparrow.
Is it just me that worries when my friends down the pub talk to me about electronic fog, the alligators of Manhattan and (for crying out loud) the Philadelphia experiment?
"Lads, do you know they just found a rat the size of a cat?"
"Where?"
"New Guinea."
"Oh right.....anyway yeah they totally travelled through time and ended up meeting themselves in the future....."
And they don't even take drugs.
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2009 : 11:59:12 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by komakino
Not content with the hour long waste of time and tired parade of grimy images and night time photography of deer and racoons that was Monster Quest. The History Channel (a name that these days is surely less appropriate than naming your child Adolf) have started Mystery Quest. This week - the Bermuda Triangle.
Now, I really do quite like these programs. I love the earnest seriousness of the 'investigators' as they try to shoehorn the things they see or in some cases feel into their own pet theories.
"Shit did you see that? I have never seen anything like that before, I think it was a Pterodactyl."
No...mate....it's a sparrow.
Is it just me that worries when my friends down the pub talk to me about electronic fog, the alligators of Manhattan and (for crying out loud) the Philadelphia experiment?
"Lads, do you know they just found a rat the size of a cat?"
"Where?"
"New Guinea."
"Oh right.....anyway yeah they totally travelled through time and ended up meeting themselves in the future....."
And they don't even take drugs.
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My sentiments exactly! The Discovery Channel is little better. Fortunately, I don't have cable and only watch them when visiting my younger daughter. That saves a lot of wear & tear on my ulcer.
Welcome to SFN komakino!
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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komakino
New Member
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2009 : 12:38:42 [Permalink]
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I am not sure if the History and Discovery channel are part of the same group but if not then Discovery ought to put out its own debunking-the-History-channels-quests program.
Maybe the marketing people need to get their hands on it and come up with a zippier title but anyway...
In the UK a while ago there was a series on Channel 4 called Heavens Mirror or something like that, based on the book by Graham Hancock. It was all presented as lovely and as if 'who wouldn't believe this?' The BBC, 6 months later, put out a couple of one hour Horizon documentaries totally ripping apart the whole thing.
It was most excellent and allowed me to be most smug (down the pub again) in an I-told-you-so way. |
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bngbuck
SFN Addict
USA
2437 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2009 : 13:15:45 [Permalink]
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Komakino.....
| Is it just me that worries when my friends down the pub talk to me about electronic fog, the alligators of Manhattan and (for crying out loud) the Philadelphia experiment? |
Hell, Komakino, most electronic media is a vast wasteland of impenetrable fog, alligators occupy most of the offices of Wall Street, and have you been to Philadelphia?--they'll get it right eventually! |
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Machi4velli
SFN Regular
USA
854 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2009 : 21:05:47 [Permalink]
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| I've pretty much given up on the History Channel, it actually used to be pretty good... Anymore, it's always nonsense like "Bible code" or Nostradamus predicting the future or free masons controlling the world. I saw someone actually claim the founding fathers were hiding conspiracies in a seal of some bureau of the government because it had a flag with 13 stripes and 13 is a "number of special meaning to free masons." |
"Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people."
-Giordano Bruno
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge."
-Stephen Hawking
"Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable"
-Albert Camus |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2009 : 22:07:02 [Permalink]
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Just to set it straight...
The Discovery Network includes:- Discovery Channel
- TLC
- Animal Planet
- Discovery Health
- The Science Channel
- Discovery Kids
- Discovery en Español
- Planet Green
- Military Channel
- Investigation Discovery
- Turbo
- HD Theater
- FitTV
And a few online places.
The A&E Television Networks includes:- A&E
- The Biography Channel
- History
- History International
- History en Español
- Military History Channel (not the Military Channel, above)
- Crime & Investigation Network
Wikipedia says that AETN acquired Lifetime recently, so add the Lifetime channels to the list.
But the important part is that all the Discovery Network channels are owned by Discovery Communications, while AETN is owned jointly by The Hearst Corporation, Disney-ABC Television Group and NBC Universal. In other words, the Discovery Channel competes with the History Channel. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2009 : 22:30:46 [Permalink]
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| Yeah, but it's a mixed bag. One day on Discovery it's Planet Earth and then you get some crap show. Same with the History Channel. It's not all rubbish. How they chose their shows is a mystery to me. |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Simon
SFN Regular
USA
1992 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2009 : 11:12:05 [Permalink]
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It is my personal feelings that the (pseudo)-history channel has drunk the woo-aid more deeply than National Geographic, while NG does have some stinkers, they are a small number in a sea of neutral programming. They also have a few sceptically oriented show, not only 'Mythbusters' but also 'is it real' and such.
The history channel have a large number of BS show, from 'monster quest' to 'UFO hunter' to the 'Nostradamus effect' to a variety of one shots such as the 'Exodus discovered' or the Van Daniken one... And they don't have any sceptical shows to counter-balance...
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Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996 |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2009 : 14:51:59 [Permalink]
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| Isn't the big flaw simply that we've bought into the marketing of the History (or Discovery) Channel? That is, there's nothing that compels some network that calls itself the History Channel to air programs that educate the viewer about actual history. (Or, for that matter, a station calling itself, say, "Music Television," to air actual music). But for a certain segment, they see "history" and think "oh, I must be learning actual history when I watch this" and feel good about this, when in reality, what's being shown is just some form of entertainment that may or may not reflect an accurate presentation of the past. No? |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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sailingsoul
SFN Addict
2830 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2009 : 17:07:28 [Permalink]
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Maybe this could be an answer to the mystery, Kil. Lets not forget to mention the elephant in the room. That is $$$$, the Hearst Corporation, Disney-ABC Television Group, NBC Universal or what eva', don't give a shit about which programs they present. They are not in business to inform (news) or educate anyone. It is against their interests to educate the viewers in any real way. A greater number of higher educated viewers would demand better programming. That's what the schools and universities do. A more educated viewer would realize what a complete waste of time TV is with the shows they get by with now. TV being broadcast and cable media. Every show they air has one and only one goal. To get the most viewers so they can sell the ad spots for the most money. Higher ratings brings more money in advertising fees. Producing or buying a show, where a group of ghost hunting yahoo's run around a house in the dark, shrieking like a pack of children who lost their mommy's, is really cheap to produce. Quality programming cost much more than the crap their showing in it's place. what it comes down to is the cheapest show that will bring in the highest ratings, yielding the greatest revenue. These crap shows are no different than buying a cheap knock off product and being ripped off. SS
edit for typo |
There are only two types of religious people, the deceivers and the deceived. SS |
| Edited by - sailingsoul on 09/26/2009 08:14:23 |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2009 : 06:42:22 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Cuneiformist
Isn't the big flaw simply that we've bought into the marketing of the History (or Discovery) Channel? That is, there's nothing that compels some network that calls itself the History Channel to air programs that educate the viewer about actual history. (Or, for that matter, a station calling itself, say, "Music Television," to air actual music). But for a certain segment, they see "history" and think "oh, I must be learning actual history when I watch this" and feel good about this, when in reality, what's being shown is just some form of entertainment that may or may not reflect an accurate presentation of the past. No?
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You mean like "Fox News"?
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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komakino
New Member
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2009 : 07:00:09 [Permalink]
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Yes I suppose it's true, I have bought into the marketing of these channels as.....I wanted to say factual.....but I am watching the Mythbusters at the moment and there's just been a trailer for Ghost Lab ('something just touched my neck' - must be a ghost then), so I am not sure I can. However you are right there's little to compel these cannels to actually broadcast science or history.
Mind you I do worry about one day hearing someone saying - oh they solved the Zodiac Killer case, I saw it on the History Channel. Actually I wonder if teachers have to answer similar statements from pupils? |
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Paulos23
Skeptic Friend
USA
446 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2009 : 09:05:28 [Permalink]
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In my view the Discovery is just as bad as History. They just started showing ads for a ghost hunting show, and based on what I saw in the ads it will be just as bad as The Ghost Hunters on SyFy.
Both channels need to make money, and sometimes to get the ratings they need to pull from the woo crowd. I would love to believe that both channels where dedicated to the truth, but the truth doesn't always bring in the dough.
At least the ad for the new Mythbuster season looked hot. |
You can go wrong by being too skeptical as readily as by being too trusting. -- Robert A. Heinlein
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. -- Aldous Huxley |
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astropin
SFN Regular
USA
970 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2009 : 09:48:20 [Permalink]
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Some of the programming on these channels is very good, some is utter crap.
I watch the good ones & skip the crap, YMMV. |
I would rather face a cold reality than delude myself with comforting fantasies.
You are free to believe what you want to believe and I am free to ridicule you for it.
Atheism:
The result of an unbiased and rational search for the truth.
Infinitus est numerus stultorum |
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The History Channel's quest for bollocks.
