So What if Atheist TV Doesn’t Have Original Programming?

[rug]

July 26, 2014
by Hemant Mehta

Salon‘s Mary Elizabeth Williams throws some cold water on Atheist TV:

… Atheist TV so far looks a little, well, dry. Writing in the Telegraph, Peter Foster calls the nearly three-minute trailer for the network “bombastic,” and I think he’s being far too kind. There is no mention of what the content itself will be, just clips of prominent atheists and quotes about secularism. And if you want to feature a woman saying, “A lot of people, when they talk about atheism, they see it as such a negative thing, but I view it as very positive,” it doesn’t really sell that idea when there’s super-scary music playing underneath. The melody swells as fireworks explode. Atheism! Now it’s going to be in your house! DUN DUN DUN!

The network is also clearly aiming to take a page from the LGBT community, liberally using the terminology of “coming out” being “fully who we are.” Yes, but LogoTV is fun. Even the Christian Broadcasting has cartoons, and Christian Television Network has a music show. Where’s the atheist game show, “Name That Free Thinker”? Where’s the buddy cop show about two secularists solving crimes using rigorously non-abstract concepts? Where’s the travel show, “America’s Best Godless Sodoms”? Atheist TV so far just promises a “righteous fight” and what I imagine will be every clip of Richard Dawkins in existence. That sounds ominous. Worse — it sounds boring. There’s a difference between ideology and entertainment, and you can’t build a brand only on what you stand in opposition to…

I don’t fault her for seeing it that way. A bunch of atheists talking about God? That’s gonna get old real fast…

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/07/26/so-what-if-atheist-tv-doesnt-have-original-programming/

http://www.salon.com/2014/07/24/here_comes_the_all_atheist_tv_network/

It debuts Tuesday at 7 p.m. EDT.

https://www.facebook.com/americanatheistTV

[PoliticAverse]

1. At least it doesn't have Original Sin... n/t

[longship]

2. It's the Bertrand Russell Hour, brought to you by Colgate?

I see it is the American Atheists doing this. Don't really know what to think without seeing it. And living where I live, way out in the sticks (no broadband Internet; no cable TV), I won't be able to check it out.

So I have to reserve comment.

[enlightenment]

3. I don't know much about it, and as a cable-free person, I doubt

I'll have an opportunity to find out . . . but I will say this: original programming costs money. New networks often start on a less than generous budget. As the budget grows, so does the programming, so Ms Williams is being a bit unrealistic and should probably do a little historical homework on new network programming. She may be right about the commercial, but as for the rest, it seems like a side-winded swipe at secularism in general. Whatever floats her boat and gets her 30 seconds of attention, I guess.

[cbayer]

4. Here is the trailer, for anyone who might be interested

[mr blur]

5. Seems like a waste of time to me.

I know I'm an atheist, I don't watch religious stuff on TV (or much else, to be honest). Over here there's so little religious stuff on TV that in the unlikely even that I'm going to watch TV it would be easy to avoid it. It's like commercials - can't stand them, so choose BBC. I don't need to see other atheists on TV just to know that they exist. Of course if I lived in the US, I might have different feelings about it.

[cbayer]

6. Like you, I don't really watch TV.

Well, right now, I don't even have access to TV and I don't miss it at all.

But when I get the chance, I will put the Food Network on and leave it on from the time I get up until I go to sleep.

I think some people are like that with religious stations and I suspect some will be like that with this station.