The History Channel should change its name to The War Channel

[Sandpiper]

Now, I understand that wars are significant historical events, but on the History Channel, you'd think they were the only events worthy of mention.

The overwhelming majority of the programming is about wars, mostly U.S. wars, and mostly glamorizing them rather than just giving the history of them.

[Marxdem]

1. Republican white males

I think republican white males really get off on those shows.

[DarkPhenyx]

13. Blah, blah, blah...

narrow minded and biased views are not something we should tolerate within our ranks.

There are a great many Liberal men and women of all groups who enjoy those shows. Or do you disagree?

[Liberal_Dog]

47. This Liberal Enjoys WWII And Civil War History

eom

[Beware the Beast Man]

18. This white male happens to enjoy the History Channel on occasion.

Though I'm a bigger fan of stuff like "Terry Jones' Medieval Lives" and the like.
And like it or not, war and military strategy make up a large portion of history. Still, THC does focus a bit too much on modern warfare.

[NNadir]

2. No, sometimes they cover ghosts and spirits.

They should be the war and metaphysics channel.

[billbuckhead]

4. My girlfriend calls it the Hitler channel

[Djinn]

40. why I never bother with it anymore

everytime I tuned in it was about WW2 - I don't even have a problem with militaristic programming but it's not like Hitler/Nazi's and WW2 were the only wars humankind has ever had.

They also seem to believe that "history" didn't exist before the 20th Century - it should definetly be called either Channel 20C or the Hitler channel

[Blue Wally]

50. It is televison

They also seem to believe that "history" didn't exist before the 20th Century - it should definetly be called either Channel 20C or the Hitler channel

And it is really hard to get film footage of pre-20th century events.

[Djinn]

58. so all of a sudden you need film footage

to learn about history?? I've seen brilliant documentaries on the Romans, the Egyptians, ancient mammals - I'm pretty sure there was no stock footage of any of that either

[ChickMagic]

54. I do too

My official name for it is "The All Hitler All the Time Channel."

[Connie_Corleone]

3. I used to love watching the History Channel.

I barely watch it now because of all of the war and battle history stuff. Some of it is interesting, but after a whole year of it, it's tiresome.

[theboss]

5. Someone had to pick up the mantle from A&E

It stopped being the Hitler Channel a few years ago.

I have to admit, I watch a lot of the documentaries on the Hitstory Channel. I think wars just make for more interesting shows. I mean, would you rather watch something on the Battle of the Bulge or on the founding of the Department of Labor.

[derrald]

15. I'd rather watch the founding of the Dept. of Labor

But then again, I also get excited when I get a new document notification from the Congressional Budget Office....


wow, I'm a loser. oh well :)

[DarkPhenyx]

6. History pretty much is war...

...or at least conflict. Sad but true. The rest of the time really dosen't make for a very interesting TV program.

[rinsd]

14. Good point....

...though I have seen a move away from the WW2 non-stop lineup. Now its different wars like 1812, the American Civil, etc.

[Selwynn]

26. Conflict yes. War? No.

in fact there is so much history that is almost never covered at all, like the long and painfully important history of organized labor in this country or around the world, just as one example.

[DarkPhenyx]

46. Which is, in it's way...

...war. As is the quest for soverinity that my people have pushed for.

[DarkPhenyx]

49. Conflict Yes and war Yes as well.

agreed tehre is a lot that isn't covered, but that does not invalidate my original statement.

[Blue Wally]

51. It was said

"Happy is the nation which doesn't have a history"

[rawtribe]

7. My uncle calls it

The Hitler Channel.

[LizW]

34. Hee. My neighbor calls it that, too.

:)

[neoteric lefty]

8. The sad reality of it, in my opinion, is that they decided to focus

their programming towards an audience comprised mostly of retired Veterans and war buffs. Those seem like the only people that will watch during the daytime hours. I remember that the History Channel has always leaned towards warfare documentaries, but I have noticed the trend you speak of.

[derrald]

9. yeah, it tends to be totally WWII

I loooooove World War II, I think it's _the_ turning point in US history, but there's so much other stuff to cover.

[markdd]

10. I've often heard it called

the World War 2 channel.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. The History channel

where history becomes a LIE... yep this is the stand from the AHA, (American Historical Association), I ain't kidding yuo

Also glorifyng war is importatnt to push it

[Sandpiper]

16. When it comes to Vietnam and Iraq

The History Channel's progarmas have definitely been written by the court historians.

[SoCalDem]

12. My husband watches little else

My youngest son would cruise through the living room and say .."Hey Dad, News Flash,...We won that war...Hitler was the bad guy "..

My husband spends most of his time yelling at the tv, because they mis-identify so many things..:)

[Sagan]

17. My dad calls it the "White Men Killing Each Other Channel"

I confess I watch it quite a bit myself. Of course, my degree is in military history, so...... :)

[pelagius]

23. My wife calls "Animal Planet"...

..."Animals Eating Other Animals Planet". ;-)

[SmileyBoy]

19. It was good when they showed war documentaries.

Now they show these TLC/Trading Spaces-style war shows like "Mail Call", "Tactical to Practical" and "Command Desicions", and it's really drawing me away from the network.

Give me some WWII/Holocaust documentaries, dammit!!!

[Huckebein the Raven]

20. Do you have History International ?

It's better IMHO. They cover more cultural history than the regular history channel does. For instance, a few months ago they did a mini-series on the history of soccer rivalries in different countries and the cultural significance contained in the games between the two teams (might not interest you but I enjoyed it).

Before the Olympics began, they did 5 part series on the cultural history of Greece from the Ancient to the modern period.

To be fair,they do show programs about wars, but the programming is not as U.S-centric as the History Channel.

[ReadTomPaine]

38. I'd agree with this analysis.

They seem to have skimmed the better shows from History Channel and a few others.

RTP

[mdhunter]

21. It's either war or feats of engineering in the form of phallic symbols

I still watch anyway, though I really wish there were more programs on subversive or alternate sources of history.

[TahitiNut]

22. The History Channel is to History as Fox News is to Foxes.

It's the fictionalization of history ... another in the Disney brainwashing empire. Kings are great. War is glorius. Dark-skinned people are savages - but the tame ones are nice to keep as pets.
:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[Djinn]

41. have to agree there

in a short break from Hitler doco's about 6 months ago the History channel kept showing all these "biographies" of Saddam - total propaganda trash - could have been written by Rove.

[Selwynn]

24. Totally. THC is the Anti-People's History. :D

[deadparrot]

25. I used to love the Hisotry Channel,

but the only topics I see discussed now are WWII, Saddam, UBL, and guns/weaponry. Reeeally boring stuff, seeing as I'm a fan of early Europe (Greece, Rome, Middle Ages, Renaissance).

[VIP table]

27. I kind of like the History Channel

Lots of interesting shows in my opinion..

[ProfessorGAC]

28. That Doesn't Bother Me

They do inventions and things too! But, the more recent stuff of showing machinery of war on Modern Marvels, and the things are being used RIGHT NOW in Iraq.

That's not history. That's current events! It seems the point is to cheerlead for the newest war by showing the lemmings how cool this stuff is! That cranks me off to no end.

But, things like Command Decisions, Wild West Tech, Modern Marvels (when it's about buildings, and bridges, & stuff), is probably 50% of my viewing. (I've got History, History West, History International, The Science Channel, Discovery, DTMS, Disc Wings, and National Geographic Channel). So, if i watch one thing on each channel, once a week, that's 8 hours a week. Four of those are owned by the same people, so, it's really watching the History Channel.

Maybe i shouldn't. I dunno. Don't care either. I'll watch as long as it not stuff that's making me mad.
The Professor

[TexasSissy]

29. Just cheaper to produce, I imagine. And lots of footage and material

on them. The History Channel has a lot of air time to fill.

But I see lots of other stuff on the H.C., too. And then there's History Channel International. I love both of those stations.

I especially love the ones on infamous murderers.

[Neecy]

30. well...

There's a lot more to history other than war. I'd love to see THC do some 'movement' programming...civil rights, labor, women's rights...things that have shaped today's society. They do very little presidential history, which would be interesting (unless you count their piece on LBJ killing JFK - a new low, even for them).

PBS, to me, is a much better source for historical programming. The series they ran on Lincoln last spring was excellent.

[T Town Jake]

31. Oh, Christ...in a world full of nitwit programming...

...like "the Apprentice," "Fear factor," "wife swap" (or whatever it's called ), and "Fox News," the last thing I can think to bitch about on the tube is the History Channel. :eyes:

[Sandpiper]

32. Low brow programming

Is a lot less insidious than pseudo-intellectual programming.

How much time does Fear Factor spend talking about how cool our tanks, planes, bombs, and warships are?

[T Town Jake]

33. "pseudo-intellectual" programming? Why? Because...

...they won't do a Mahatma Gandhi marathon? Or run a 37-part series dedicated to cataloging how many times Ralph Waldo Emerson discovered a piece of lint in his belly button and wrote a tome to peace about it?
The plain fact is, THC isn't raving about how "cool" war or the implements employed therein are - they are covering the prime moving factors in history as a whole, most of which happened, for better or worse, during times of armed conflict. That's hardly a "pseudo" endeavor.



On edit: word substitution.

[Sandpiper]

35. You're kidding, right?

THC isn't raving about how "cool" war or the implements employed therein are

Yeah, Mail Call sure doesn't do that. :eyes:

they won't do a Mahatma Gandhi marathon? Or run a 37-part series dedicated to cataloging how many times Ralph Waldo Emerson discovered a piece of lint in his belly button and wrote a tome to peace about it?

No, but apparently they see great historical value in a show that mostly entails R. Lee Emery shooting and blowing up watermelons.

[T Town Jake]

37. "You're kidding, right?" Not a bit..."Mail Call" is

...one thirty minute program that appeals to those interested in the "nuts & bolts," so to speak, of military hardware. It's not my mug of brew, so I rarely watch it, but it has it's place.
You don't care for it? Fine by me - vote with your remote and go catch "trading spaces" or some similar intellectually uplifting piece of fluff. But "Mail Call" is hardly representative of the width and breadth of THC. Honestly, I'm trying to figure what the problem is here...it sure as hell isn't just a little tummy-ache over seeing R. Lee Emery assault a watermelon with a Civil War musket. What other programs, sans "Mail Call," do you dislike, if you don't mind me asking?

[Sandpiper]

39. I give you an example

You don't care for it? Fine by me - vote with your remote and go catch "trading spaces" or some similar intellectually uplifting piece of fluff.

And the best you can offer is another smart ass comment.

What other programs, sans "Mail Call," do you dislike, if you don't mind me asking?

No, I don't mind you asking. I do mind you being a dick.

As I said, I think their programming is heavily slanted towards war. And I take great exception to their obvious pro U.S. slant in their coverage of Vietnam, and Desert Storm.

Maybe you've never picked up on it. Maybe you're not as smart as you think and it just went over your head. Maybe you're so used to swallowing pro-U.S. propaganda that you don't even notice it anymore.

Or maybe you were at the coffee house, sipping an espresso, and complaining about Fear Factor with the other cool kid, pseudo-intellectuals.

See, I can be a smartass too!

[T Town Jake]

42. LOL....touche. I don't mind being called on my...

...smartass comments, as long as someone does it an appropriately smartass manner... :P
Seriously, I apologize for my smartass remarks. I just think we see things differently when it comes to THC. I honestly don't see the kind of "pro U.S." slant you seem to. Granted, I spend a lot--probably too much--time watching THC, and am really fond of it. We'll just have to agree to disagree. Peace.

[DrWeird]

53. That's right.

This is an excellent channel and people should be encouraged to watch it.

Why, just last night I watched a show on the history of haunted UFO's.

They should be showing it in classrooms for God's sake.

[The River]

56. Good Call Jake

If THC isn't PC enough for some people they can change the
*&#% channel.
They DO cover a lot more than just war.

[DrWeird]

57. Isn't PC enough?

I don't like it because they DO only cover war. Well, at least World War II. Well, at least the US involvement in WWII. Well, at least the US involvement of the invasion of Normandy. But you're right, sometimes, once and awhile, they'll stick in a show about extremely large coal mining machinery in between shows about D-day.

[MessiahRp]

36. I happen to like the Revolutionary War stuff

I really get into the 1770s and the stuff surrounding the Revolutionary War and our forefathers and such. I strangely enough, woke up from surgery last Thursday and the first thing that came to my mind in the recovery room was the Continental Congress.

Okay so I am dumb. :)

Rp

[DebJ]

43. Nah...you're cool! I have tons of history books, but I never

seem to get away from reading about our country's beginnings and the Founding Fathers. I always have difficulty picturing battles. My hubby is a battle miniatures fan so he helps me sometimes, although he likes ancient history and finds the invention of gunpowder a boring thing. I have a book titled Campaigns of the American Revolution, An Atlas of Manuscript Maps, that shows maps used by commanders in the war. Interesting, but still doesn't help much.

Hubby says I'll never get to my other books, that I'll be reading the Revolutionary War period until I die!

[MessiahRp]

45. LOL

I feel the same way. I find other wars somewhat interesting, namely WW II and the struggle against Hitler, but really all wars after the Revolutionary War for some reason aren't very appealing. I just don't get into the 1800s as a time period for the most part which is probably weird.

In 8th grade I had a teacher that made The Revolutionary War come to life to me. We read books, watched movies (Johnny Tremain and other educational films), did book reports and tons of assignments related to it.

Ever since I am hooked.

I wish my Math was up to par (anyone want to teach me fractions and Algebra?) so I could take the ACt score high enough and get into the University because I really want to be a history professor (with a PoliSci minor).

I'm turning 27 this November. Time's running out. But damn I do love the Revolutionary War.

Rp

[Supply Side Jesus]

44. H is for Hitler!!

I USED to like the Hitler channel for awhile, but then the mustache got old.

[Huckebein the Raven]

52. I did like the documentary on the War between Nazi Germany

and the Soviet Union called "The War of the Century"

[donheld]

48. If we weren't always fighting they wouldn't have too

:evilfrown:

[blindpig]

55. history: read it and weep.

Thank you Mr Vonnegut.