History Channel -- WHY do they do all day Hitler programming?

[Donnachaidh]

WHY is it necessary to program 24 hours of Hitler history on this channel, on what seems to be a weekly basis?

I used to love to watch this channel, but the WAR programming is really going over the top. Oh, and the Bible programming is getting old as well.

[NewWaveChick1981]

1. I used to joke that the History Channel was really the World War II Channel in disguise.

:rofl: My husband LOVES military history, and he used to have the History Channel on all the freaking time. The it became the World War II Channel Featuring The Bible.. :rofl: It drove me berserk. He doesn't watch it nearly so often now.

I agree with you---nonstop war programming gets on my nerves too.

[Donnachaidh]

4. Military History is one think - All Hitler all day is another

Is this the only war ever lived through? I don't think so! And the endless dogfight shows -- jeez louise! And don't even GET me started on truckers driving on ice! WTF does THAT have to do with History?

[philosophie_en_rose]

2. It's basically the Hitler channel.

It's important to know about people like Hitler, but the History Channel has some truly ridiculous shows. Basically "Hitler's Haircuts" and "Hitler's Underground Undies" sort of thing. It's just lurid and trashy.

[Blue-Jay]

12. Ken Burns referred to it as the "Hitler Channel" yesterday

in a live radio interview.

[hfojvt]

3. Because their programming director

Reichsfuehrer Streicher, demands it!!

[gmoney]

5. Must get ratings

Hate him or not, he's a fascinating historic figure, and people want to know what made him tick, and the gorey details of the camps and experiments and such.

Would you rather watch that, or a documentary about the Alder-Crockett Amendment of 1848?

They SHOULD do a comparative documentary on the rise of the 3rd Reich compared to the Bush administration...

[Donnachaidh]

7. but re-hashing all the same BS to get ratings?

I'd watch ANYTHING new they produced that pertained to anything other than Hitler and trucking. And I'm sure there are other facets of history that would draw viewership back. But they've really driven history nuts way with this stupid programming.

[gmoney]

27. all the former high-brow networks have dumbed down...

I forget which shows are which, but networks like A&E, Bravo, American Music Classics, History Channel, Discovery Channel, etc. have all been converted into personal/home makeover shows, or gearhead shows, cooking shows, and just a bunch of "reality show" crap. AMC shows a lot of junk movies that just happen to be popular. The whole promise of cable was that there would be room for "quality programming" with so many channels, but I guess there aren't enough actualy history nuts to pay the bills.

Another reason this country is going into the toilet...

[EFerrari]

6. Doug used to call A&E the Adolf and Eva Channel.

:)

[liberaldemocrat7]

34. You just wait until historians discuss Paula Hitler, his sister.

Yes Hitler had a sister Paula. I have seen a website that had her picture and description. Basicly Hitler did not want much contact with her so she could not get into trouble for associating with him. No she did not get married nad have any children as far as I recall.

[mitchum]

37. Wasn't that his sister who lived in England and who he visited as a young man?

If I recall correctly, that's when he became enamored of the "Hitler mustache", which in actually was a British style of facial grooming.

[skygazer]

8. I agree

While I find military history fascinating, and while I find WWII and Hitler fascinating, there's a hell of a lot of other history out there that is equally fascinating.

I don't understand why people think history that isn't about war isn't interesting. I watched a really good documentary about kids during the Depression who hopped trains around the country. Another one about the history of New York City. The building of the Golden Gate Bridge. The sinking of the Titanic. The settlement of Australia. Just to name a few.

[lynnertic]

42. yes but WWII documentaries are probably CHEAP to make.

You really only need 5 minutes of stock footage per hour of someone walking through a graveyard or something, and then a couple of interviews in other people's homes. The rest is archival footage spliced together. Like YouTube.

That's like, cheaper than "Cash Cab."

[mitchum]

9. Because their programming director is developmentally arrested at 12 years old?

Many many boys go through a period where they find Hitler and the nazis to be utterly fascinating, but most grow out of it

[DainBramaged]

10. Here, email them and bitch, they re owned by A&E Networks

[e-mail]

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. I'd save the electrons

Viewers protested mightily when A&E (which used to stand for "Arts and Entertainment" and served as a commercial version of PBS in the 1980s, carrying a lot of British and Australian dramas and documentaries) morphed into the True Crime Channel.

It did no good whatsoever.

As cable TV has evolved, the more intelligent programming has moved up to the more expensive channels. History International is still mostly non-WWII history, and Discovery Science has the types of documentaries that the Discovery Channel USED TO have.

But even these two channels aren't as smart as they used to be, and with the disappearance of Ovation (arts programming) and Newsworld International (for which I'm still mad at Al Gore--your stupid channel has really revolutionized television, hasn't it? and no more Canadian news broadcasts for us Stateside folks) and the deterioration of BBCAmerica (a selection carefully culled from the most brainless programming on British television), there are fewer and fewer reasons to have cable.

[MilesColtrane]

11. Because 'executive privilege'...

...prohibits releasing enough information for documentarians to make films about Bush. So they fall back on another heinous asshole whose megalomania, greed, and sadism altered the entire world for the worse.

[chaska]

13. I saw a quote the other day that applies...

Unfortunately, I can't find it. But it was about the failure to recognize evil.

We see Hitler as so much larger than reality that we fail to recognize a monster like George Bush. Hitler has been turned into such a monster that we can no longer see him as a human being. Conversely, we cannot recognize the monster in GWB because he hasn't killed millions (yet), or lost a war that caused devestation here at home. His greatest evils may be yet to come, and if some are right when they do come they will equal Hitlers (at least).

It's easy to look back and see the German people as completely foolish for not recongnizing what Hitler would become. But we fail to recognize equally dangerous conditions in our own country.

Hitler wasn't born a monster, history made him one. We forget that. (Note: I'm not saying what he did was not monstrous. I'm saying that history has made him the textbook definition of evil, an evil that no one can ever measure up to. It's a mistake to think that the world can never see his equal.)

[liberaldemocrat7]

35. According to the Lancet magazine Bush has killed over 500,000 innocent Iraqis with his invasion.

So Bush has killed about 1/24 of the amount that Hitler has killed. 500,000 still appears alot.

[Call Me Wesley]

14. We're all still nuts about Hitler.

Heck, do a search on DU, and Hitler might be the most famous person on here.

As if we didn't know already what can lead to such a society. No need for history on this one.

Might be a Rove distraction. :shrug:

[leeroysphitz]

15. Everybody loves Hitler...

[Call Me Wesley]

16. Perverted, isn't it?

:hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

17. Nice post, Goebbels

[leeroysphitz]

19. Hey you misspelled Gerbbels there genius...

And why the hell did you call me that anyway? :)

[Oeditpus Rex]

20. Because I was too lazy to google

the lyrics to "Der Fuerher's Face." :P

[trof]

18. I liked the musical "Springtime for Hitler".

"Springtime for Hitler and Germany
Deutschland is happy and gay
We're marching to a faster pace
Look out, here comes the Master Race
Springtime for Hitler and Germany
Winter for Poland and France
Springtime for Hitler and Germany
Come on Germans, go into your dance."

:-)

[WinkyDink]

22. "Don't be schtupid; be a schmarty! Come and join the Nazi Party!"

[trof]

29. Classic!

[pokerfan]

21. Is there some other History channel I'm not getting?

Cause it doesn't look that Hitler centric or even that war centric.

Here's my lineup for today:

Postal Service American Postal Service.
History IQ Interactive quiz show.
Vietnam: 10,000 Days The United States pulls out.
Heavy Metal Fighter from the World War II era. P-38: Lightning Strikes!
UFO Files H.G. Wells' ``The War of the Worlds.'' Beyond the War of the Worlds
Wild West Tech The Camp Grant Massacre of 1871; the Goliad Massacre of 1836; the Council House Massacre of 1840.
American Eats The history of chocolate. Chocolate
The Plague Journals recount life during pestilence.
History's Mysteries Steamship vanishes. Ship of Gold
Boneyard Restored and reused trains. Railroads
Boneyard Crushing, shredding and recycling autos. Automobiles
Boneyard Military machines are rebuilt. Battlefield
Dogfights Famous air battles.
Modern Marvels Fertilizing crops and grass. Fertilizer
Cities of/Underworld Underground Nazi bunkers. Hitler's Underground Lair
Cities of/Underworld Beneath the city of Naples. Beneath Vesuvius
Cities of/Underworld The mysteries of Vlad the Impaler. Dracula's Underground
Cities of/Underworld Edinburgh: body snatchers, distilleries. Scotland's Sin City


Tomorrow's schedule:

Lost & Found Eisenhower's Ike jacket; first Apple computer; Rin Tin Tin.
Lost & Found Lost squadron.
Heaven on Earth Temple Israelitico in Rome; Synagogue of Cordoba in Spain; the Dohany Street Synagogue in Budapest; Temple Emanu-el in New York. Judaism
HistoryCENTER Host Steve Gillon. WWII Photos Revealed
History's Business John Schnatter, Papa John's Pizza. Papa Johns
Our Generation Advertisers in the 1950s use television to market to children. Toys of a Generation
The States Henry Flagler; Indy 500. Florida, Indiana, Washington, Utah and Rhode Island
The States Cahokian civilization; shipbuilders. Illinois, Connecticut, Nevada, Mississippi, Wyoming
The States Jamestown; Gravity Grand Prix; potatoes. Virginia, Ohio, Idaho, Alabama, North Dakota
The States Logging; Davy Crockett; lobster; gold. Michigan, Tennessee, Maine, Missouri, South Dakota
The States Stone Mountain; Homestead Act. Georgia, Colorado, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Maryland-DC
Modern Marvels Engineering mistakes; destruction. Engineering Disasters
East Coast Tsunami The possibility of a tidal wave.
Asteroid Apocalypse Researchers consider the potential catastrophic effects of a two kilometer-long asteroid hitting just off the coast of Los Angeles.
Yellowstone Eruption Modern effects.
Ice Road Truckers De Beers Diamond mine. The Big Chill
Dogfights Inside a kamikaze attack. Kamikaze
Ice Road Truckers Halfway point of the season. Midseason Mayhem
The Universe The formation of Earth. Spaceship Earth

[Oeditpus Rex]

26. Waaaaaahhhhh!

I miss the History Channel. :cry:



Probably a good thing, though. With that lineup, I'd never get away from the teevee.

[hippywife]

23. Lazy and

too cheap to pay for new programming. We don't waste the money on cable. I always noticed that many of the channels do things like all day "marathons", or re-air the same program numerous times each week, way too often. Doing the least they can to rake in the bucks. Yep. Cheap and lazy.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

25. It's always been a right-wing-leaning station

and the advantage of Hitler programming is that it directly or indirectly glorifies the U.S. military in one of the few conflicts in which they actually had a laudable mission.

An embittered old veteran I knew in Portland called these documentaries "recruiting films."

[CatholicEdHead]

39. They are trying to get this into the classrooms more

I found this link on a U-Haul box.

http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=51120&display_order=1&mini_id=51103

The "Save our History" ad on the box is a very jingoistic phrase which only refers to a "no-question/US can do no wrong" version of history.

[camero]

28. To soften us up for what's to come. n/t

[blitzen]

30. hmmm...must be watching a different History channel....

my 10 year old watches the History channel almost exclusively--and he's pretty much a walking encyclopedia of ancient and medieval culture and civilization...Sure, they do a lot of war and a lot of Hitler, but tons of other stuff as well--we watched the History of Chocolate this afternoon.

[ashling]

31. Why do you hate America?

After all, Hitler is the historical figure America hates to love. ... er, loves to hate.

:sarcasm:

[Deep13]

32. It was the first and only extensively filmed major war.

Much of it was in color. Most of it is still in good shape. Many of the participants still live or else they did filmed interviews while still alive. The Nazis in particular were fond on color film for their propoganda. Also, unlike many subsequent wars, US involvement in WW II remains uncontrovertial. Plus there is a morbid fascination with the evil methods of Hitler etc.

In short, the material is available, so they use it.

[rockymountaindem]

36. That's the best answer I've ever seen to this question

Most of them revolve around some kind of "military brainwashing" or somesuch. You're absolutely right, though. It's easy to cover WWII, so that's what they do most.

However, I watch the history channel a lot and I don't see all that much Hitler programming. Whenever I see these posts I always get confused.

[S n o w b a l l]

33. Because we must bomb Iran...

I think.

:sarcasm:

[Zomby Woof]

38. No one is forcing you to watch it

I haven't seen any Hitler programming on there in years. It used to be that way when it was new, but in recent years has gotten quite good with its variety.

Their recent "The Universe" series was great, and their special a few weeks back on General Sherman was illuminating. They have decent original programming at times. They have specials on everything from the history of beer to the 2003 tsunamis.

I have a good ear for ideological bias with history, and I can say that honestly, they run the gamut. There is something to please or offend anyone who fears ideological bias seeping into the narrative or editing. Sometimes the facts get in the way of prejudices. Toughen up, people.

So if you don't like their content, turn it the fuck off. I don't get this "Waaah! There's a TV station that doesn't show what I want!" mentality. Go to the library and get a good book instead.

[DS1]

40. Number of times Hitler has been brought up in GD this year

1936

Clearly, we like the guy

[deadparrot]

41. I don't know, but I still get excited when

they do a program on ancient, medieval, or early modern Europe.

[Radical Activist]

43. Lots of Bible and Hitler

Giving people ideas I guess. Have you ever seen a documentary about peace activists on that channel?

[Fire Walk With Me]

44. 50 years from now it will be the "all Bush" channel.

And I unfortunately don't mean pron.