This afternoon I watched a very well produced documentary about the civil war and President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. It moved me almost to tears…but then…
They followed it with a piece of shit program called The Ghosts of Gettysburg which was so contrived and sensationalized it would have been better off having been shown on Sci-Fi. It was replete with some guy with a fake English accent, re-creations and another guy who actually “specializes” in the “Ghosts of Gettysburg”.
I don’t disbelieve that souls can be caught in the here and the hereafter, but if any civil war spirits caught any of this bullshit program, I bet they laughed their asses off.
Guin: Me too, dear! But this was above and beyond ridiculous. I have seen some very tastefully done Haunted History segments, but this was so over the top, it could have been called Camp! (Remember that word?:D)
I went with some friends to the Ghosts of Gettysburg tour of the Seminary. An actress led us around, pointing out sites and describing the ghosts reported there. I enjoyed the walk; I don’t believe in ghosts.
A week later, I saw the Ghosts of Gettysburg show on the History Channel, and I recognized the stories from the tour. They were retold verbatim.
I used to work in a place which is famous around these parts for its ghosts. Dammit, I worked there for a * year, * sometimes alone at night! I’ve even stayed in haunted hotels. Did I ever get to see a ghost? Nooooo!
God! It’s so unfair! I’ve seen some of the boring people that the ghosts show themselves to on these shows. What’s wrong with me, that’s what I wanna know! I’d even scream and faint, if that’s what the ghost wants, or converse intelligently on the socio-economic impact of neo-colonialism if that’s what made 'em happy. Why are ghosts avoiding me?
I haven’t liked the History Channel for a while now. Sure, it occasionally has some interesting programs but it’s hard to find them when they’re sandwiched between the millionth rerun of Modern Marvels and yet another WWII documentary.
What happened to all the mini-series they showed back when they were a relatively new channel? I miss Roman Empire refreshers, damn it!
With all that being said, I do admit to liking Mail Call and Conquest.
All of those Histories Ghosts and Hauntings type of shows should be over on the Sci-Fi channel, not on a channel that is ostensibly supposed to deal in facts and actual evidence, not blind and utterly unfounded speculation.
Payton, I couldn’t agree more. Children (and some adults) already have trouble distinguishing fact from speculation. It didn’t belong on the History Channel – and certainly not right after a moving documentary on “The Gettysburg Address.”
I remain open to the possibility of lingering spirits, but I don’t like for them to be explored on a history channel.
I disagree, and here’s why. Every time I watch one of these shows, I get prepared to rant and rave. I make sure my righteous indignation level is just right so that I can be appropriately upset at the pandering to the lowest common denominator. And it always disappoints me. Because other than that craptacular In Search Of with Leonard Nemoy and some of the ghost specials (I haven’t seen the one mentioned in te OP), I always find the specials to be more than fair with the scientific explanations. Like it or not, the ghost stories, conspiracy theories, legends (urban and otherwise) are a part of our history.
Just hook up a conventional antenna to your TV set – you know, like the “rabbit ears” people used to use before everybody got cable and digital-satellite TV. Then, position yourself at a strategic location between a local TV station’s transmitter and a great big reflective wall (e.g. a steep mountainside or a tall building). Finally, tune your TV to said local TV station. You’ll see the picture the station is broadcasting all nice and centered in your screen, and a little bit off to the right of it, you’ll see another faint image of the same picture produced by the transmitter’s signal bouncing off the mountainside/building and being picked up by your antenna a second time.
The HT stinks! They have cheapened down their shows so much. Take WWII-all they do is show some old footage, then break to some community college history professor yakking away, then off to commercial land!
What really amazes me-in a recent show about “Operation Barbarossa” (the German invasion of Russia), they use film footage that was actually taken from the batttle of France!
I don’t expect much from the HC anymore-its just another cheesey cable channel, pumping out crap.
This is the major problem with cable TV-you are now paying for programming, with MORE commercials than on broadcast TV…plus, the quality is way down.
Cable sucks!
I don’t mind the occasional ghost show on History, although I do get irritated when they trot out the “experts” on the paranormal… As plg said, belief in ghosts and the like is part of our history. I just think it would be more interesting if they explored why people have believed for so long and some of the events and situations that may have led to ghost stories.
As far as the problem with cable and too many commercials, I’ve yet to see a channel as bad as Comedy Central, where you get 5 minutes of show and 5 minutes of ads.
Will Modern Movels ever die? That’s an odd thing to say, granted, but they’ve done shows on the pyramids and now they’re on to repeating Tales of the Gun.