# History Channel: Why so much woo-woo bullsh\*t? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995 "2011-02-03T06:31:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cyningablod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Cyningablod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyningablod)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/1 "2011-02-03T06:31:46Z")
Is it just me, or has the History Channel gone full batshit woo-woo insane in the last few years? _Ancient Aliens_, _Brad Meltzer’s Decoded_, _MonsterQuest_, _BigFoot Evidence_, _The Nostradamus Effect_, _The Real Face of Jesus?_, _The Bible Code_, _UFO Hunters_, and about a dozen different specials and miniseries on the Freemasons and anything having to do with da Vinci/Dan Brown/_Holy Blood Holy Grail_/Knights Templar/“Priory of Sion”. Apparently the conspiracy theorists, cryptozoologists, pseudohistorians, Nostradamians, and UFO assnuts have taken over most programming decisions. They should just get it overwith and rename the channel, “Coast-to-Coast AM, on TV!”. And maybe grant executive producer positions to George Noory, Erich von Däniken, Graham Hancock, Dan Brown, and the Loch Ness Monster herself. I know there’s money to be made with programming on historical “mysteries,” but do they not care AT ALL about, you know…real _history_? Was it always this bullshitty? Or am I remembering a halcyon past that never existed? I mean, I like some of their general-interest reality shows (especially _Pawn Stars_ and _American Pickers_), but I swear I just can’t watch History anymore, because even their commercials for other shows have become too offensively stupid. THIS is partly the reason our young people are so bloody ignorant. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/2 "2011-02-03T06:37:15Z")
The Australian version is still [decent](http://www.historychannel.com.au/tv-guide/) but don’t get me started on what happened to OMNI magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/3 "2011-02-03T06:48:21Z")
I have a theory that the woo-woo “documentary” makers are willing to peddle their videos cheaper than someone who does a half decent bio of someone like Leonardo da Vinci, say. In the case of the True Believers, they might think that getting the word out about various religious notions is something that God wants them to do, so they’re willing to do it at cost. And speaking of half decent bios, I remember when the Biography channel WASN’T just bios of various celebrities. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/4 "2011-02-03T08:05:18Z")
Amen. It would be great if there was a channel about history on cable. Hell, just rerun the old World at War series instead of the crap they show. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/5 "2011-02-03T09:38:20Z")
Agreeing with **madmonk28**! 2 Christmases ago my wife gave me a 2DVD pack of Victory at Sea, and I much prefer it to some of the HC stuff we’re subjected to. I think I started a similar thread some months ago anout the HC’s fascination with the Apocalypse. Jesus! All right already, we get it, okay??? Every now and then something interesting will cross, but it’s usually a rerun, such as the one about (I think it’s called) The Dark. I never knew that Greyfriars was such a horrible place! I always thought it was where that cute dog lived. So every once in a while they get it right, but not much anymore. Q ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/6 "2011-02-03T10:51:05Z")
It’s called [Network Decay](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NetworkDecay) or Channel Drift and has affected many niche channels. They start off aiming at a specialist audience, then get hungry for ratings and end up abandoning that audience. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/7 "2011-02-03T14:06:38Z")
Sad to say, this crap sells (or draws eyeballs). Some variations of the Hitler Channel such as Military History or International History are still decent. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/8 "2011-02-03T14:15:13Z")
Because a large percentage of people out there are idiots and at least kind-of believe this stuff. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t _actually_ believe in ghosts, but once my aunt Wanda had something kinda fishy happen to her, and, well, it _could_ have been! ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/9 "2011-02-03T14:34:50Z")
On occasion the History Channel will still produce/show a program that is actual history and is actually pretty good. A few years back they had a program about pirates that had pretty good production values combined with some solid research. (I didn’t actually watch the whole thing as I had already read the same source material used to put together the show and I grew bored after 30 minutes.) Fairly recently (within the last 2 years?), they had a short series about U.S. history starting from colonial days up to today and it was fantastic. It certainly didn’t cover everything but it did a great job covering the broad American events while at the same time making it easy for the audience to relate. It didn’t hurt that it has fantastic production values though I did find it odd that celebrities were talking about American history (not narrating) as if they were experts. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/10 "2011-02-03T14:36:48Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > It’s called [Network Decay](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NetworkDecay) or Channel Drift and has affected many niche channels. They start off aiming at a specialist audience, then get hungry for ratings and end up abandoning that audience. History Channel is history. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/11 "2011-02-03T14:37:47Z")
Ah, I knew it wouldn’t be long before we had another “WTF happened to the History Channel” thread. Just last night as I was looking through my DirecTV guide, I noticed they had a full night of Bigfoot Evidence and MonsterQuest. People used to complain when it was the Hitler Channel, but that was at least, you know, real history. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/12 "2011-02-03T14:46:23Z")
> [@Cyningablod](#): > > THIS is partly the reason our young people are so bloody ignorant. :mad: Thankfully, young people don’t watch the History Channel. The name is “History” channel but it shouldn’t take too many visits there to realize it’s the “cheaply made documentary” channel. The word “history” is just bait to draw in the unwary. Let it go. Maybe if nobody watches it it will die. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/13 "2011-02-03T14:46:27Z")
I suspect it is simply cost-benefit. Those crappy “documentaries” are cheap to make (some taking heads and some ‘re-enactment’ footage) and there is a large audience for it. Real history documentaries are going to be more expensive. Imagine the cost of ‘re-enactment’ footage for (say) the Battle of Waterloo, vs. that for some blurry ghosts in a haunted house. OTOH, there are documentaries with existing film footage. That’s one reason for so much WW2 stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/14 "2011-02-03T15:09:08Z")
I would prefer a little more truth-in-advertising. It should be called Shitstory Channel or something. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/15 "2011-02-03T15:34:51Z")
Perhaps it should be called “Glenn Beck’s History Channel”. They do the same sort of “Could the answer be that aliens did it?” bullshit that he does, hinting darkly at conspiracies and other nonsense that the ignorant buy into. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/16 "2011-02-03T15:42:47Z")
There is a story that a long time ago the networks did research to find out what people wanted to see on TV. The results were that people wanted to see high brow stuff like plays, classical music, etc. They put that on and the ratings were bad so they stopped showing that stuff . Either the research was flawed or people lied about what they liked. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/17 "2011-02-03T16:32:31Z")
History Channel still has some decent stuff. I enjoy Modern Marvels, and the Universe. Generally anything that deals with contemporary things/events and avoids being speculative is good. One other problem History Channel has is they really cash in on local movies. When the Da Vinci Code was all the rage, History Channel became the ‘Da Vinci Channel’. When 300 came out, all the programs were about Spartans, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/18 "2011-02-03T17:16:07Z")
Agreed on The Universe. I would have liked Dr. Kaku as my physics prof: [http://mkaku.org/](http://mkaku.org/) Q ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/19 "2011-02-03T17:21:17Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > I think I started a similar thread some months ago about the HC’s fascination with the Apocalypse. There ya go. They need to go the same way as TLC or MTV and just officially rename themselves “HC”. Then we can say “Did you know that HC used to mean History Channel so many years ago?” ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995/20 "2011-02-03T17:29:47Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Ah, I knew it wouldn’t be long before we had another “WTF happened to the History Channel” thread. Just last night as I was looking through my DirecTV guide, I noticed they had a full night of Bigfoot Evidence and MonsterQuest. People used to complain when it was the Hitler Channel, but that was at least, you know, real history. That complains really backfired on us. where are the “Hitler’s third-grade math teacher speaks” documentaries when you need them? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-why-so-much-woo-woo-bullsh-t/569995.md?page=2)