# The Day the History Channel Died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2007, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426 "2007-10-29T07:27:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/1 "2007-10-29T07:27:24Z")
Heard on the radio this afternoon about the History Channel’s new Nostrodomos special. :rolleyes: It discusses how he supposedly predicted 9/11 through references of a “great wall of flame” and how he also predicted when the world comes to an end. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: . (Never mind that you could twist those prophecies to also predict numerous eruptions and fires, but you already knew that.) For a “history” network to peddle this crap is both irresponsible and assumes we’re all idiots. I was already angry that we had to watch stuff about ice truckers and martial arts artists, but at least that’s based in reality. We all used to make fun of the network in the “Hitler Channel” days, but that did teach a lot of people about an important time in history. What’s really frustrating is that History Channel International shows more sober programs about fascinating subjects (Great Wall of China, Rasputin, biblical archaeology, etc.). Why is they think americans need to be fed cheesy pseudo-history? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/2 "2007-10-29T07:37:20Z")
At least it’s not a [Moon Landing Hoax show](http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html). ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/3 "2007-10-29T07:40:19Z")
It’s all about “broadening the brand.” Like MTV, A&E, and AMC (to name but a few), the suits have decided that they want more eyeballs on their station, and rather than doing that by being, well, “edgey” and doing something challenging and _interesting_ (In the case of the Hitler Channel, this would be hiring James Randi to do a program on Nostradamus, or broadcasting college lectures, or giving David McCullough his own show.), they take the easy way out and aim for the bottom of the barrel. This is completely stupid and short-sighted, of course, but as one person put it, “Television is the giant butter knife which spreads the poisonous peanut butter of a smooth, homogenius culture across America.” ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/4 "2007-10-29T08:00:45Z")
I thought it died years ago. Sadly History International isn’t doing so well lately. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/5 "2007-10-29T11:46:37Z")
[QUOTE=installLSC] Heard on the radio this afternoon about the History Channel’s new Nostrodomos special. :rolleyes: It discusses how he supposedly predicted 9/11 through references of a “great wall of flame” and how he also predicted when the world comes to an end. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: . (Never mind that you could twist those prophecies to also predict numerous eruptions and fires, but you already knew that.) For a “history” network to peddle this crap is both irresponsible and assumes we’re all idiots. [/QUOTE] Nostradamus IS a historical figure, whether you believe in his prophecies or not. It’s not like they’re doing a biography of Albus Dumbledore or something. ---
**Author:** ![Middlea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@Middlea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Middlea)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/6 "2007-10-29T12:07:26Z")
I thought it died when they started showing movies like “Planet of the Apes”. I can’t seem to make the connection between that movie and “history”. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/7 "2007-10-29T12:42:25Z")
[QUOTE=KGS] Nostradamus IS a historical figure, whether you believe in his prophecies or not. It’s not like they’re doing a biography of Albus Dumbledore or something. [/QUOTE] They’re not doing biographical shows about a historical figure. The shows are about prophecies that “came true.” I’m just waiting for them to do a show about Wing Dings conspiracy predictions. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/8 "2007-10-29T12:57:54Z")
The History Channel has turned into The Bible Channel over the last several years. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/9 "2007-10-29T13:01:48Z")
My husband watched part of that last night and said there was a lot of debunking. Nostradamus has always skeeved him out and he found the show somewhat comforting. ---
**Author:** ![Eupe\_Lipnerp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecd19e/32.png) [@Eupe\_Lipnerp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eupe_Lipnerp)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/10 "2007-10-29T13:59:43Z")
I stopped watching a few years ago when they showed a program called “The Gray’s Agenda”. A show about the agenda of aliens, who are gray. Talk about your bread and circus. Thousands of years of history to plumb and they go with National Enquirer League crap like this? I’m all done with the History Channel. ---
**Author:** ![I\_m\_No\_Saint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/977dab/32.png) [@I\_m\_No\_Saint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_m_No_Saint)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/11 "2007-10-29T14:06:51Z")
I think stuff like this is more prevalent during the Halloween season. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/12 "2007-10-29T14:12:46Z")
Hi, I just get bored with the same documentaries over and over. I was really happy to watch a brand new one on Cults (can’t remember which History channel) and although it was not earth-shattering- there was some very interesting footage of Jonestone and the Manson family. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/13 "2007-10-29T14:14:13Z")
[QUOTE=Fern Forest] I thought it died years ago. Sadly History International isn’t doing so well lately. [/QUOTE] It did. We’re just waiting for the corpse to stop twitching. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/14 "2007-10-29T14:17:28Z")
[QUOTE=fessie] My husband watched part of that last night and said there was a lot of debunking. Nostradamus has always skeeved him out and he found the show somewhat comforting. [/QUOTE] Lucky him. I watched part of it too and I must have missed all the debunking. All I saw was the usual band of goons trumpeting Nostradamus’ “accuracy” in predicting everything of any importance, even though they only figure out what he was referring to after the fact. They pulled out the tired old “Hister/Hitler” comparison and the “New City/New York” prediction. I didn’t see any debunking, even the usual twenty seconds of charity they normally like to drop in. The Edgar Cayce show was even worse. ---
**Author:** ![Malvert\_P.Redd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Malvert\_P.Redd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malvert_P.Redd)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/15 "2007-10-29T14:28:42Z")
Have they finally stopped playing the utterly schizophrenic ravings that is _The Men Who Killed Kennedy_ every November? ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/16 "2007-10-29T14:33:01Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] The History Channel has turned into The Bible Channel over the last several years. [/QUOTE] That annoys me almost as much. If it’s not UFO or psychic documentaries, it’s brain dead pablum about “OMG THE BIBLE IS TRUE SEE THIS RUIN SAYS SO LOLZ”. At least the Science Channel is still pretty decent. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/17 "2007-10-29T15:10:08Z")
[QUOTE=Middlea] I thought it died when they started showing movies like “Planet of the Apes”. I can’t seem to make the connection between that movie and “history”. [/QUOTE] Kind of like how I can’t seem to make the connection between science-fiction and professional wrestling… ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/18 "2007-10-29T15:48:02Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] Kind of like how I can’t seem to make the connection between science-fiction and professional wrestling… [/QUOTE] Okay, stay with me, here. All the basic cable channels like to run the pro wrestling, right? Right. Makes money. Gets eyeballs to watch the promos for the upcoming shows. Expands the audience. Cool. So History Channel doesn’t do that 'cause they can’t tie it in to history in any way, right? Right. So what if they could, huh? _History’s Cage Matches!_ Caesar v. Pompey! Grant v. Lee! Lincoln v. Booth! Hitler v. Nostradamus! Oh, man this can’t lose. ---
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/19 "2007-10-29T15:55:30Z")
I’m just thankful they haven’t started showing Poker, like the Travel Channel. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/20 "2007-10-29T16:06:40Z")
Jesus, Moses, Nostradamus, what’s the difference? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426.md?page=2)