# 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:** 2
**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, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/21 "2007-10-29T16:29:09Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] Jesus, Moses, Nostradamus, what’s the difference? [/QUOTE] Well, we do at least know Nostradamus existed. Oh, and made jam. Mmmm…jam. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/22 "2007-10-29T16:35:17Z")
And so it goes the way of The Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel, which nowadays are neither about discovery nor learning. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/23 "2007-10-29T17:17:25Z")
Oh, I was so hoping there’d be a thread about this thing. My roommate was watching it last night. Anyone who hasn’t seen it be warned: it’s even worse than you think it is. What really got me was how repetitive it was. They mentioned the same three prophecies “coming true” like ten million times interspersed with vapid interviews by people who actually devote their lives to studying this stuff. There was some _abominably_ stupid bit where the use of the word “Mabus” in one of Nostradamus’ prophecies was supposed to indicate that Osa **ma** Bin Laden and G. W. **Bus** h were going to bring about the end of the world or something. My roommate (who earlier in the day had been watching a John Edwards marathon) said, “I think that’s stretching it a little.” Really? And you didn’t think the previous _two hours_ of complete and utter bullshit was stretching it? My favorite was when the announcer would say something like, “Adolf Hitler blah blah blah accross Europe blah blah… Nostradamus never mentioned this, but he _did_ say…” and then relay some account Nostradamus had given of a bad man doing bad things at some point in time. I swear I could feel my brain melting. ---
**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, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/24 "2007-10-29T17:44:43Z")
[QUOTE=shy guy] My favorite was when the announcer would say something like, “Adolf Hitler blah blah blah accross Europe blah blah… Nostradamus never mentioned this, but he _did_ say…” and then relay some account Nostradamus had given of a bad man doing bad things at some point in time. I swear I could feel my brain melting. [/QUOTE] Oh, and why was that? You don’t think Hitler was a bad man doing bad things, I suppose? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/25 "2007-10-29T18:17:07Z")
[QUOTE=photopat] Well, we do at least know Nostradamus existed. Oh, and made jam. Mmmm…jam. [/QUOTE] Nostradamus made jam? I had no idea. Can you imagine the marketing possibilities. ‘He knew you’d pick up this jar.’ I’m trying to think of a way to put a prophecy into a jar of jam, and it just isn’t working. Even on a strip of plastic, it would be sticky. Maybe printed on the inside of the lid. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/26 "2007-10-29T18:45:20Z")
All jam jars predict the future. Don’t they say “Best Before” and some future date? Surely a bell-weather of the apocalypse, or I miss my guess. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/27 "2007-10-29T18:54:59Z")
I heard the ads on the radio for this show. I missed it. 1. Indeed was there a new book / prediction by Nostradamus? 2. What exactly was it? – Hey it could be worse, History could buy VH1’s " I love the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ " franchise. Poker should go to GSN. – Or a devoted “Vegas” channel. Wrestling should leave Sci-fi Ufo’s and Ghosts etc. should get a devoted network. – ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/28 "2007-10-29T19:19:16Z")
My husband watched this crap last night; he doesn’t believe in this stuff, but he just cannot resist a show about UFOs or ghosts or wacky prophets. I don’t know why. I watched a few minutes before I started to retch; something about how he drew a picture of a Pope with the Virgin Mary in his crest, and then OH LOOK! John Paul II had the VM in his crest! I was like, um? we’re talking about the head of the Catholic church here. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/29 "2007-10-29T19:31:12Z")
I hate all the haunted stuff on The Travel Channel. I enjoyed the Halloween specials where they would show haunted locations, along with information about the surrounding area incase you wanted to\* travel\* there. Now we have that godawful _Most Haunted_, which only takes place in the U.K. Some of the locations are beautiful, but they only tell a very vague history of the place, so the psychics can come in and tell us about all the deaths that occured there. Imagine that! It’s 400 years old and people died there. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/30 "2007-10-29T19:43:04Z")
This isn’t a new thing with The History Channel is it? I’m pretty sure they’ve done a whole slew of shows on Nostradamus. [QUOTE=installLSC] For a “history” network to peddle this crap is both irresponsible and assumes we’re all idiots. [/quote] A pretty good assumption. It’d be irresponsible to their shareholders to not show such fair. > [@](#): > > Why is they think americans need to be fed cheesy pseudo-history? Because that’s all we’ll watch and understand. That and credulous shows about ghosts, aliens, Loch Ness, new age woo woo bull shit, Bible prophecies/codes, conspiracy theories about JFK, and vapid reality shows. ---
**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, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/31 "2007-10-29T19:46:37Z")
[QUOTE=Batsinma Belfry] I hate all the haunted stuff on The Travel Channel. I enjoyed the Halloween specials where they would show haunted locations, along with information about the surrounding area incase you wanted to\* travel\* there. Now we have that godawful _Most Haunted_, which only takes place in the U.K. Some of the locations are beautiful, but they only tell a very vague history of the place, so the psychics can come in and tell us about all the deaths that occured there. Imagine that! It’s 400 years old and people died there. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] What I love most about those Most Haunted shows is how only restaurants, bars, hotels and other tourist destinations ever seem to be haunted by ghosts. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/32 "2007-10-29T19:51:27Z")
And the ironic thing is that Nostradamus predicted the collapse of the show. > [@](#): > > Original Quatrain: > > When the tulip kisses the knight all that is lost will be regained. > The lamb will arise at dawn and dance the macarena. > Burns teen will be pretty but as a host quite suck > and succeeded by one who is prettier but does suck more. It’s eerie. To somebody who had never seen a television, it would look exactly like a tulip kissing a knight while a lamb dances a macarena, and Burns teen is definitely a reference to former _Digging for the Truth_ host Josh Bernstein. Then > [@](#): > > When upon the ice comes the great and mighty beast > that breathes a breath that warms the Earth > Gore shall be that which calls upon the breath to stop > And Ice Road Truckers has jackshit to do with history. It’s as if he had digital cable hundreds of years ago in France! Up for sweeps week: Was Nostradamus a descendant of Christ who predicted the success of _The DaVinci Code_? Find out in our special, featuring all new never before seen footage of Hitler at summer camp! ---
**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, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/33 "2007-10-29T20:17:23Z")
Sampiro, you should put a NSFW warning on your post. I just cracked up and everyone is looking at me. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/34 "2007-10-29T21:23:40Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] The History Channel has turned into The Bible Channel over the last several years. [/QUOTE] I’m agnostic, but I thought **The Battles of the Bible** was fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/35 "2007-10-29T21:37:06Z")
[QUOTE=slortar] 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. [/QUOTE] I kind of like the Science channel. However, I give very short rope to any show on there. If, for example and happens quite often, they start with… “And millions of miles away, the Andromeda Galaxy…” That’s like saying…and New York city which is lengths of an atomic nucleus from Minneapolis… Arrggg…that pisses me off. I change the channel because if they can’t even get that right, why would I care what they have to say next? ---
**Author:** ![EsotericEnigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e274bd/32.png) [@EsotericEnigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EsotericEnigma)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/36 "2007-10-29T21:39:03Z")
Wow this is a whole lot of naysaying here. Did I stumble upon The Negative Dope somehow? I haven’t seen the 2 hour special yet, but I have seen the previous Nostradamus specials on the History channel, and they weren’t exactly what you people propagandize them out to be. [QUOTE=InstallLSC] 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. [/QUOTE] Really? Had to? Were you tied down? Are you still? You’re typing well enough so you must have freed yourself. What a terrible ordeal, to be subjected to such schmuck. I don’t fault the History Channel for trying out a more diverse brand of shows, and not all black and white grainy footage of old tanks moving over the same battleground. It’s entertainment after all, yeah? Some of it is admittedly terrible, but unlike InstallLSC, we aren’t forced to watch it. Vote with your viewership. I saw the earlier Nostradamus special and most of you are pretty wrong about what type of show it was. I think the guy was a hack, and anyone can write 35000 words of vague prophecy and have some of it come true after enough time. Especially if you have a legion of people willing to do ANYTHING to make those vague prophecies seem true. But this guy is a historical figure and he is extremely popular. And unlike what most of you seem to think, they spent a pretty fair amount of time debunking his prophecies. Those were the best parts. [QUOTE=Photopat] They pulled out the tired old “Hister/Hitler” comparison and the “New City/New York” prediction. [/QUOTE] The hister thing was given a lot of time, as it should have been. Eerily close on that prophecy, wasn’t he? It too was given time with the debunking stick. And that New City - New York City thing, come on. That’s really good. Put aside the bias, that’s pretty fantastic. That’s what makes shows like that interesting. It isn’t that it’s all BS and constructed after the fact to fit whatever it could fit, we all know that. Rational people know Nostradamus wasn’t a prophet. So why damn him as such? It’s fascinating to see how close he came with some of those quatrains. Equally fascinating? Seeing how FAR people will go to make them fit. I can’t imagine the mess that hammering a square peg into a round hole for hours would make. [QUOTE=Shy guy] There was some abominably stupid bit where the use of the word “Mabus” in one of Nostradamus’ prophecies was supposed to indicate that Osama Bin Laden and G. W. Bush were going to bring about the end of the world or something. My roommate (who earlier in the day had been watching a John Edwards marathon) said, “I think that’s stretching it a little.” [/QUOTE] God that was awful. I remember I actually said, out loud, “OH COME ON NOW! WITH A STRAIGHT FACE?!” I wonder how many takes the narrator had to do before he could say it without laughing. Did they edit in each word separately to form an even take using all the good parts of the bad takes? I especially liked how they had the proponents of Nostradamus theory even explain how fishy it all is because they spend so much time making the theories fit with historical events. They had them shoot themselves in the foot. Fantastic! Okay enough about that, time to defend the History Channel. I love History, I devour it like Fruity Pebbles, but even I don’t expect them to show 24 hour, 7 day marathons of WWII footage. Shows like Modern Marvels and Digging for the Truth are pretty enjoyable, and I’m always amazed at how dreary and stupid a subject can be tackled on Modern Marvels, only to end up entertained and happy at what I had learned about it anyway. You all give THC too much flak. For every garbage show like Ice Truckers, there are 2 or 3 really entertaining and informative shows. Look at the lineup for the next few days and you’ll see. LOTS of nonsense, lots more good stuff. It’s a welcome part of my TV channel rotation. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/37 "2007-10-29T22:00:53Z")
I watched most of it that last night. I was hoping for something sensible. But we got 3 hours of credulous Nostradamus garbage, then an hour of Edgar Cayce garbage. Then repeated. From 5 PM to 3 AM. **10 HOURS** of wall-to-wall **CRAP**! I just couldn’t believe it. This was in complete contrast to earlier programs which had knowledgeable people debunking Nostradamus. Now it’s the Bible Channel? Maybe, but they’ve had on a lot of programs debunking the Bible. And they used to be called the Hitler Channel. I don’t think we’ll see a lot of debunking the Koran, though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/38 "2007-10-29T22:24:19Z")
I seem to recall that The History Channel turned into the Pandering to the Basest Appeal channel right out of the chute. _Did Angels help the CIA Assassinate Kennedy?_ Not long ago, with the release of the new Amityville Horror film, which was even more full of shit than the previous Amityville Horror film, The History Channel did a special on the “real Amityville horror” neglecting to mention that the participants admitted in court that it was all a hoax to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/39 "2007-10-29T23:53:31Z")
The best history documentaries I’ve seen on basic cable recently have been on The National Geographic channel. I haven’t noticed them doing the pandering Bible Code and hister=Hitler=listerine=fnord crap. Their docs on ancient civilizations, American Indians, and even the world at the time of Christ have actually all been good and without being dumbed down. The best programming on Hystery Channel seems to be on in the daytime when they show their old programs. That’s when you actually see some- gasp- historical interest programs. My favorite show by far on HC, incidentally, is OLD WEST TECH with David Carradine; actually history, actually interesting, actually well researched. I don’t know who greenlighted it but I’m sure they were fired. ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426/40 "2007-10-30T00:15:04Z")
If you think this is bad, your head is going to explode when you see their latest show. It’s called “the quest for monsters” and it’s about bigfoot and chupacabras and nonsense like that. Believe me, I wish I was kidding. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-the-history-channel-died/424426.md?page=3)