Was the Travel Channel EVER any good?

Cafe Society
1

The Travel Channel really blows these days. I searched my onscreen guide for the whole week. Basically we have a few basic types of programs:

  1. Cruises. I bet I know who’s footing the bill for these.
  2. Vegas. Same deal.
  3. Disney World. Same song.
  4. Tribes. OK, this is interesting, but there’s not really any information about visiting the places where these tribes live.
  5. Guy eats weird shit. Anthony Bourdain is cool, I guess.
  6. Poker. Boring as hell, nothing to do with travel.
  7. National Parks. National Parks are fine, but there are other places to see in the world that aren’t National Parks.
  8. Junk Food. World’s most unique McDonalds airs several times a week. This sounds like a show from “The Onion” I wouldn’t mind a show about good places to eat, but does anyone really plan a vacation around where the best hotdogs are?
  9. Finding Treasure. Yawn.
  10. Mysterious Bullshit. Yawn + :rolleyes:

The only real travel show is the 30 minutes or so that Samantha Brown gets in the morning or early afternoon, and it’s like being on vacation with your wacky aunt or something.

So, did the travel channel always suck? Do people just not like real travel shows like PBS has?

2

Well, there is the series with Mark and Ollie living with different tribes, and I love Anthony Bourdain - he would be really cool to travel with.

I used to like Samantha Brown, but she did a really horrible tour of Berlin and bad-mouthed it - plus most of her travels are spent discussing how lovely her hotel room is and what a great rate (only $699 a night!) you can get if you go off-season (when it is sixty below zero or somethin’).

3

I love Anthony Bourdain and the weird shit eater. I would love to have their jobs! That’s all I watch on The Travel Channel.

4

One reason why I love Tivo: When I tell it to record travel shows, it doesn’t just automatically record everything on the Travel Channel. Somehow it weeds out the non-travel crap.