The channel, not the band.
This channel is non stop, back to back, baby/wedding/dating stories and housing remodling crap with the occassional 10 most such and such lists. What happened to the educational programming?
It was not profitable.
Back when they did try to do learning stuff, I always noticed they treated their audience like idiots compared to other learning channels. I’m not surprised they have almost entirely moved away from the “educational” genre.
Isn’t that what the Discovery channel is for, though? One is a spinoff of the other anyways, so they put all the baby/wedding/house/dating/makeover stuff on one channel and use the other for more educational stuff rather than having two mixed-up channels. Makes sense to me. And I think the two advertise programming on the other channel, too, so they get the maximum number of viewers (though I don’t have cable here anyways, so I could be misremembering).
I’ve only watched a couple episodes of Trading Spaces and I have to admit that in some respects that show is actually a service. I mean, demonstrating what you can do to a room for only $1000 is pretty good.
On the other hand, the vast majority of the stuff on TLC is pretty bad. I’ve never seen the baby or wedding shows, but the dating ones are all the same! “Yeah, I’m feeling a bit nervous about meeting him/her.” ARGH!!!
Dude, you haven’t seen how big Trading Spaces is? There’s cults about it! Or at least it seems like it sometimes. TS is educational; as Global Citizen pointed out, lots of people would like to know how to redecorate their room for only $1,000.
While You Were Out is also the same thing, and I’ve seen that the latter seems to focus more on the actual making of it while Trading Spaces seems more about the people’s interactions with each other.
Basically these shows are making more money than TLC’s other programming before. I didn’t know what TLC was before TS, TYWO, Faking It, What Not to Wear and the other programs. I’ve found I like the psychological aspect (not the reality TV show aspect–I mean the shows that actually focus on people/psychology).
Um…make that $1,000 and a semi-knowledgeable designer and a skilled carpenter or two. Not to mention the ‘great deals’ the designers always seem to get (read: they can buy in bulk; they can buy ahead of time ("oh, it’s something I picked up at a cute flea market in Marseilles for nothing; they get name-recognition deals).
If someone handed me $1,000 to redo my living room, I’d probably get a big entertainment center to house my TV and spend the rest on DVD’s. Now that’s remodeling! 
Have you noticed the baby/wedding/dating/home improvement shows are mainly on weekday afternoons? My guess is they’re targeting homebodies who are tired of soap operas.
Yes, I’ve also noticed how Trading Spaces’ designers seem to get stuff impossibly cheap sometimes. The other day Genevieve (sp?) had a bunch of picture frames she said she got for $2 a piece. Where?! I had to hang a few 8x10’s in my basement, and couldn’t find a frame (+ glass, etc.) anywhere that didn’t just reek of being supercheap for less than $8-$10 each. You also wonder how much they really pay for that paint, when they show it on TV with the Lowe’s logos all over the cans. Tell me there’s not some product placement/advertising kickbacks there.
However, I do like the show as it seems to confirm my innate sense of interior design. NOTE, I am a guy, and would never admit to being good at such things, but when my girlfriend and I are thinking about repainting/remodeling rooms I offer my opinions and ideas which she roundly rejects. Then, we’re watching TS, and someone does the exact same thing as my idea–now my gf listens to me a little more 
The show also gives us some home improvement ideas, along with some information about how certain things can be accomplished. We also watch While You Were Out for the same reason.
Anyway, back to the original question. . .TLC used to actually call itself the The Learning Channel. They stopped that several years ago, and began using only TLC. I suspect this was for much the same reason that Kentucky Fried Chicken, for example, became KFC. According to the rumor (which is likely true, but you never know I guess), KFC wanted to divert people’s attention away from the word “Fried,” given the negative health implications of “fried foods.” I suspect that in many places there also exist negative stereotypes about Kentucky. Anyway, I noticed that The Learning Channel started calling itself TLC, and also starting playing up this relationship it has with the Discovery Channel (I don’t know if they were always the same company, or if Discovery bought out TLC). It seems they were ready to dissociate themselves from “learning” specifically, and defer to the Discovery Channel for that type of programming. With hit shows like Trading Spaces and Junkyard Wars, I’d say the strategy worked.
At least with Junkyard Wars there is some education involved. Each team almost always builds their contraption slightly different from their opponents’; the hosts explain how the contraptions will work and provide a bit of history on some.
I object! TLC has Junkyard Wars, quite simply one of the greatest television shows of all time. Ergo, TLC’s existence has purpose.
I agree, but it’s barely “labelled” as such. The education is a little more sneaky than your traditional fact-spewing documentary or other Discovery-type show (which often enough seem to contain rather dubious information anyway).
To be a bit more diplomatic, I suspect they broadened their concept of “learning” over the years. In the early days, it was nothing but instructional shows, which can become a bit tedious. Nowadays, the education is buried in the show a bit deeper. It’s not quite “edutainment” all the time, but they do have a few shows that cross the line.
They’ve abandoned the learning angle altogether - the never call it ‘The Learning Channel’ anymore.
Its new angle is ‘Life Unscripted.’
Any education is incidental. I learn stuff on Comedy Central, too, but that doesn’t make it an educational channel.
Apropos of very little, I can’t wait until ‘What Not to Wear’ gets sued. I watch ‘Trading Spaces’ with my wife, but I have to leave the room when that show comes on.
What on Earth would “What Not to Wear” get sued for?
Emotional distress. Invasion of privacy. Sexual harrassment. Stuff like that. They’re obnoxious enough (look how terrible you look), invasive enough (hidden cameras), and intrusive enough (pull out blouse - look at your cleavage!) that a good lawyer could make something out of it.
Yeah, but they make up for it with shows like “Angels Saved My Baby” and “Haunted Houses of the Rich and Famous”. The number of pseudoscience shows on that channel is ridiculous.