Discovery's new boss says so no more mermaids, giant snakes

Victory! The mermaid "documentary" really upset my grandmother.
I was very disappointed with DC for going the way of sensationalism and fictitious 'reality' tv.
Way to step up and return back to the heart and soul of Discovery

originally posted by: Answer

originally posted by: IkNOwSTuff
Hopefully this guy cando the same with History channel,
I mean WTF does a bunch of pawnshop BS have to do with history??

If you don't think Pawn Stars teaches you some history, you haven't been paying attention. Same with American Pickers.

While I agree that some of the shows on History Channel are garbage, some actually teach people history in an entertaining way instead of showing endless WWII documentaries like they once did.

History and Discovery have to balance being educational with being watchable. If every show was strictly educational, the ratings would plummet.

Lol. Nice post. YOu're correct, lots of history lessons in Pawn Stars and the picker show. There's also a new diggers show, but I think that's on National Geographic. I don't want enough TV to know too much.

I remember hearing about the Megladon thing or whatever. Ya, it was dumb. It might be ok if it was a fictional movie and not made to appear like a documentary. That's what gets me mad about it.

However, there should be some free with TV shows. The danger in this is we overcontrol what they produce and they won't be creative.

And you're right there needs to be some entertainment going on.

The other channel I'm really disappointed in is The Weather Channel. It's completely MTVed itself. If we're sitting there on a spring/summer/fall night and see some lightning/hear some thunder, we used to be able to go to TWC and pick up a glimpse of local radar pretty quickly. These days it isn't so much whether or not the storm is severe, but how long we can expect it to last. We have a kid who gets pretty touchy about it and tends to not sleep through these things.

But forget it. You're lucky to even get local conditions on bottom line strip.

There needs to be some new channels for a lot of this crap. There's enough reality shows on these channels now that it deserves it's own channel. There's also enough and a lot of interest in the weird and unusual that things like aliens, cryptozoological stuff, and what if's like this mermaid crap, dragon documentary and megalodon that it all deserves it's own channel.

Also that's what these shows were supposed to be, "what if" scenarios. They did a lot to educate how things "might" be possible. Like the dragon documentary describing how a dragon might be able to exist and function in a scientifically plausible way. You learn a bit about biology, some history on dragon myths, ect, and do it all in a fun way. The issue only comes up when it's not made clear it's fictional.

There is a place for some of these shows if done and presented correctly.

my 9 year old son is in the pre-historic kick. He was fooled by the "submarine" mockumentary hoping it was proof megalodon was still alive. It sucked having to repeatedly debate with him and eventually watch him come to the realization he was fooled.

so good news no more mockumentaries

originally posted by: IkNOwSTuff
Hopefully this guy cando the same with History channel,
I mean WTF does a bunch of pawnshop BS have to do with history??

OMG! THANK YOU!!!
Sorry for shouting, but really! What used to be educational channels are so full of scripted (un)-reality shows it blows my mind that people watch that horse feces.

The Pawnstars show is the worst example of the reality shows you could have picked for having nothing to do with history. Every piece that comes in, they go into the history of it ect. Is a great way to learn about a lot of old and interesting stuff.

Iceroad truckers and that logging crap however... ugh, give these things their own channel already, please, get them off the channel supposed to be teaching about HISTORY, not what some morons do in their modern daily lives as a job, I mean what the hell?

Don't forget TLC! They could use a complete overhaul as well. I'm afraid to even change it to that station anymore simply because of the ad's I see on other channels. "The Learning Channel" my arse!

a reply to: SlapMonkey

Finally. It was getting ridiculous.

originally posted by: Damrin

originally posted by: IkNOwSTuff
Hopefully this guy cando the same with History channel,
I mean WTF does a bunch of pawnshop BS have to do with history??

OMG! THANK YOU!!!
Sorry for shouting, but really! What used to be educational channels are so full of scripted (un)-reality shows it blows my mind that people watch that horse feces.

Pawnstars is a great show and it's historical, and uses actual experts.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

I agree...I've learned quite a bit about the history of many different things from that show, especially interesting stuff about historical firearms. With some of these shows--even ones like Ancient Aliens--if you're capable of sifting through the hyperbole and downright lunacy (which, I must give the show credit...it always says that these are the beliefs of "ancient-alien theorists") then there are interesting tidbits about ancient cultures interwoven in the shows.

But that said, I much prefer straight-up information than information that I have to work for due to it being interspersed with entertainment crap that I could often live without.