History Channel? Not so much.

History Channel is losing it's way, I think. I receive the prime-time schedule in my email every week and it's becoming more and more obvious that they are following the news down the rabbit hole of non-reality and sensationalism.

I remember the news. It had an anchor and the anchor presented the news. Topic by topic. No teasers, no games, no silliness until maybe at the very end. Now, you get three minutes of scandal, a teaser for sports ("local boy did something amazing today"), another teaser for the weather (smiling way too much - "Weather is gonna SUCK!"), then commercials. Repeat. It seems there are more minutes devoted to the teasers than to the stories. All this because some pollster said that people WANTED that.

History channel used to be about history. Agreed, it seemed to have lost the keys to all of the film cabinets except WWII, but at least it was history. Now, we have "customer-driven", "popular-interest" shows like Ax-Men and IceRoad Truckers. In these days of specialty channels, one would think the History Channel could stick to history, but I guess not.

As the schedule below indicates, they don't do any real history until Friday night - gangs existed in the past but not on this show. Saturday night is finally history - sex in history - but then we're back to the joke shows Sunday night.

"Apocalypse Island - Does a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean hold the final clue to the Mayan's apocalyptic predictions concerning 2012? One explorer thinks he's discovered the answers that have eluded man for centuries." "Um, What is stupid TV devoted to the low-grade imaginations of conspiracy theorists and UFOlogists? Alex?" Correct, for $1200. Not that this show actually tells you any of these answers or actually has something definitive ... they just asked you a question. Does a remote island hold the final clue? Um, no. Apparently not.

Bleah. I've gotta get back to work.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
History™ TV Listings
Weekly PRIMETIME Programming Schedule
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monday, March 22, 2010
8:00 PM-8:30 PM -- Pawn Stars - Steaks at Stake
8:30 PM-9:00 PM -- Pawn Stars - Confederate Conundrum
9:00 PM-10:00 PM -- American Pickers - Super Scooter
10:00 PM-10:30 PM -- Pawn Stars - A Shot and a Shave
10:30 PM-12:00 AM -- Pawn Stars - 13 - Peaches & Pinups

Tuesday, March 23, 2010
8:00 PM-9:00 PM -- - High Impact: M-16
9:00 PM-12:00 AM -- - Sniper: Inside the Crosshairs

Wednesday, March 24, 2010
8:00 PM-9:00 PM -- MonsterQuest - Lizard Monster
9:00 PM-10:00 PM -- MonsterQuest - America's Wolfman
10:00 PM-12:00 AM -- Ax Men - Curse of Kalina

Thursday, March 25, 2010
8:00 PM-9:00 PM -- Modern Marvels - Mega Meals
9:00 PM-10:00 PM -- - Pizza
10:00 PM-10:30 PM -- Pawn Stars - Gangsters & Guitars
10:30 PM-12:00 AM -- Pawn Stars - Damn Yankees

Friday, March 26, 2010
8:00 PM-9:00 PM -- Gangland - Kill or Be Killed
9:00 PM-10:00 PM -- Gangland - Divide and Conquer
10:00 PM-12:00 AM -- Gangland - Everybody Killers

Saturday, March 27, 2010
8:00 PM-10:00 PM -- - Beltway Unbuckled
10:00 PM-12:00 AM -- - Sex in the Civil War

Sunday, March 28, 2010
8:00 PM-9:00 PM -- Nostradamus Effect - Secrets of the Seven Seals
9:00 PM-12:00 AM -- - Apocalypse Island