The trouble is, is that they used to educate and did a nice job of it but, like you said, it all is now nothing but making as much $$$$ as they can get.

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Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

and spend very little in what they produce

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American by birth, TEXAN by the grace of GOD!

It's a shame....Firepower, Battleground, Wings of the Luftwaffe, Mail call....A&E used to run World At War....they had some of the old WWII flicks....that's why I don't watch TV anymore, Have better things to do than watch chicks in bikinis eating bugs.

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Coir a glaive

Nemo me impune lacessit

I think that the writers strike had some kind of effect also. It really hit the skids when that was on.

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For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman

I love Dirty Jobs. One of my all-time favorite shows with a fantastic host. I missed a lot of the first season, but thanks to THC becoming the Modern Marvels Channel, I was able to watch it every week, and get caught up on what I missed.

I'd like to send a big "thank you" to THC for chasing me away to another network for my entertainment!

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Jeff C.

My only real experience of the History Channel was being advised to see one of their Evidence of History productions on the Battle for Cassino.
As someone who actually spent a few "unpleasant" months in the area at the time the battle was being fought I expected to find it full of unsubstantiated footage.
To my present surprise I found it excellent and the "reproduction" episodes well portrayed.
Whilst on this point, I am never over keen on mixing actual wartime footage with "reproduction" as invariably the viewer is never told which items are factual and which have been manufactured at a later date.
But, as I have already said, in the Cassino film this was very well done.

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During the period October 1942 to January 1947 my wartime "Cook's Tour" took me to the following places:
North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Austria, Egypt & Germany.
My units were the: 49th Light Ack Ack Rgt.RA and
The 4th Queen's Own Hussars.

Discovery channel has had a few good shows that I liked to watch and were educational. I like watching the series on SEAL training. I had no idea humans could take that much abuse. Also they did a show about Army Rangers in a competetion for best Ranger and that was amazing too that people can endure so much.

I would agree with everyone on the History Channel though. Just entertainment but better than watching American Idol.

There must be miles and miles of news reel footage in US, British, and Russian archives if someone had the time and money to sort it all out. Perhaps even the Germans saved more than what has been discovered.

I have a relative who took footage of the war in Europe and we tried to watch it but the old 8mm movie cameras are a nightmare to operate and we did not get to see much. You have to loop the film around 5 or 6 slots and pulleys to get it to work in the machine.

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Work Harder ! Millions on welfare are depending on you.

[quote=TA152;282858]
Perhaps even the Germans saved more than what has been discovered.
quote]

I this case i want to qoute "Schnelle Heinz":

”Unsere Archive sind grossenteils vernichtet oder in Feindeshand gefallen. Die historische getreue Geschitsschreibung wird dadurch sehr erschwert. Umso wichtiger scheint die Abfassung der persönlichen Erinnerungen der Mitkämpfer jener Zeit, wenngleich sie nur Ausschnitte aus dem geschehen, und auch diese vorwiegend in subjektiver Form, bieten können.”
"Erinnerungen eines Soldaten" by Heinz Guderian.

Both History Channel and the Discovery Channels presents the biased, onesided information we are used to see in books and magazines from historians in the US, the UK and other countries on the winning side of the war...

When discussing military equipment and battles of WWII, only british and american historians are interviewed.
"Facts" from these experts are generally in favor of allied weaponry and tactics, and are seldom questioned.

Regards
RAM

Well, almost all the channels and document makers tend to exaggarate a bit ( or a lot ) so one has to be careful always. Anyway, some of the programs are made of lesser known situations so it´s always interesting to see the video and perhaps get some new ideas from it.

Just bought History Channel dvd set " Dead men´s secrets" which has some interesting stories.

Dead Men's Secrets DVD Collection

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I don't have digital so I have never seen it. Judging by the comments here sounds like good entertainment and starting place but do not believe all you hear. There are not many real good documentary's or series out there so you just have too way up what they are offering you and prey.

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Regards, Richard


"Open channel D"

Was it the Military channel that had tha Special Forces Olympics? Stay up with out sleep for 48 hours, 25 mile hike with 90Lb field pack then obstacle course, tactical problem, break down and reasemble weps....it was fun to watch.

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Coir a glaive

Nemo me impune lacessit

Last night on History Channel:

"The Red Army in the Stalingrad and Kursk battles suffered more casualties than the entire US and UK armies combined in the entire war. That's why those were called Deep Battles."

AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH !!!

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No Rest for the Wicked!

Isaw the boys of h company on history channel i thought that was quite good anyone agree disagree?

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WHEN YOU GO HOME, TELL THEM OF US AND SAY, FOR YOUR TOMORROW,WE GAVE OUR TODAY. Epitaph on the Kohima memorial .

I sometimes watch the WWII shows on HC and other channels, but, I always watch it with a grain of salt. I get some good laughs when they show one piece of equipment, and call it something completely different, for example.

One night, they showed a Japanese carrier, supposedly the Akagi, as one of the six carriers that bombed Pearl Harbor. It was obvious to me that it was probably Shokaku, because of the location of the island. Definitely wasn't Kaga or Akagi for sure. Another night they showed the 'early P-51', and it had a bubble canopy. I still like seeing the footage, even if they don't label it right. I just keep in mind that the narrator may not have a clue...

I don't get it at home either, so it's difficult for me to judge, however I have some of their DVD's

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Let's put things on perspective. TV is a different medium from print. When presenting information on TV, the information presented has to be compressed to fit the limited time. This is where the soundbite comes in.
I don't tend to disparage the resource persons presented in such shows. They all earned their degrees. The real problem lies in the questions presented before them and the length of time they are given for them to answer. Thus, they are forced to issue a soundbite.
In print, authors and researchers have the luxury of space. When we read, we focus on the book. This doesn't happen in TV with all the channels competing for our attention. Thus the shows have to be "packaged" and often "teasers" designed to attract our attention to a show exaggerate things. Thus when we watch that particular show, we feel let down. Also, we have to remember that we all have our instinctive biases based on the books we have read. I've worked in TV before and the pace is just hectic. There's never enough time to put in everything we've researched or worked on. The usual result is a short cut with emphasis on making things visually appealing. That's the weakness (and strength) of documentary TV.

Very true and very good point, but I have seen many documentaries that have displayed falsh or misleading informtion, and this I find to be ridiculas. I like to watch the History Channel for the reels they show from ww2 and to see real tanks and infantry exactly as they were and not reinacted, you can see the stress and pain on their faces.

I watch a documentary today on the Higgins boat, aka LCVP. Apparently the reason the Americans won Normandy was because the Germans under rated the General American Soldier. I konw you just made the point about not enough time to show all the facts but they should make time or not show it. Becuase we all know that the allies won because of many reasons some being, air superiority, surprise, lack of tanks by the Germans (contentin Pennisula) and the sheer industrial might of the US capable of building so many tanks, support vehicles, and landing craft. Out of all these reasons why, they chose to only say that it was due to the Germans under rating the Americans.

I am tired of propaganda films about the USA, and how awesome they are and how everthing in the was because of them. We all know they had a great military and awesome industiral power, but they were not the only nation in the war, they were not the only ones fighting, and they were not the only ones to land on Normandy. Britain and Canada being the other nations to land large amounts of troops continue to over shadwoed by Hollywood and American propaganda.

Sorry for the rant, I had too, oh and it was not directed at you Falcon Jun

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They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We shall remember them. Lest We Forget

No offense taken. I understand your view because I share it too.

So that explains why I saw snow footage on a battle of Kursk (July!) show.

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No Rest for the Wicked!

I've found the History Channel quite grating, the mistakes are bad enough, but are generally forgivable given what a massive range of subjects it covers. The worst part is how patronising they are should you dare to approach them to point out their errors.
We all make mistakes, and I'm always happy to stand corrected in a bid for accuracy, I think we all generally are aren't we?

It's sensory to the extreme.

Which makes it "artificial" to say the least. It's (as was mentioned), meant to sell.
The only thing you see is action, instead of the usual dust, fog, night, and boredom which accompanies war.
The only thing you smell are the Cheeto's in your hand, instead of the rotting flesh, blood, fuel, and acrid smoke.
The only thing you hear (mainly) is "Theme" music (Wagner/Phantom of the Opera/usually "Classical") instead of deafening explosions/gun-shots, screams, cries, whimpering, pleading sounds of suffering.
The only thing you feel is excitement instead of pain, burns, ice cold water, wounds/traumatic amputations.
The passing thoughts you have are what you would've done (in that situation/differently) and show little or no sympathy for those who knew nothing of "the Big Picture", and were confused, desperate, scared, and following orders to an uncertain future.

In other words, all of the "Goodie", and little, virtually? none (I dislike this word for being a "catch-all", but sometimes it applies) if any at all, of the "Crud".

False