20 November 2012

3.5 Timeouts Tuesdays

Television channels that were once good, but now suck, or I am really stretching it edition.

1.

A&E.  First and foremost, they need to change their name.  The channel that once had Breakfast with the Arts, Great Books, Biography and other excellent shows now has Billy the Exterminator, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Storage Wars, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, and Duck Dynasty.  Arts and Entertainment my hindquarters.

2.

TLC.  Once my favourite channel, when it was The Learning Channel.  They broadcast James Burke's The Day the Universe Changed, and Connections.  They had Furniture to Go, Junkyard Wars and a bunch of other quirky and informative shows.  Now it's The Life Channel, with What not to Wear, a plethora of bridal shows, and Cake Boss, one of those new foodertainment shows: a cooking show that teaches you nothing about cooking, but entertains you with how some idiot goes about preparing food.

3.

History.  Occasionally, it is good, but often it seems to have lost its way.  Pawn Stars?  American Pickers? Canadian Pickers?  What's next- Nose Pickers?  I admit a certain fondness for Ice Road Truckers, but that is not history.  And don't get me started on Ancient Aliens.  If history is about learning from the past, and seeing how it has affected our present and future, then this show is the opposite of history.

3.

Your turn.  Come up with one.  ABC, NBC, CBS, CBC, or something else.

1 comment:

Patience said...

It's been two plus years since we've had reception. We got rid of Bell Express Vue because even if I could get what I wanted (ie TCM which they didn't have at the time) you had to buy a whole package. So we made do with the basic $30 package for a while; put up with their giving the kids free Family Channel at Christmas and then cutting it off once they were hooked; and then decided to cut it off. (It took 8 grueling months after our decision to actually figure out how to get hold of them to cut it off as once they find out you're trying to leave; they stop responding. (tip: stop paying the bill; works every time! LOL)
So now we make do with DVD series, library movies etc and don't miss it a bit. (but of course it's not for everyone)