The History Channel would seem like the logical go to for any avid history fan who wanted to learn more about their interest. In reality anyone turning on the History Channel for any real historical insight will be sorely disappointed.
However, if crackpot conspiracies, doomsday theories and programmes that have almost nothing to do with history are your thing, you are in for a treat! Programmes like Ancient Aliens, UFO Hunters, MonsterQuest, Pawn Stars, Big Shrimpin’, Swamp People and Nostradamus Effect are just a few I can name to make you puzzle as to how this channel is called the “History” Channel, and not the “We Found Some Mental People with Barmy Ideas and Some Other Stuff that has Nothing to do with History” Channel.
My personal favourite out of the History Channel’s choice programming is Ancient Aliens, which resembles a show that would normally be confined to late night showings on ITV 4 (Channel 5 if they’re lucky). One of the guests on this show is Giorgio Tsoukalos, if you don’t know him then YouTube his name and get to grips with his theories, it should take no more than 30 seconds. Essentially his arguments, and the shows, can be summed up with this sort of statement; ‘I’m not saying it was aliens…but it was aliens’.
I know I may be dancing around the obvious and that the History Channel has these sorts of programmes for rating purposes but I do think they need to be reminded that they are the History Channel. There is a lot of unexplored history out there without having to resort to aliens and myth. In a way this is a plea for the History Channel to put the history back into their programming.