Open note to Discovery/History/Nat Geo channels…

ENOUGH with the “reality” TV.

Look, guys, I know everyone is doing it and it’s the hot thing these days. Sure, why not film a bunch of people already doing something, slap a narrative on top of it and call it a show. It’s cheap, ready made content, right? The problem is, it sucks. Not necessarily the first time, but pretty much every time thereafter.

Shows I liked

Deadliest Catch (Even the first time around, this was mediocre as a concept, but Mike Rowe narrating helped…)
Ice Road Truckers (Only because of the personality of Hugh Rowland.
Dirty Jobs (Ok, Mike Rowe is a legitimate gold mine. Top of the line dude and excellent TV personality)
Man Vs. Wild (Yeah, the accent did it for me)
Cash Cab (Interesting twist on the game show concept, and Ben Bailey’s an interesting personality, too)
How Its Made (Pure edutainment right here – can’t get enough of this stuff)
Digging for the Truth (Please, bring back Josh Bernstein)

Shows I never liked

Deadliest Catch: Lobstermen (WTF… really? who’s lame idea was it to try and capitalize on the original here? It sucks)
Extreme Logging (Dull profession, dull personalities, dull show. I’m not saying their job is easy, but it’s rather uninteresting as TV material)
Axe Men (A logging version of Ice Road Truckers? No thanks…)
UFO Hunters (This is quite possibly the worst show I’ve ever seen on the History Channel, and honestly, a disgrace to the name)
Detonators (Quit trying to cater to the belief that your audience is mostly young adult males who like explosions. That’s NOT the main reason for Mythbuster’s success, believe it or not).
Verminators (I can’t even bring myself to watch this load of crap)
Smash Lab (This was atrocious on top of atrocious)
One Way Out (Yeah, by turning off the TV)

And perhaps the worst crime against edutainment television…

Destroyed in Seconds (and all of its kin).

Look, taking a bunch of old videos, especially ones that have already been featured in a dozen highlight reel type shows, and slapping a narrative over them as if they are new and interesting is about the worst possible way to offend your viewers. You’re not even filming people at work now. You’re just force feeding us stale content from the basement archives and trying to convince us it’s interesting. Guess what… it’s not, and you suck for it.

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