Discovery Channel shows....

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So I had a thought today, and I figured this forum could use some more action. I was watching a show on the Discovery Channel, and throughout the show, I saw previews for 'Whale Wars', 'Swamp Loggers', 'Extreme Loggers', and 'Deadliest Catch'. The network also has shows like 'Jockeys', 'Toddlers & Tiaras', and 'Heli-Loggers'...

So here's my thought, each of those shows seems to put their subject on a silver platter - as if they are *good* things.

Take all the logging shows for example. Last I heard, logging is bad...unless it's done in a forest plantation. It's the "old growth" that we're supposed to be protecting...I don't know...maybe I'm missing something as I don't watch any of those shows. Honestly, what's so entertaining about watching a bunch of rednecks cut down trees? Anyway, at what point (if any) does the public become so jaded to logging that it's no longer considered a "bad" thing and entire forests start getting clear-cut again?


Now, as for Whale Wars... I know whaling is bad. I understand what these people are trying to do, but to put vigilante "justice" on a silver platter? I think that is going down the wrong path to prove a point. Stopping whaling isn't going to happen by ramming a Greenpeace ship into a whaling ship. You've got to remove the market for whale...and for that to happen, you need politics (as much as I hate to admit it).


As for 'Toddlers & Tiaras'...all I can say is, those parents should not have been allowed to breed. Those poor kids are going to be all messed up when they grow up...

Comments, conspiracy theories, or thoughts?

 

I love deadliest catch.

I watched a couple of episodes of Whale Wars and was so disgusted I was openly rooting for the Japanese whaler to really be a destroyer in disguise that would launch the missile version of a harpoon into the ship.

Like you, I can't watch shows that exploit the kids for the parent's gain. It is disgusting. I also couldn't care less about Jon and Kate etc.

 

To be honest I've allways found that most commercially made documentaries suck, usually a lot. There are of course some exceptions to this but the best documentaries are without exception produced by various government owned television companies, such as BBC. The main difference being that commercial documentaries usually sacrifice the issues for entertainment while public companies have the purpose of educating first and entertaining comes as distant second, they also (ironically enough) lack a political agenda, atleast as far as I've seen and inteprented.

 

I have two objections to those shows. One is very much what you said, Kitrax, they're praising things that don't necessarily need to be praised (definitely for Whale Wars, not sure for the Loggers, depends on where they're logging and how). The other is that, generally, those are very dangerous jobs (especially for things like Ice Road Truckers and Deadliest Catch; people die every year in those jobs) and they're putting inexperienced cameramen in everyone's way. That doesn't just put the cameramen at risk, that puts everyone at rist.

Even worse was when I saw commercials for a new reality TV series (think it was ABC?). I've forgotten what it was called, but the premise was to take Average Joes and put them in those deadly jobs for a month or something! I'm just waiting for someone to die, and I hope his/her family can sue for Big Bucks. It's like Gladiatorial Combat all over again.

The other show I have a problem with is Scare Tactics. I always hope the "punkee" actually has a black belt in some martial art and/or a weapon and scares/kicks the crap out of the punker.

 

I've commented on how much I hate Whale Wars, those guys are terrorists and pirates no matter how much they dress up their criminal acts with a grean Cloak of Self-Righteousness. The logging show doesn't bother me, and most of the other ones hold no interest for me.

 

Now that I read this again, these shows aren't documentaries are they, but rather some form of real television?

Generally I don't like that sort of programmes and generally avoid them. None of the ones you listed seem even remotely interesting.

 

What about Dirty Jobs? I can't think of anything negative about it; the show seems to be enviroment-friendly and respectful towards people in awful jobs. Surprisingly many of those dirty occupations are in recycling, animal handling or older crafts. And the host is hilarious .

 

Dirty Jobs is a great show. It's wonderfully educational, often shows the real expertice needed for something like waste management or mining, and doesn't put anyone's lives in unusual danger!

 

I have nothing against Dirty Jobs. That's a great show...it's one of my favorites! Mike Rowe has his 40-hour HAZWHOPER and confined space entry certifications...in fact his whole crew would have to as well.


I forgot to talk about Deadliest Catch... It's well known that the oceans are being over fished (yes, I know the show is about crab), but again, they're putting a "huge catch" on a silver platter...

 

Oh, my problem with Deadiest Catch isn't the overfishing issue. I'm pretty sure there are restrictions on fishing those waters and I'm 99% sure the vessels are operating to the letter of the law (you usually do that when you're going on national TV). My problem is that commercial fishing in the north Atlantic and north Pacific are (last I heard) officially the most dangerous (read: % of workers that die every year) job in the US. Worse than police officer in Harlem, worse than cab driver in NY City, worse than 7-11 worker in Chicago. On top of that, in order to stay safe, everyone on the vessel needs to know exactly what everyone else is doing at all times. Then someone puts a TV crew on the ship.

At least Mike Rowe has the wits to ask the expert who's showing him the job things like, "Is this safe?", "Can I do this?", and "Is this going to blow up when I do this?" on national TV.

 

I have no interest in any of those shows, although I admit that I've watched a few episodes of Deadliest Catch. I view these shows as a form of reality TV, and like most reality TV shows, they suck. Since I have no experience with the other shows, I'll stick to comments regarding Deadliest Catch.

Like NOG mentioned, there are strict restrictions and quotas for how much crab can be fished for each year. From the limited experience I have had with watching Deadliest Catch, it seemed like fishing for crab is like hunting season - that you're only allowed to do it for a very short time each year, and that after a certain amount of crab is harvested, it becomes illegal to take any more. So I agree that they are following the letter of the law, or they wouldn't be showing their activities on TV. I assume that the same thing is true for those logging shows and other programs mentioned, although I cannot be sure having never watched.

What's the problem with Ice Road Truckers though? Is there anything environmentally unsound about driving a truck across a frozen river (or pond, lake, whatever they drive across)? Or, how would filming it make it more dangerous? I'm assuming that the cameraman is you know, in the truck - and not running out onto the ice to film them.

 

When it comes to logging, I don't think it is that big a deal, as we do have the capabilities to replant. The only thing is, are we? Probably not as much as we should be. When the Americas were 1st discovered up until the late 50's, the white man cut down a lot of really old trees. That wood was terrific and the goods manufactured with it lasted a long time and were of exceptional quality, even without the resources and technology of today. My family is in the Billiards and Shuffleboard business, dating back to just after WWII. These days, you will never find the product that can match what they manufactured before WWII and that's mostly on the woods. They are lots of old billiard tables around, that date back to the beginning of the 1900's, but most of the junk that came out in the 60's and 70's was with crap wood, inferior ash, elm and pine. Today's products are really pathetic, as they don't use kiln-dried wood much these days. All of the good hardwoods, like Mahogany and the Northwest Redwoods have been chopped and used up. What is left we mostly can't touch, as it is protected by law.

 

Dirty Jobs is more educational than reality. Each episode is like a quick 30 minute special on how a particular messy job is done. Some, like salt mining, are very interesting (yay explosives).

My problem with Ice Road Truckers isn't environmental, it's safety. Again, people die every year in those jobs, and you're putting an inexperienced cameracrew in there?

 

I actually didn't mention that show...

But yes, there are cameramen outside, filming as the trucks drive by. Not all shots are done inside the cab of a truck.

 

I'm sure the cameramen are in no danger. I can't think of anything more boring than the ice road show, but I don't think there's anything wrong with it. As for the loggers, logging may not jibe with the GreenPeace mindset, but people are still buying books, using paper, and building houses, so logging ain't gonna stop anytime soon.

 

My point on Ice Road Truckers is that, apparently, even the cabins in those trucks aren't really that safe. Again, this is a job where professionals die every year, even in the trucks. It only takes one wrong move to go terribly wrong.

 

I find it distracting in good weather to have people jabbering on while I'm driving. I'd hate to have some dude jamming a camera in my face while I was concentrating on getting a large vehicle across a frozen river!

 

Whale Wars and Dirty Jobs are nice to watch, if I have a night shift and don't feel like gaming anymore.

The Discovery channel has really changed in direction over the last 10 years. It started with an extreme fascination for deadly animals like sharks and crocodiles. Since then, the sensationalism has taken a turn for the worse, and the commercialism has gotten worse too.
Nowadays, they can't even do a report on the construction of an ice hotel without talking about a disaster scenario where the whole thing comes crashing down. The shockwave, and the amount of people that would be killed if the whole thing collapsed, aren't the only things that are interesting. But maybe it is for some...
And that's the deal with all the motorcycle and car shows on Discovery? The channel used to be about science, now it feels like I'm watching Top Gear. Or, a disturbing mix of Top Gear and the Osbournes...

 

I agree with coineineagh, over the last 10 years or so, discovery have become worse and worse. back in the days discovery used to be about science and history, then they took out the history part, which wasn't bad as such, but they replaced it with stupid shows instead of more science. Now there are hardly any science shows left on discovery, Now its mainly a channel about cars, bigger cars and even bigger cars...oh and American choppers.
it has really gone from the channel I watched the most to one the channels I zap through.

 

Yeah, I've been disappointed, too. Thankfully, Verizon gives us 10 channels similar to what Discovery and TLC used to be. I can't even remember all the names, but I know we've got at least one called "Science", a Military channel (history and science), the History channel, Discovery (unfortunately), and 6 others.

Coin, why do you watch Whale Wars? I would think that'd just be more sensationalism + ecoterrorism.