RSS Feed MenuWriting in Maclean’s, Barbara Amiel finds that tabloid TV and shock culture have made their way onto the nature programs of Animal Planet.
When we were dog-less in Manhattan, I had to make do with the Animal Planet channel on the bathroom-mirror TV. Which is how I came to realize that human beings are doomed. A portentous narrator explained that mankind is outnumbered by hundreds of billions of birds, poised like marauding hawks to attack us (not to mention killer swans). Packs of feral hogs are spreading all over America. As for Florida, where I am a part-time resident, we face the Gambian pouched rat, which according to the program Killer Aliens is “the size of an average house cat. It carries deadly diseases that could potentially cripple the population of south Florida.” That’s not counting another 400 non-native species of wildlife, including killer snakes, that are colonizing the Everglades and strangling babies. “We are at the crossroads of interspecies chaos,” intoned a zoologist, whose name I can’t give you since the Kleenex I was using as notepaper while in the bath ran out of space after I scribbled the quote on it.
But what really did me in was the Monsters Inside Us program.
Heaven knows, we’ve all got enough on our minds without worrying about flies that lay eggs inside you via a quick trip into your nose or a scratch on your foot. How many times have you had a fly up the nose? Well, perhaps not so many, but I am a regular in that department due to the prevalence of flies in these subtropical climes and childhood remonstrations to breathe through your nose—unlike the nursery-rhyme old lady who didn’t and thereby swallowed a fly. When the wrong fly detours nasally, you get a revolting movement under your skin as egg turns into maggot burrowing into your flesh.
There were close-ups of the infected foot of a young girl—as pretty and nice as anyone with maggots under their skin can be, which isn’t exactly the Estée Lauder prom-perfect look. After that program came Confessions: Animal Hoarding, in which people like me who want to rescue the entire animal world turn into nutcases marooned among dozens of howling animals while friends cry quietly over the beloved one’s departure from sanity.
When did the Animal Channel turn into a sensationalistic animal National Enquirer?
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Oldskool // Sep 3, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Her column is all over the map. Better to flame one subject at a time.
It’s not only AP, it’s the History Channel, Nat Geo, Discovery, the Science Channel. Some of the crap they put on the air undermines their very channel name, being vaguely historic or scientific. Like the UFO and Bigfoot programs where the “experts” have obviously never been anywhere near a laboratory or a library.
Kevin B // Sep 3, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Add A&E to that list. And at times, msnbc. I sometimes enjoy Keith’s bark and Rachel’s snark, but what’s with all the prison shows on the weekends?
Oldskool // Sep 3, 2010 at 7:29 pm
Those prison fests are the creepiest thing since bedbugs and more depressing than actual news. MSNBC really throws in the towel on the weekends.
JeninCT // Sep 3, 2010 at 9:45 pm
I agree. I don’t undertand any of that prison garbage they have on MSNBC. As to Rachel’s snark, I have about a 30 second limit before I have to change the channel.
I do enjoy some of those creature shows, though. Barbara Amiel seems like a bit of a snob. If they’re so awful, how come she knows so much about them?
sinz54 // Sep 3, 2010 at 9:47 pm
It didn’t used to be that way.
Back when cable was new (early 1980s), A&E and Bravo and Discovery Channel offered some truly distinctive, even cultured, programming.
But over the years, a kind of “mission creep” set in, as sponsors demanded higher ratings from these channels. So to get higher ratings, these channels began to cater to the lowest common denominator, just like daytime TV on the broadcast networks.
Another side effect of this has been the willingness of these channels to simply air reruns of popular broadcast TV series, rather than creating their own distinctive programming.
drdredel // Sep 4, 2010 at 5:11 am
I haven’t watched any broadcast TV of any kind in several years. There are so many internet services that provide fantastic programming, I’m not sure why anyone would still shell out the 100+ bucks a month for the commercial laden drivel that the cable and satellite monarchies shovel your way.
Arch // Sep 4, 2010 at 5:24 pm
I have to defend MSNBC’s prison broadcasting. I watch the shows with interest and they make me feel much better about the life I have. They also reinforce that my occasional fantasies of becoming a criminal mastermind (as if there were any) are probably not a good idea.
moionfire // Sep 5, 2010 at 6:29 am
I agree. I wish the cable channels would stick to their title niche. Bravo used to be a channel for high art, now it is full of “housewives of X city” or lifestyle shows. I would support a law which mandated that cable channels stuck to their niche topic.
MTV , MTV2 is the worse. They are now general entertainment for mind numbing teens. Bring back the music. Even Vh1 has ceased playing music videos!!!
I like TCM,GSN, and Scifi as they have stuck to its orginal intent….