Anyone seen the Discovery Channel program on Mermaids?

[dan_bgblue]

Thought provoking to say the least

[Darrell KSR]

http://www.snopes.com/photos/supernatural/mermaids.asp

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[CitizenBBN]

Watched about 10 minutes one time it was one. I have to say I really question Discovery's airing of these types of shows.

They turned "The Learning Channel" into the "Reality Drivel Jerry Springer Wouldn't Cover" channel, and seriously stretched what "history" entails on the History Channel, but so far Discovery proper has been pretty dedicated to actual smart TV.

This is better than "honey boo boo" stuff (which thank goodness I've never even seen by accident), but how about an extra episode of Mythbusters instead?

[dan_bgblue]

Really disappointed with Discovery channel. The show was pretty hokey, but there were enough "facts" presented to make the story plausible.

Thanks Darrell

[Darrell KSR]

Dan, I didn't see it, but I have heard from more than one person who said the same thing you said. I am disappointed with their choice.

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[UKHistory]

Do this for halloween or April Fools but it is still poor form. I like history and I like science but I love science fiction. But I like to keep real disctinctions in the topics and the programs covering these issues.

[Darrell KSR]

Do this for halloween or April Fools but it is still poor form. I like history and I like science but I love science fiction. But I like to keep real disctinctions in the topics and the programs covering these issues.

I personally would make a distinction for either of those days, although I "get" criticism even on those days for that.

As you know, I have a long-running, old April Fool's Joke about Moises Globaly. It doesn't even try to fool anyone, it is so outlandish and meant in good fun. But even that draws some criticism each year, and I "get" it.

For something like The Discovery Channel, and for what truly passes as a legitimate show for 99% of it, absent some small disclaimer at the end in the credits, I don't think they deserve a pass.

[blueboss]

They also ran a megalodon shark show that suggests that they still exist. Really, a shark roughly the size a blue whale swimming around biting boats in half?

[dan_bgblue]

Bit a blue whale in half. ;-) I watched that one too cause I have some fossilized megalodon teeth. Found them and a bunch more shark teeth and a few vertebrae in some old waste piles at a Florida phosphate precessing facility. My teeth range from 3 3/4" tall tip to the attach point and 3 inches wide at the gum, and 4 5/8" long tip to attach point and 3 1/4 inches wide at the gum.

Just an example

http://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/6227415/il_570xN.221012591.jpg

[CitizenBBN]

I'm good with it on April fool's or Halloween. But running this as a joke is one thing, running it to get ratings and infect one of the last channels that has non-lowest-common-denominator programming is troubling. They've gotten a lot of backlash over it but the ratings are high so they run it.

The BBC, back when it was even more conservative, did a great one about the "pasta harvest" in Switzerland. They had limp cooked pasta draped on trees and these rustic people going around harvesting it into baskets, laying it out to dry. talking about how it's smaller than the "vast spaghetti farms of Italy" Now that's funny.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVo_wkxH9dU

[blueboss]

Bit a blue whale in half. ;-) I watched that one too cause I have some fossilized megalodon teeth. Found them and a bunch more shark teeth and a few vertebrae in some old waste piles at a Florida phosphate precessing facility. My teeth range from 3 3/4" tall tip to the attach point and 3 inches wide at the gum, and 4 5/8" long tip to attach point and 3 1/4 inches wide at the gum.

Just an example

http://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/6227415/il_570xN.221012591.jpg

Nice tooth!! I've dug around the Amelia Island FL area looking for megla teeth, it's supposed to be some kind of prehistoric shark nursery and dying ground, all the ones I've ever found are a lot smaller.

So what about this phosphate processing facility???

[dan_bgblue]

Actually that pic is not of one of mine. I just pulled it off the net as an example. The phosphate facility is in Polk county and honesty that is all I remember. 100 years or so ago, I worked for Agrico Chemical Co that owned the plant at the time. I was there for a couple of weeks and every day after work a plant worker and I would visit the dump piles, which was the material that could not be processed and was dumped by the truck load at the back of the property, and dig around for fossils. They do not call that part of FL the bone valley for nothing