WHY TELEVISION SUCKS

OK....if you're like me and you occassionally tune in to those panel shows on the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, or "SyFy," you've probably been struck by the same thing I have, and that is, the endless repitition of the same themes, with the same names and faces, and "the same old thing." It's as if the TV media does not realize that there are other people in the huge alternative research community besides Eric von Daeniken and (insert your favorite "same old name" here) that might actually make for a fresh new approach on such series, and actually boost ratings. And what in the name of sense does wrestling or hunting ghosts or watching people make other people up have to do with science fiction except in the broadest sense that would only make sense to a Burbank producer?

I have to confess, I'm at a loss to explain it. Television, which could be such an informative medium for alternative research, seems lost in a rut, promoting a kind of "alternative orthodoxy" with its own magisterium of "the old names"and catastrophist paradigms that are simply not the only things going. There is a whole new chronology being developed by scholars and researchers in ancient chronology, but we never see them on these shows; there are new and exciting approaches being developed within the alternative research community concerning the relationship of ancient cultures such as Egypt and Sumer and the biblical stories we grew up on (and no, I'm not talking about Zechariah Sitchin), there is a new approach even being developed in ufology, yet we never hear from these people. (When, for example, was the las time you saw a show about Roswell on one of these channels without the same old UFO-ET proponents on the one hand, pushing the same old you-know-what, and the same old skeptics on the other, pushing the same old balloon you-know-what?) Endlessly, it's the same revolving door of names repeating the same old themes.

And the attempts to break into new territory are half-assed and leave a great deal to be desired. Case in point: some time ago I started to receive a flood of emails from people asking me if I had seen a certain episode of a certain show about the Nazi Bell project, wondering if in fact it had been based on my research. I bought the episode in question and sure enough, it did seem to be so. Well, the hidden part of this story is that I did volunteer about 30 hours of my time talking to a producer "out there." The trouble was, neither his name, nor my name, appeared in any of the credits, s0 I simply cannot say whether or not this episode was the result of that contact or not, but it did raise my suspicion meter into the red zone!  But the most distressing part of the whole show was that there was no attempt in the episode to identify any sources for the audience to do further research. In short, what passes for referencing in the media is almost non-existent. Were producers subject to academic standards they'd fail miserably, and rightly so. An air of "unethicality" hovers over what little experience I've had with people in the visual media, and it has been uniformly negative.

It seems to me that it's high time for television to take a fresh approach to presenting alternative research... rather than lagging ten or twenty years behind the published material, it needs to be out front and on the cusp of research, seeking out the new names and faces and viewpoints, rather than parading the old ones as if they were the last word in the field. And it also needs to develop a style of referencing source material that is explicit. And it also needs to credit people for their help and advice. We do not need any more of the same old faces, the same old themes, the same old shoddy research and sound bite methodology.

If you're as fed up with them as I am, it's time to let them know. Enough is enough already.

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Joseph P. Farrell

Joseph P. Farrell has a doctorate in patristics from the University of Oxford, and pursues research in physics, alternative history and science, and "strange stuff". His book The Giza DeathStar, for which the Giza Community is named, was published in the spring of 2002, and was his first venture into "alternative history and science".

27 Comments

  1. James Dempsey on March 27, 2012 at 9:16 am

    You know some day I may need some assistance in writing a book of the christian nature. I already have one but like i say I am more of a “note taker” than a writer and I imagine I tend to rub a bible scholar in the wrong way thus ticking them off. But I wonder if it is me or if it is really this spirit that is in me. As I have been known to go into auto pilot some times to where it is not really me writing but another entity that takes over. And to the best of my understanding when I come under the anointing of the Holy Spirit like in a worship environment it is like going into a “parallel universe” or alternate reality would be my attempt to explain why I even come to or attempt to or comment or write in this blog.

    The book I am talking about is indeed actually part of the New Testament bible. But it is only recognizable by we who are spiritual and in fact it is only through a sort of hindsight that it begins to appear or reveal itself as in that which is visible is temporal and that which is invisible is eternal. And perhaps it is an explanation as to how all these megolithic structure including the pyramids could have came into existence when we know it is impossible for modern man with our rules machinery and or technology to move even one of these stones.

    I call it recently “The Book of the Upper Room” which in reality should be a blank group of pages between the 4 gospels and the book of Acts. The shadow that connects the two the two is building the tower of babble in the old Testament. To the 12 and the 120 gathered together in the upper room of the new . So take a moment to “close your eyes” relax and “picture” a situation like this in your mind.

    We have on the one hand a group of people in the old working together stacking stone upon stone to try to build a tower to the heavens. And in the new the 12 and the 120 were as well building a sort of invisible tower together as well fasting and prayer and sharing their revelations which Jesus said was the rock of his new church. Only this one was an invisible tower and or church and or wall if you prefer and or force shield in a sci-fi sense. So can you close your eyes and imagine or picture this in your minds eye! And or for that matter could a young or little child do this? And Or see visions and or dream dreams?

    So how do you suppose healing works if you are spiritual? Can you once again close your eyes and imagine some one crippled into someone being made healthy and or whole again! Can you show or present this idea or dream to God when you are under the anointing? What can you imagine? What are your limits if Jesus said speak to your mountain if you believe it in your heart and and picture it in your mind what? You can cast it into the sea! What about space and time?

    So you see if we can get into the presence of God and close our eyes if it is a good thing imagine it in our minds or heart! What is it that is not possible?

    So what is missing today in our over confined, strictly regulated, pious, and regimented world? How were these incredible things of the past or huge monuments built? Through some very spiritually mature minds and actually quite easily!

    enough said for now



  2. Stan on January 31, 2012 at 12:44 pm

    Gov’t funded mainstream media is probably the first reason that Television Sucks. They shy away from true investigative journalism for fear of funding being cut and say only what They want you to know. I have been watching RT News which has been coined as “the enemy” by the US Gov’t. RT is no B.S. and once you watch it you see how weak mainstream news is. There is a statistic that claims people who watch Fox News are less informed than those who watch no news at all. Look at how much coverage they give to OWS or the true state of the middle class. Then stations like HLN & CNN repeat the same short block of worthless news over & over for days. Sandwiched in between that is a load of Insurance & pharmaceutical advertising. Most diseases & condition are created by the same people who come up with the “treatment”. Note all the vicious side effects that accompany the medicine. People like Nancy Grace & Jane Valezbian Mitchell are showboating idiots that make mentally challenged individuals appear brilliant.
    Then you have literal crap like SyFy and Chiller which shows the worst movies ever made in the millenium. They both show the same endless repeats of Twilight Zone Outer Limits. Chiller’s weekend line up is the worst. Fear Factor for hours on Saturday, then followed by haphazard line-ups of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Scare Tactics and Harpers Island. There is nothing scary about any of this garbage and may amuse the ages of 5-14. Plus so many commercials you forget what you are even watching.
    MSNBC has turned into Prison Programming showing Jail,Lock-up & similar viewing. I guess with our rights being stripped from us and the passing of the defense authorization act they’re trying to get everyone used to seeing prisons so it will be an easier transition from citizen to inmate.
    TLC – The Learning Channel – “What Not To Wear” – “Say Yes To The Dress” – “Cake Boss” “- “Toddlers & Tiaras” The latter parades a bunch of children around dressed like prostitutes. Is there nothing else they can show? I’ve learned not to watch TLC.
    National Geographic is another major disappointment.
    I could go on & on. I just needed to vent. Thanks for the op!



    • Ken Campen on May 22, 2012 at 3:10 pm

      Am just realizing that when I take my vacation for two weeks or so, I never miss hideous television at all. Actually, it feels somewhat like a bowel movement knowing that I did not participate in any way staring at the boob tube. I am almost ready to stop watching television entirely. It must surely be the most anti-productive entity ever created and the total garbage that spews across the airwaves is truly insulting and nauseating. Wish me luck!!!



  3. Jon on April 13, 2011 at 11:41 pm

    I stopped watching most TV over a decade ago. I will watch certain shows, but prefer to buy them on Amazon without commercials, or buy the DVDs to directly support the specific show or artist I like.

    TV long ago became the hypnotist of Big Brother (minus the Holding co.), and almost everything on it is suspect. The regularity with which facts are ignored or seriously bent got me so angry, I simply stopped watching. I have not had cable for over a decade, and spend the time gained reading, which is far more informative.

    In a discussion with a contact in military intelligence in the 1980s, I asked for this person’s opinion of how much on U.S. TV was a lie – their response was at least 50 percent. I think that now it is more like 98%.

    Between the Banksters and Bernays’ little henchmen, it would be a miracle if any quality material could get through for any length of time. Broadcast is Big Brother’s game. Centralized programming, created and approved for the express task of reinforcing the status quo, and manipulating the masses.

    Having worked in the cable TV industry for nearly a decade, I have a very low opinion of the ethics and quality in TV overall.

    Even if it was all above board, honest and true, the broader the group of people you are trying to reach, the lower the IQ and quality level will have to be. That is why most things produced for the masses tend to aim for the 8-10 year old mind. People who actually think deeply about the kind of subjects discussed here make up a tiny fraction of a percent of the population. Those who get paid (by advertisers) for delivering “numbers of viewers” will never market to such a small niche.

    And advertisers market to the emotions, not the mind. Buying decisions are always made on an emotional basis, then rationalized by the mind. These folks have known that for a long time. That is why TV is basically a medium of emotional roller coaster rides, pushing viewers first one way and then another.

    TV could be a powerful medium for good – instruction, interaction, learning. But, like all things in the hands of corporate fascism, it will primarily be used for the evil agenda of the elite. After all, to quote JDR, “I want a nation of workers, not thinkers.”

    Again, bread and circuses. (TV is a circus.)



  4. Old Cap'n Kent on April 13, 2011 at 8:26 pm

    This posting goes with my rather lengthy comments about television to be found under this article concerning the sad state of, and need for, good alternative television, esp. in areas of science and topics Dr. Farrell writes about.

    Folks, I really want you to be able to see all the James Burke Connection episodes. I got the link wrong and so it didn’t work. It’s a long one and is tricky. I kept doing it over and over emailing it to myself until I could get it to work several times. I think I’ve got the bugs out now so try this one, please.

    http://worldhistoryeducatorsblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/james-burkes-connections-on-youtube.html

    Sorry for all the false starts. I know I’m worse at the computer than Doc Farrell.
    If it works it will be worth my efforts and the space I’ve taken, and you will benefit because at this site you can read about James Burke AND see the videos.



  5. Kent on April 13, 2011 at 5:39 pm

    Television didn’t always suck (and, oh, i hate that word – never use it unless I’m talking about my grand baby and her bottle).
    Travel back with me to the year 1978 and let’s watch a little BBC. Let’s turn on the television to catch that new documentary by broadcaster and historian, James Burke. I hear his history of science show, “Connections – An Alternative View of Change” is smashing. (do they really say that in England?)

    My limited language skills cannot begin to lay the groundwork to introduce you to Burke’s Masterworks, Connections, Connections Two and Connections Three. Maybe some of you remember it in America first on PBS and then over to TLC when TLC was all about learning. I’ll tell a little about the program and then provide a link to where all of Connections can be seen on You Tube. DVDs of all episodes are available from Amazon.com and elsewhere.

    Burke wrote and presented the episodes as only he could have done, interjecting his very funny dry British humor. He told a history of science, discoveries, technology and society not in a linear way but more like a web hence the title name, Connections. Burke would take one small piece of technology invented maybe in 1747 and follow it to an end result in a totally different use for perhaps a brake pad on a Ford Model T; and other uses along the way through the web of history.

    I said my words could not adequately describe Burke’s work and I did not want to copy from other sources so now it’s about time for me to provide that link. But first this: when you begin watching him on You Tube and see what might be the first episode “The Trigger Parts One and Two” listen carefully for the flight number of the Scandinavian air liner from 1965.

    And now as Richard C. Hoagland likes to say, “Google Is Your Friend.”
    I hope this works. I’ve never done it before.
    http://worldhistoryeducatorsblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/james-burkes-connections



    • Kent on April 13, 2011 at 5:40 pm

      HOORAY! IT LOOKS LIKE THE LINK WORKED.



      • Kent on April 13, 2011 at 6:05 pm

        Folks, they took it down. It worked an hour ago. I swear. But you can still
        find those James Burke Connections by just typing in You Tube James Burke
        Connections, Connections two and Connections Three. Sorry.



  6. Justina on February 3, 2011 at 5:48 am

    you can never underestimate the bad taste of the American public.



  7. Bruce on February 2, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    I waver between two views: either BY DESIGN, the purpose of TV is to really and truly dumb down the population as much as possible; or, the fight for ratings is simply destroying TV, and also dumbs down most of the population.

    The SciFi channel is becoming a joke, and yet if the good shows don’t get the ratings, and the dumb ones do, what can you say???

    The population of this country, considered as a whole, may be its own worst enemy.



    • spiritsplice on February 3, 2011 at 12:42 pm

      It is both. When you intentionally dumb the people down, you get dumb people asking for and watching dumb.shows. One is a by product of the other.



  8. sj smith on February 2, 2011 at 8:54 am

    Russell (Skee) Farnsworth, Kent’s little brother, has told me pretty much the same thing as Debra loosely quotes.
    Philo’s larger pursuit was in fusion research.



  9. Justina on February 2, 2011 at 4:11 am

    There is a prophecy from the frist few centuries of the church, that
    includes that there would be in latter days a demon with one eye
    that would crouch in the corner of houses and whisper evil things
    to people. Sounds like TV.



  10. Debra Caruthers on February 1, 2011 at 8:32 pm

    “Farnsworth is sometimes quoted as telling his son Kent, with regard to television: ‘There’s nothing on it worthwhile, and we’re not going to watch it in this household, and I don’t want it in your intellectual diet.’
    Yet, his family’s website makes it clear that this is Kent’s scientific summation of his father’s view, rather than a direct quote.”
    — Wikipedia page on Philo Farnsworth, inventor of television.

    Nuff said.



  11. JJ Kelly on February 1, 2011 at 10:50 am

    Television started dying soon after it started. It’s main purpose now is to place us into a trance state and feed us an endless quantity of unfulfilled desires that only corporate America can quench. The MSM provides the state with a propaganda tool called the nightly news. A venture into its use for thought provoking programing is futile as a mentally charged populace is a dangerous thing for the republic or as Voltaire said “No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking”.
    Television is our drug of choice, We use it to watch our children, entertain ourselves and fill our time with banal thoughts. Oh there are a few interludes of the arts and some flouts with true communications but those are keep to a minimum by the next 3 minute commercial.



  12. Tim on February 1, 2011 at 6:05 am

    I try not to watch tv too much for precisely the reasons given. My time is better spent reading books, But there are little nuggets of gold to be found – I Know What I Saw – re Phoenix Lights wasn’t too bad, and a documentary on the ’66 Westall landings in Melbourne Aus is outstanding, sorry can’t recall the title. As to the good Doctor’s suggestions, instead of watching tv and complaining, we should get off the collective couch and make our own tv. Fireside chats for all!



  13. Jay on February 1, 2011 at 5:14 am

    ugh spelling of “extensively”.



  14. Jay on February 1, 2011 at 5:09 am

    Um, except I saw a longish for TV interview with Christopher Dunn on the History Channel.

    Then separately, the History Channel exentensively cited Igor Witkowski on a different show.

    Then there’s cold fusion on 60 Minutes.



  15. Thomas on February 1, 2011 at 4:58 am

    Why the push into digital? This is suspicious –it opens the way to the use of TV for an active form of mind control (not just the relatively ‘passive’ variety of Bernays). We need to be very wary of many of these technologies, given the proclivities of the power elites to dumb us down, mislead, and now actively hijack our thinking, our emotions, and our souls.



  16. 99 on February 1, 2011 at 12:56 am

    You watch TV? How last century…. 😛

    But, seriously, I’m amazed you have time for it, your output is so prodigious. I wish there were a channel full of the good stuff, the real stuff, the sourced stuff, but it wouldn’t get on the air. If they didn’t make it silly and sensational the garbage they air wouldn’t get on the air. I mean, I don’t think they want stuff they won’t even tolerate at university on TV. People might start waking up.



  17. Justina on February 1, 2011 at 12:51 am

    Yep, “TV is a wonderful invention capable of changing the world and educating the masses” all right, It helps the proliferation of silly fashions and dubious
    practices, educates the masses about what all sorts of silly people are doing
    between bouts with rehab.



  18. Ethan on February 1, 2011 at 12:41 am

    Well, luckily it’s now possible to create our own “TV” via sites like YouTube. 😉

    Rarely watch TV anymore. Books + internet are way more interesting. Oh, and let’s not forget internet radio either!

    http://www.thebyteshow.com/JosephPFarrell.html

    ;-D



    • Joseph P. Farrell on February 1, 2011 at 12:16 pm

      I have to agree with you Ethan…books and internet and radio ARE more interesting… but it is still a powerful medium, and something has to be done with it.



      • Ethan on February 1, 2011 at 2:17 pm

        True true.. perhaps we can use the internet as a stepping stone. To get more people to demand a higher quality on TV because they learn about the “really good stuff” on the net. 😉

        Sometimes I wish I could just get strangers from the street and force them to open their eyes instead of all those useless talent shows and soaps.

        Let’s get a speaker system installed through the city (hmm, sorry for the associated visions of heavily communist countries ;-)) and play The Byte Show, The Veritas Show, Red Ice Radio, etc. all day long LOL! ;-P



      • James Dempsey on March 27, 2012 at 10:26 am

        Really since cable in my area is so freaken expensive even my internet connection is wacked out just under $50! What they really want is to try to extract like 75-$150. All I have is the new rabbit ears or digital type receiver. Just for local area news and weather everything else comes off the computer. The only thing I used to miss was the scifi channel for a good laugh or the discovery, national Geographic, or history channel. And occasionally some sports! But maybe it is a good thing to get off your butt and go outside and do something! Like go fishing enjoy the out doors while we still can.

        I have heard Mt Rushmoore has really some nice new upgrades or improvements? Is that so or true Mr. SD? I keep wanting to check it out maybe on my next jaunt home to see my family in NoDak I will take my tent and new airbed and make a detour and check it out. Last time I went home via US 85 that is such a cool drive through Wyoming and the SD.Black Hills. Like entering another world I can imagine it was quite saccrid to the Indians. My father was from the western part of North Dakota the badlands Medora Little Missouri and Centinnal Butte area. Which was actually called Dempsey’s butte at one time as my Irish side ancestors settled in that region mostly sheep and cattle rancher types.

        I can relate to a lot of simple beauties in that part of the country and the compass in my head that takes me back from time to time. Nice to get away to a sparcely populated area and old familiar surroundings at times miles and miles of nothingness to help you clear your head or imagine what might be or what might have been. Compared to the HOOD where I live hey I still think it is like a paradise! And I may indeed just go back there and live in a small cabin or Sod house out in the toolies build a small shop Metal building for my ever expanding weird experiments. And grow most of my own food or really more closely live off the land and totally off grid.



  19. Gary Hunter on January 31, 2011 at 11:51 pm

    I believe the distress that results from watching TV for ostensibly educatioal purposes is the continual crushing of the idealism we all seem to have at a sublime level that TV is a wonderful invention capable of changing the world and educating the masses. Our idealism is crushed when we realize that TV is after all only a means of making money and perpetuating the status quo, but dressed up to appear as though it was addressing those higher ideals; i.e. a front drop. It seems to parody collective human nature where our civilized veneer is used to hide the ruthless animal underneath. TV HAS to address the alternative science community because of the Internet. If it fails to do so, it loses its power and credibility to pacify the public into believing TV is really a tool of enlightenment. So you get (some) credible people with valid (partial content) messages that are short-shrifted by editing into meaninglessness. The true academics and the metrics of academia, as the Good Doctor points out, are totally skipped. God, I am so cynical, but I am happy that the familiar faces are getting at least a little face time on the tube.



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