Hot take: The Discovery Channel went downhill way before MythBusters ended

Everyone always blames the 2010s for ruining cable documentaries, but I noticed something watching old recordings from 2001. The channel started straying from nature and science around 2003 with too many survival shows and paranormal stuff. I dug out a 1998 VHS of 'The Science of the Deep Sea' and compared it to a 2004 episode about ghost hunting and the difference is huge. Am I the only one who sees that slide starting earlier than people claim?

2 comments

2 Comments

mia521mo ago

You kidding? I remember watching a show in like 2003 where some guy tried to survive for a week eating nothing but roadkill and wild berries he found in a dumpster. My VHS copy of "The Universe" from 2002 feels like a completely different channel compared to that mess. The slide was real and I was too busy taping MythBusters on a fuzzy antenna signal to notice.

skyler_adams1mo ago

Wait, wasn't that the show where the guy literally tried to filter his own urine through a sock? I swear I caught a clip of that once, and it still haunts me. @mia52, you're totally right about The Universe being a whole different vibe than the dumpster-diving stuff. I think the real kicker for me was when I realized their 'science' segments started squeezing in more conspiracy theories than actual data. No offense to anyone, but arguing about Bigfoot's diet in 2005 felt like a far cry from dissecting coral reefs in '99. Your mileage may vary, but I'd rather watch a static-y tape of deep-sea trenches than whatever that survival junk was.