New History Channel Programming Debuting This Spring.
“Most Awesomely Bad Dictators…Ever.”
Join Drew Lee, Rob Levine and friends as they riff on all those dictators that were so bad they were really kinda good. About Pol Pot, Levine smirks, “I have a bad day, I go to sleep early; Pol Pot has a bad day, he executes 1,000 dissidents.” And when it comes to Stalin, Andy Pemberton sets his snark phaser on high: “The Great Purge we can forgive him for; the mustache, not so much.” And if the laugh-out-loud commentary wasn’t enough, we throw in a hot chick for the interstitials!
“Addicted to Painkillers: The Alfonse D’Amato Story.”
We all know the story of how a young Italian immigrant named Alfonse D’Amato stepped off a leaking barge onto the soil of Ellis Island, looked at the Statue of Liberty with a tear in his eye, and exclaimed, “Someday, I will be the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs!” But the really juicy stuff about D’Amato comes during his “Lost Period,” the seven years following his ousting from the Senate and preceding his comeback as an after-dinner speaker for the exclusive Harry Walker Agency. During this time, D’Amato was addicted to painkillers and made a pledge to watch every episode of Star Search ever produced. He accomplished his goal, but it cost him his marriage, his good name, and his mind!
“Blowin’ Shit Up.”
Shit getting blown up.
In 2005, we take programming about how bombs are made and used in military operations, which typically airs from 6 PM - 2 AM every night, to a whole new level. “Blowin’ Shit Up” is simply about blowin’ shit up. Literally. That’s it—all we do is show stalk footage of explosions. More often than not, these explosions are culled from the public archive of northern Nevada bomb testing footage as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger movies in which the actor plays a bionic man obsessed with blowin’ shit up. Leonard Nimoy narrates with a score by Kiss.
“Places Vaguely Connected with George Washington.”
When we first aired our hard-hitting series, “George Washington Slept Here,” critics were skeptical. “Who would watch a 10-part exposé on the places Washington slept?” Bill Braynard of the Baltimore Sun asked. “Next thing you know they’re going to do a show about the public toilets he used.” But viewer response was so overwhelmingly positive that we created a follow-up program dedicated entirely to other places vaguely connected with the great American president. Leonard Nimoy narrates this fascinating survey that takes the viewer on a magical journey from a street where Washington once had a flat tire to an abandoned lot where Washington once threw some gum when no one was looking.
The first installment focuses on Ernie’s Gas and Food, and the struggle its owner Ernie is having convincing the government that his store is a historical landmark. Ernie's Gas and Food is a convenience store located just outside of Trenton where Ernie claims the wooden-toothed one once bought an iPod mini.
“Great Hemingway Scholars of the 20th Century.”
In one of Gerald Robinson's wet dreams, he is this lion.
This series examines the lives of Hemingway scholars Johnson Wilcox and Gerald Robinson. An early season highlight is Wilcox’s harrowing, and seemingly endless, pontification about his sex-life. “If it weren’t for all the vicarious sex I was having through Hemingway, I…Oh, man,” Wilcox explains, suddenly realizing the futility of his own existence. Robinson touches on similar themes: “Even though I spent my 20s and 30s subsisting on lentils and rice in a hovel outside of North Adams, Massachusetts, it was all okay, because, you see, in my mind I was on the safari. With Hemingway.” The first show focuses on a tour of the suburban home where Wilcox continues to live in his parents’ basement. He is 48, and is waiting for them to pass away so that he can have the place all to himself.
“The First Annual History Channel Awards”
This plane is up for the History Channel Award for Best Male Lead.
Awards are given for such popular categories as best actor in a documentary about World War II planes, best director of a documentary about World War II planes, and greatest achievement in narration (usually a toss-up between Leonard Nimoy and Alec Baldwin). Held annually (starting now) at the Skokie VFW, until we can afford a bigger deposit.
Join Drew Lee, Rob Levine and friends as they riff on all those dictators that were so bad they were really kinda good. About Pol Pot, Levine smirks, “I have a bad day, I go to sleep early; Pol Pot has a bad day, he executes 1,000 dissidents.” And when it comes to Stalin, Andy Pemberton sets his snark phaser on high: “The Great Purge we can forgive him for; the mustache, not so much.” And if the laugh-out-loud commentary wasn’t enough, we throw in a hot chick for the interstitials!
“Addicted to Painkillers: The Alfonse D’Amato Story.”
We all know the story of how a young Italian immigrant named Alfonse D’Amato stepped off a leaking barge onto the soil of Ellis Island, looked at the Statue of Liberty with a tear in his eye, and exclaimed, “Someday, I will be the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs!” But the really juicy stuff about D’Amato comes during his “Lost Period,” the seven years following his ousting from the Senate and preceding his comeback as an after-dinner speaker for the exclusive Harry Walker Agency. During this time, D’Amato was addicted to painkillers and made a pledge to watch every episode of Star Search ever produced. He accomplished his goal, but it cost him his marriage, his good name, and his mind!
“Blowin’ Shit Up.”
Shit getting blown up.
In 2005, we take programming about how bombs are made and used in military operations, which typically airs from 6 PM - 2 AM every night, to a whole new level. “Blowin’ Shit Up” is simply about blowin’ shit up. Literally. That’s it—all we do is show stalk footage of explosions. More often than not, these explosions are culled from the public archive of northern Nevada bomb testing footage as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger movies in which the actor plays a bionic man obsessed with blowin’ shit up. Leonard Nimoy narrates with a score by Kiss.
“Places Vaguely Connected with George Washington.”
When we first aired our hard-hitting series, “George Washington Slept Here,” critics were skeptical. “Who would watch a 10-part exposé on the places Washington slept?” Bill Braynard of the Baltimore Sun asked. “Next thing you know they’re going to do a show about the public toilets he used.” But viewer response was so overwhelmingly positive that we created a follow-up program dedicated entirely to other places vaguely connected with the great American president. Leonard Nimoy narrates this fascinating survey that takes the viewer on a magical journey from a street where Washington once had a flat tire to an abandoned lot where Washington once threw some gum when no one was looking.
The first installment focuses on Ernie’s Gas and Food, and the struggle its owner Ernie is having convincing the government that his store is a historical landmark. Ernie's Gas and Food is a convenience store located just outside of Trenton where Ernie claims the wooden-toothed one once bought an iPod mini.
“Great Hemingway Scholars of the 20th Century.”
In one of Gerald Robinson's wet dreams, he is this lion.
This series examines the lives of Hemingway scholars Johnson Wilcox and Gerald Robinson. An early season highlight is Wilcox’s harrowing, and seemingly endless, pontification about his sex-life. “If it weren’t for all the vicarious sex I was having through Hemingway, I…Oh, man,” Wilcox explains, suddenly realizing the futility of his own existence. Robinson touches on similar themes: “Even though I spent my 20s and 30s subsisting on lentils and rice in a hovel outside of North Adams, Massachusetts, it was all okay, because, you see, in my mind I was on the safari. With Hemingway.” The first show focuses on a tour of the suburban home where Wilcox continues to live in his parents’ basement. He is 48, and is waiting for them to pass away so that he can have the place all to himself.
“The First Annual History Channel Awards”
This plane is up for the History Channel Award for Best Male Lead.
Awards are given for such popular categories as best actor in a documentary about World War II planes, best director of a documentary about World War II planes, and greatest achievement in narration (usually a toss-up between Leonard Nimoy and Alec Baldwin). Held annually (starting now) at the Skokie VFW, until we can afford a bigger deposit.
posted by Fonzy Mann-Johnson at 12:24 AM
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