History TV

     If you're like me, you've been disappointed by the History Channel for several years. Channel bigwigs apparently decided ratings were more important than history and flooded their programming with staged show Pawn Shop and American Pickers. Granted, those shows can be entertaining, but they broke down the door, and viewers were subjected to Gator People, Ancient Aliens, car restoration shows, and even butchery and metal working competition shows. The History Channel lost me for years. Believe it or not, history seems to be making a bit of a comeback. There are some interesting shows for history buffs now.

    First on the History Channel, two shows are returning with new seasons. Food That Built America is a show that kind of follows the Men Who Built America  model. The show uses expert talking heads and dramatic re-creations to tell the story of America's favorite foods and restaurants. The chocolate episode tells the story of America's biggest chocolate makers, Hershey, Reese, and Curtiss. The second episode is about the creation of fast food pizza and the pizza war between Pizza Hut and Domino's. ( https://www.history.com/shows/the-food-that-built-america )

    The new season of Modern Marvels focuses on iconic foods also, revealing the engineering behind the mass production.

    The Smithsonian Channel is back with new episodes of America's Hidden Stories. These documentaries provide exactly what the title promises, stories behind American history that

many people haven't heard. So far this season, there have been episodes on New England vampire killers, spy rings operating at Pearl Harbor leading up to the attack, and a 1980s U.S. cyber attack on the Soviet Union.

    I've only seen the first episode of my last recommendation, because, unfortunately, it's on Discovery+, and I am resisting signing up for services as long as I can. It's Six Degrees With Mike Rowe, I love everything Mike Rowe does, and if you know Mike Rowe, you know he's got a bit of a history bug. Six Degrees  is reminiscent of the classic British documentary series and books produced by James Burke, like Connections and The Day the Universe Changed.  Rowe's has called the show a "love letter to his dad", a retired history teacher. In the show, he takes seemingly disparate events and connects them with his trademark clever wit. I definitely want to watch the whole series.