History

              I have regularly watched the History channel for a long time, but it was in the week leading up to Sons of Liberty that I really got hooked.  There were so many specials on the Revolutionary War that I felt I had done an in depth study on it for years.  The main special was a miniseries that was spread out for days.  It went into great detail about everything that happened, and I do mean everything.  The series even included people’s egos and how their greed or desire for notoriety affected the happenings of the war.  Another special was primarily about the Founding Fathers.  In some ways I found this show more interesting than the miniseries because it went behind the scenes and revealed the true natures of the Founding Fathers.  I must say that after this show I had to wonder why we honor some of these men as we do.  The reality of how they truly were was not pleasant.           

                After the specials there was the miniseries Sons of Liberty itself.  I was so excited when it aired.  Ever since I saw its promo during Houdini I have been looking forward to it.  This excitement might be why I was disappointed with the show at first.  For some reason I did not get into it until the last twenty minutes of the first segment.  After that I really enjoyed the storyline and it became what I had expected it to be.  I’ll admit, I sometimes mixed up who was who, but I enjoyed watching the relationships between the people and how with their efforts in the fight for independence began.  Unfortunately as I watched I did come across another disappointing part.  My favorite person died.  I shouldn’t be surprised by this as my favorite people always die, but at least this time the death is a historical fact so I couldn’t get too upset.

                Since I have watched History for so long, I have seen shows about much more than the Revolutionary War.  Some I have watched over and over again covering topics such as World War II, the Philosopher’s Stone, and The Da Vinci Code.  Those are very few of the topics.  History covers so many different subjects that it would take me forever to list them all and I know I would still be missing some.  This would happen with the show Modern Marvels all on its own.  Each episode has its own theme and it concentrates on several different items throughout the show.  The viewer is taken through the history of each item and how it was made.  While I am not interested in everything the show covers, there is a good percentage of it that I find absolutely fascinating. 

                Other than airing its own shows, History also holds marathons of shows that are usually only broadcast on the H2 channel.  This is one of my absolutely favorite things about History.  I do not have H2 and these marathons let me watch the shows that I find so interesting in the commercials.  This is how I have seen a huge amount of Ancient Aliens.  It is also how I have been able to see Brad Meltzer’s Decoded and Brad Meltzer’s Lost History.  I’ve seen the Decoded episodes many times because of these marathons but I have only seen the Lost History episodes once and I think I missed a couple.  I really hope History decides to have a Lost History marathon again.                        

                After watching so many of History’s specials and miniseries, I am curious to see what History is coming up with next.  We’re in a time where there are a lot of big anniversaries.  In recent years there has been Gettysburg, the March on Washington, the JFK assassination, and the start of World War I.  This year we have the end of the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  Those are the ones I can think of at the moment.  I’m sure there are others that History could cover.  Even if there isn’t, so many things have happened throughout time that History will never be short of topics, and I will be there to enjoy them.