Travel Channel

[Zippa D Doodah]

I wish they would limit the porker shows!

What... you mean they have shows about pigs on there now?! I hate those too!

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

 

[funhouse8]

What... you mean they have shows about pigs on there now?! I hate those too!

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

Thanks OK. It is prtty funny, I'm going to fix that little problem right now.

 

[Jimbo]

It's Saturday morning, and they are showing another haunted house show, followed by another poker show. I watched about half of the haunted house one, and it took place entirely in the dark, using night vision cameras.

If that's a travel program, so is poker. At least they showed a shot of the Vegas strip during the poker show.

 

[pjlla]

Count me in as another person who is a bit disappointed with the primetime line up on the Travel Channel lately. But I agree with the person who TIVO's the good stuff. If there is something good on during the day (which there usually is) I can TIVO it if I am not going to be home. I love Samantha Brown's "Great Hotels" (although I am a bit tired of seeing the same hotels.... how about some new ones??) and I love her Passport to Europe show (I live vicariously through her!). Epicurious doesn't belong there.... it belongs on the Food Network. And I won't even mention my opinion on the "Haunted Travel" shows or the World Poker Tour.... suffice to say I won't waste my electricity.

I would love to see more about traveling in the U.S. (including WDW and DL of course).

I have been looking for repeats of all of the great Disney specials since my DVR (Tivo type thing) crashed twice recently and I lost HOURS of Disney special I had saved. ...................P

 

[OhMari]

If the WB and UPN channel are having problems and merging, I am sure some cable channels are having problems. I just saw on the news that cable tv and the internet through cable prices will be sky rocketing. I'll dump by cable tv before I get rid of my cable internet.

 

[JerseyJanice]

ITA that the amount of World Poker Tour and haunted stuff is way too much lately. And I could do without seeing anything about trucks and cars.

I suspect that actual travel programming costs a lot of money to produce. One would think that resorts would line up and throw in a bunch of comps to attract filming. It has to be great advertising to have your resort on the Travel Channel, but I guess the costs of transporting all the technical help make it expensive to produce.

Besides, how much can it cost to shoot footage for the World Poker Tour? I'm thinking it's a lot less than sending Samantha Brown (whose shows I adore) all over the world and filming that.

 

[Dan Murphy]

.....Besides, how much can it cost to shoot footage for the World Poker Tour?......

LOL, not too much, maybe the pot of one good hand.

 

[MinnyGranny62]

I used to love the Travel show where I could travel without leaving
my house. Go places where I will never go and learn about them.
Hopefully they will make more TRAVEL shows. Love Sam Brown.

 

[jonestavern]

We do like Samantha Brown. I think the Disney shows could all stand some updating & greater exploration-also like Cash Peters & John Ratzenberger.
all the poker shows--I grab the clicker. I do like the haunting shows, but most of them belong on another channnel, although DH & DS17 plan on staying at one of the houses featured on one of those programs--
wish they'd get some more travel hosts. Could use a variety of approaches, everything from Rick Steeves, Rudy Maxxa to a Paul Theroux or Lonely Planet take on things.
does Fodor's/AAA/Family Fun/Unofficial Guide one of those produce travel shows? How about the couple who wrote Road Food?
Basically, I think they're blowing a good thing here--

Jean

 

[Jimbo]

Besides, how much can it cost to shoot footage for the World Poker Tour? I'm thinking it's a lot less than sending Samantha Brown (whose shows I adore) all over the world and filming that.

The show doesn't even put up a cent of the prize money; it all comes out of the players' entry fees. It's a pretty sweet deal for the producers.

I agree that the resorts should consider paying for production costs. In return, they could have "final cut" over the content. It wouldn't be impartial, and I wouldn't care. I just want to fantasize.

 

[Jimbo]

wish they'd get some more travel hosts. Could use a variety of approaches, everything from Rick Steeves, Rudy Maxxa to a Paul Theroux or Lonely Planet take on things. Jean

Years ago, Lonely Planet used to have a regular show on the Travel Channel, and it was pretty good. There was a little New Zealander named Ian that used to travel around, and he was entertaining.

At that same time they had a kind of magazine show that was hosted by Peter Greenberg. Greenberg now shows up for segments on the Today Show and some others. I didn't like him (too pompous), but the show was pretty informative.

Those were the days.

 

[JoeEpcotRocks]

I've been complaining about the same thing. There's way too much Vegas, poker, and haunted stuff. How about some variety?

Indeed. I liked it when they had the poker at first, but now they have way to many re-runs.

I never did like the haunted stuff -- it seems so nonsensical.

 

[Poohbear123]

On what channel I am watching. They have WAY too many food info on the Travel Channel--they need to put all that on the FOOD network! As far as Poker, that will be a NO--have a Poker Channel for craps sake! I don't even SEE Samantha Brown anymore she is on at such odd times.

 

[JoeEpcotRocks]

On what channel I am watching. They have WAY too many food info on the Travel Channel--they need to put all that on the FOOD network! As far as Poker, that will be a NO--have a Poker Channel for craps sake! I don't even SEE Samantha Brown anymore she is on at such odd times.

I second the motion for more Samantha Brown.

 

[SeattleRedBear]

I would love to see more about traveling in the U.S. (including WDW and DL of course).

I have been looking for repeats of all of the great Disney specials since my DVR (Tivo type thing) crashed twice recently and I lost HOURS of Disney special I had saved. ...................P

Completely in agreement. I would be really pissed if our Tivo crashed. Once you have it, you realize how great it is. Funny thing was our service went wheels up for about a week (the machine was fine, but something went wrong with the service) and when I called the tivo folks, i got this enthusiastic young man (nerd) on the call. When I informed him we hadn't had service for a week, the response (honest to god) was: "Oh, my gawd. How could you live without it for a week? What did you do? I can't live without it for one day."

OK, buddy. you're a great service rep but it's time for you to get a life.

 

[Planogirl]

I do agree that the haunted shows from England really belong on SciFi or somewhere like that. Weird Travels started the haunted thing and it did so well that the Travel Channel probably just got a bit carried away.

The poker shows are bleh but I've heard that the ratings are quite high for these shows. Unfortunately, the TC is going to show what gets the best ratings.

 

[Jimbo]

The Travel Channel showed a couple of good new shows this week, so maybe there's hope. Well, they were new to me any way.

One was a show where the TC sent a family of 5 on a road trip to San Diego, but the catch was that the kids had to make all of the decisions, including picking out a hotel, planning how to get there, managing the money and doing all the packing. It wasn't a great show, but kind of fun. The little boy packed 5 pairs of pants, but no underwear. And when the mother opened her suitcase, she found no blouses, just swimming suit tops.

Then I watched a real good show last night where Tracy Gallagher took her family (DH, 2 real little kids) to Hong Kong, a place I've always wanted to visit. That was a real travel show; you got to learn a lot about Hong Kong and also learn about how to take a trip like that with kids. on this show!

Of course, there was a poker show before and after it. And they showed a 5 year old "Best Waterparks" show the day before, where they said "Disney's River Country is still going strong."

Still, if they just throw in an occasional show like the Hong Kong one they'll redeem themselves. A little.