Weekend "Ancient Aliens" Review Plans

1/25/2020

As many readers know, when I established my Tuesday-Saturday blog posting schedule many years ago, I did so to accommodate the broadcast of Ancient Aliens late Friday night. Over the years, Ancient Aliens has moved earlier on Fridays, but my schedule stayed the same. Now, Ancient Aliens is taking up residence in the television graveyard of Saturday following a year in which a third of its audience evaporated. However, I am not available to work Saturday nights, particularly now that the show is on late Saturday, past when I am too sleepy to write. I am not sure how my weekend schedule will work out. I plan to post a review sometime either later Sunday or Monday, but I am not entirely sure when I will have the time to write one. I will need to see how it goes.

36 Comments

Machala

1/25/2020 08:59:06 am

Jason, since these AA programs ( if you can even call them programs ) are simply rehashes of rehashing of the same old AA crap, why bother? Your readers already know what Gorgio et al are going to say and do. The programs no longer hold any interest for a viewing audience and your lengthy reviews, while interestingly written, no longer have the relevancy they once had.
Give yourself a break. Take Saturday's off. You have other more important projects and a family to look after.
Besides, this forum tends to descend in off-topic adolescent food fights and character assassinations which seems to be preferred by some, rather than a serious discussion of your blog topic.
Do people really care what drivel Ancient Aliens puts out anymore? I doubt it. Certainly, the ratings seem to suggest that they don't.

Jason Colavito link

1/25/2020 09:12:49 am

You might be surprised, but those reviews are some of my most-read blog posts, drawing readers who might not otherwise find my website except for searching for things they saw on Ancient Aliens.

Sybarite

1/25/2020 11:35:50 am

You can always watch these "on demand" at your leisure.

Votive

1/25/2020 12:58:59 pm

Well, Jason, seems like you are going all, "Little Johnny Paper" on AA.

So I suppose that makes AA "Puff".

Honahlee will be forgotten.

The end is nigh.

Bill

1/25/2020 01:27:04 pm

Ancient Aliens
The Mystery of Nan Madol
SEASON 15, EPISODE 1 • PREMIERE
10:00 PM ON HISTORY • TV-PG • STEREO • CC • DVS
Giorgio Tsoukalos and David Childress explore the mysterious chain of manmade islets in Micronesia's Nan Madol; built from 250 million tons of volcanic rock, there are local legends that strange visitors floated the massive rocks through the air.

I'll save you the trouble of reviewing. They come across as dumbasses, don't say anything worth repeating or remembering, and don't find any evidence :)

AMHC

1/25/2020 01:37:53 pm

Forgive me for asking Jason but honestly, is it possible that the schedule shift is indeed indirectly correlated to your schedule? Frankly, you do AS MUCH for their viewership as any of their regular contributors in my opinion. I'm not at all surprised to be told that the AA articles are some of the most popular. The average person without any research or academic understanding doesn't have the wherewithal to do their own research. Your ascerbic wit generates a good deal of amusement for your readership regardless and you remain alone in your critical reviews. I make a comment or two every few years about you carrying on with a conflict model of science and religion but that's also part of my own SUBJECTIVIST. I couldn't do what you (Jason) does. And while I think the public understands a little bit more than they are often given credit for, I have a nephew in High School. At some point he's probably watched AA and I would hate to think their is no counterpoint to their program available online. At least you stay between the ditches of Science and Religion. I asked why you didn't bring up how Perrenialism became discredited earlier this week on another post and I understand even as I whined, that it gets too close to where you've drawn a line about established religion. I wish the comments section here had a more coffee shop and Kool aid feel to it but that's not how you handle it. You already HAVE a child - you don't need more. I get it. I wish you luck with the new schedule. I do think a little reinvention would suit your blog at this time. The limits inherent in the modus operandi for your blog being all AA derived does imply a limited shelf life. What will do you do when the show stops running? It's a legitimate question and your books clearly speak to a broader view. Just Saying.

Just saying

1/25/2020 04:45:04 pm

What are you with all this highbrow syntax.

Who is AMHC

1/25/2020 04:57:29 pm

AMHC someone who knows about stuff like Perrenialism but doesn't; know that Exodus is all made-up fantasy.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_is_there_no_evidence_of_the_Exodus

Asked 12th Dec, 2017
Barry Turner
University of Lincoln

Why is there no evidence of the Exodus?

According to biblical scripture the Hebrews led by the patriarch Moses took his formerly enslaved people out of Egypt during the reign of Rameses II.

The history of Rameses is exceptionally well documented but there is scant evidence of any such event.

Further the scriptures tell us that Moses took his followers, numbering in the tens of thousands on a 40 year trek around what we today call the middle east.

No archeological evidence of any such diaspora has ever been found in any of the likely locations that this long event would have been situated and no historical documentation exists from any of the many different peoples that such an event would have affected.

Why is this?

Caanan, the alleged eventual destination of the Hebrews was under Egyptian control during this period so their arrival there would certainly have raised eyebrows among the Egyptian officials governing the province.

Everybody Likes A Good Story...

1/25/2020 05:03:48 pm

Christopher Booker, The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories (Bloomsbury Continuum, 2019)

AMHC

1/25/2020 10:15:11 pm

The social sciences in historiography are not a Doppelganger. What part of Perrenialism did YOU misunderstand?

Votive

1/25/2020 11:17:00 pm

"The social sciences in historiography are not a Doppelgänger."

Did you mean that as typed or did you mean "The social sciences 'and' historiography are not a Doppelgänger."?

AMHC

1/25/2020 11:50:51 pm

I'm not going that deep Votive. ImI not sure about your drift to read that far into it. What school of thought, what World Tree do you think you'll knock me out of? Too much subjectivity spoils the soup.

Votive

1/26/2020 12:03:16 am

Well, I came here to read, and I'm intrigued by your posts.

I'd agree either way as, typo or not, as long as historiographies and ethnographies remain at the service is both History and Sociology.

I tried bugging J about the platform, too, but I also enjoy the "Wild West" feel of what's allowed.

What sort of changes would you suggest?

Votive

1/26/2020 12:09:09 am

"I'm not going that deep Votive."

Also: Give me a break. Seriously. You already need a bathysphere at this point.

votive

1/26/2020 12:14:50 am

@EVERYBODY LIKES A GOOD STORY...

...and to shit yet trap:

The Role of the Theory-of-Mind Cortical Network in the Comprehension of Narratives:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2756681/#!po=0.381679

Perrenialism

1/26/2020 01:04:37 am

LOL
There's lots more rubbish where that came from and AMHC is one of those snooty "know-alls"

I agree

1/26/2020 01:07:29 am

Perrenialism is a load of shit
I mean, stuff like that, basing itself on concepts that are ultimately not historical but treated like historical - eg, the mythic "life of Jesus Christ"

Out of Egypt

1/26/2020 01:11:22 am

That Exodus is ultimately a Judeo religious fantasy is notable and important because the fantasy life of Jesus Christ as given in the gospels is partially modelled on Exodus. The writers of the Gospels used Exodus as a major channel and device in the mythmaking process of Christianity.
.

All rubbish

1/26/2020 01:25:55 am

Are we to debunk Perrenialism to champion that other major philosophical fantasy of Judeo-Christianity - that's no different to building churches on pagan shrines simply because Judeo-Christianity is just another man-made system of religious belief,
And who cares if it's monotheistic. Monotheistic because the Jews at one time were a nomadic tribe and later became a small indifferent nation.

Straight outta' aegypt

1/26/2020 01:28:28 am

Perennialism is our lot in life.

Blame the Moon.

Novelty is a joke.

Judea

1/26/2020 01:32:01 am

Yeah, conquered by the Babylonians that extinguished its original Kingship - later occupied by the Seleucid Kings and the Roman Empire - that was responsible for evolving its internal religion into what later became Christianity because of Jewish religious factions involving collaborations with the enemy. Christianity survived because it eventually went in league with Rome itself.

Straight 'outta Aegypt

1/26/2020 01:40:57 am

"Christianity survived because it eventually went in league with Rome itself."

No: Rome succeeded for a while because it eventually went in league with Christianity itself.

You think were idiots, don't you?

Judea

1/26/2020 01:51:47 am

Another strong Christian

Electric Leroy

1/26/2020 10:19:11 am

Is your anti-religious fervor based upon the fact that the underlying dogma is absurd and illogical on its face or is it more that organized religion has been an overwhelmingly destructive force in society?

AMHC

1/26/2020 10:38:21 am

All I'm saying is this peanut gallery of commentors is ADDICTED TO MODERNISM. You all can't level a criticism about Anything that doesn't attach Nihilism to Christianity. Exodus? Please get a life. Frankly, are is this blog over run by Alt Right Neo Nazi Satanists or just Enlightenment ideology? I cantc tell from the day to day interactions honestly whose in favor of humanity and whose just neurotic and projecting their own inner psychiatric problems onto the walls of this Cave....

AMHC

1/26/2020 10:40:24 am

At least the conversation is flowing on this post. That's an improvement.

Electric Leroy

1/25/2020 07:16:38 pm

I don’t get the logic. If they think that Jason’s reviews of AA somehow increase interest and viewership in the show, why would they move the show to a time when Jason is less likely to write in-depth reviews? How does that make the show’s time change “indirectly correlated” (as you put it) to Jason’s schedule? Assuming you’re right about Jason’s effect on the ratings, aren’t they in effect torpedoing their own program?

AMHC

1/25/2020 10:08:25 pm

I disagree, I don't think the company sees it that way. I mentioned the conflict model that dominates Jason's work as part and parcel of his own undoing. His personal Heroes journey aside from this blog, I think that Jasons contribution is in discussion. I think it serves the ends of a particular narrative structure frankly. IveI said before, and I'll say it one last time: in the Belle Epoque, it's arguable that a technique of SCANDAL was deployed to keep Avant Garde artists in the public eye. Personally, you all do a poor job in my opinion. Surely AA and Jason could pay you all more but given the dearth of creativity, the comments section still serves to deflect from any actual discussion about the ideology of Modernism. Jason simply does his job and recycles the trash. It's not glamorous but it seems to pay his bills?

Electric Leroy

1/25/2020 10:50:25 pm

Thank you for the explanation — I hereby pledge to attempt to steer future comment sections toward actual discussions about the ideology of Modernism. I’ll further try to do a better job of employing the SCANDAL technique.

Believe it or not - about AMHC

1/26/2020 01:38:29 am

Everything that AMHC is belly-aching about is no different to their favourite religion that itself is based on idealism and not on historical fact. Bring back the witch hunts and the burning of witches - that's what I say. Come back Matthew Hopkins. Blogs like this are the Witchfinder Generals Life Force.

Indeed

1/26/2020 02:10:09 am

Yes, there are so-called "sceptics" for religious reasons that regard all other forms of beliefs as "threats" to the Bible. Be wary of such people.

Hal

1/25/2020 11:18:15 pm

Few people understand that the majority of tv networks, all publishers, and all authors are controlled by this hate blog. Jason and his 50 daily views are so important.

votive

1/25/2020 11:32:21 pm

You're past your expiration date. You have been for awhile, but I'd say this thread marks the crossing of your own personal "Rubicon".

You, sir, are a dead parrot.

😊

Karm Mostabi

1/26/2020 01:48:32 am

He's just pining for the fjords.

Joe Scales

1/26/2020 09:53:37 am

Fewer people seem to understand that it's probably not a good idea leaving behind a digital footprint harassing someone you're threatening to sue.

Straight 'outta Aegypt

1/27/2020 02:28:12 am

"All I'm saying is this peanut gallery of commentors is ADDICTED TO MODERNISM. You all can't level a criticism about Anything that doesn't attach Nihilism to Christianity. Exodus? Please get a life. Frankly, are is this blog over run by Alt Right Neo Nazi Satanists or just Enlightenment ideology? I cantc tell from the day to day interactions honestly whose in favor of humanity and whose just neurotic and projecting their own inner psychiatric problems onto the walls of this Cave...."

It's the latter.

You just poured Beef Stroganoff over the whole thing, though.

Why so trigger-happy?

Now, how would Jason's digital digs look if you were to create them?