John Kettler Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 Yes, you read that correctly. There was no spelling error. Military Channel is doing an all day tank marathon, and I thought some of you might like to know. Am expecting to see a variety of tanks, AFVs and periods covered. Please check your listings for what airs when. Those of you who like more primitive weaponry will want to watch Punkin Chunkin Thanksgiving on the Science Channel. There you can see onagers, trebuchets, springals and even giant air guns hurl carefully nurtured chunkin punkins to their epic ends. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted November 26, 2009 Author Share Posted November 26, 2009 I checked the listings, and it is indeed a mixed bag of Tank Overhaul episodes, Top Ten, Anatomy of the Abrams, Battle of Lang Vei, RSVN and more. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooz Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Yep, good shows! The Military Channel is my new favorite channel. If you liked the "Mail Call" series then you're in luck. The Gunny is entertaining--boo-yah! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 tooz, Glad you enjoyed them! I'd prefer a much broader menu, given the breadth and depth of subject matter available, than what the Military Channel usually consists of: top tens, best ofs, etc., but I fear that's from pandering to the lowest common denominator of viewers, young adrenalin junkies, hence the all too typical throbbing rock overdub while the narrator prats on, often, with the wrong thing displayed. That said, the channel does have some wonderful things, especially if you've never encountered them before. You can learn a lot from watching, but I recommend watching critically, for errors, misstatements and omissions abound. A basic military reference library will show the problem quickly. For example, there were no Tiger tanks at the time of the Blitzkrieg, nor long barreled Mark IVs when the invasion of Russia began. Likewise, Tiger terror wasn't first caused by the Tiger 2 tank. And if you believe the Mustang documentary, the P-51 Mustang was the first Allied fighter that could take the bombers to Berlin and back. Odd, then, how the P-47 thunderbolt did exactly that! What the Mustang could do, though, was range over the whole of Germany, not just to Berlin, which was the range limit on the Thunderbolt. This is what I mean by critical watching. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooz Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 "This is what I mean by critical watching."--John Kettler Yep, most of us here at this forum consider ourselves historians and consequently when we watch documentaries I believe we all do this. The many historical inaccuracies do not bother me much any more. You do get use to seeing long barrelled stugs in Blitzkrieg footage or see those same ol' King Tigers parading around when watching something on the battles of 44-45. To me this stuff still entertains and that is what tv is about IMO. As mentioned in another thread I definitely do not mind watching this footage IN COLOR! I hope the colorization of old war footage continues. In another vein, I am watching a lot of "Civil War Journal" and "Washington"s Generals" in addition to the afore mentioned Mail Call. I am hoping that a lot of the old series such as "The American Revolution" appear on this station some time in the future. The older series run in the past from the History Channel do have that broader menu, breadth and depth that we seek. All I have to know that watching this stuff is still fun. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 tooz, Points taken! You'd think, though, that a channel dedicated to military matters would work extra hard to get the at least basic grog stuff right. Not hard to do, but it does require a basic reference library, decent organizational skills and riding herd on those providing military docs for the network. Years ago, I wrote a detailed argument to the History Channel about this very matter, getting a pro forma non answer in response. Dumb! As for colorization, in recent years a considerable amount of footage originally shot in color has been rescued from archives and such and aired. Examples include the Stevens footage shot in Normandy. Also, the Germans shot a lot of color footage and stills during the war, as seen in some great stuff shot on the Seelowe Heights just before the drive on Berlin began. While I certainly agree that B&W is the norm, it's become increasingly apparent that quite a bit of original color film exists, even if most of us aren't familiar with it. It doesn't therefore necessarily follow that if it's in color, it's colorized. Love the series you listed and recommend you add Lock'n'Load for your viewing pleasure. Must admit some bafflement, though, regarding the episode called Blades. Doesn't fit the firearm motif! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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