Twenty or thirty repetitions per episode of the same set of footage loops? 30% of the presentation is in slow motion? Historically inaccurate? Lightweight skim over of the main events with major omissions? Overly dramatic voice-over complete with soaring musical score more appropriate to a Steven Spielberg weepy?, Repeating the same information after every ad break as if your audience have attention deficit disorder? Yep, you got it! Its a new 'documentary' series from The National Geographic Channel (or to be fair, The History Channel, The Discovery Channel or any number of other purveyors of this lightweight rubbish) This pure filler style of producing a commercial hour of television reminds me that CNN used to produce news and was a really good thing when it started. These channels I have mentioned are now in CNN territory in that they USED to be a good thing but now are ripe for someone else to come along and do it properly. Come on Ken Burns, the world needs KBC (The Ken Burns channel) to ensure that the truth gets told and history is recounted accurately for fear that this 'American Genius' type of rubbish becomes the only record that growing minds get the chance to see!
