Do You Discover?

Recently The Boy has become a fascinated TV viewer. Sure, he will still try to catch SpongeBob SquarePants if left to his own devices, but most often lately, I have found his viewing habits leaning to the non-fiction section of the tube.

He has been very interested in The Discovery Channel & Animal Planet. Do you realize how many cool (and "educational", according to The Boy) shows are on these channels?

A couple evenings ago I sat with him while he was watching a show called "Dirty Jobs" where a guy, Mike Rowe, visits different places and learns about and then works with people who have really gross and/or dirty jobs. The episode The Boy and I saw involved first, olive oil production, and then a home delivery diaper service.

Mike Rowe makes this show. He is genuinely curious and interested. But gags a little too when the stench is overwhelming, just like the viewers. He is sarcastic and playful, especially with this little team of camera and sound guys. They are all in the gross stuff together and he includes them on camera too.

He also likes Mythbusters. The Boy was telling me about the episode that the Mythbusters tested the 'crash position' with an airplane seating section and dropped it from 30 feet up to see how the Crash Test Dummies were damaged. Too bad our Science Fair project isn't that cool!

On Animal Planet, The Discovery Channel's cousin station, both kids watched a show about mysterious porpoise deaths at Virginia Beach and the shores of Scotland. It was like CSI:MarineWorld. The kids were enthralled at what could possibly be killing the little creatures.

I guess if you look at the case I have made for Discovery Planet (and the associated stations) and took into consideration my love of PBS or BBC stuff, I guess I have no more leg to stand on when I say "There is nothing good on TV anymore." I might just need to Discover other viewing sites.