TV worth watching

TV worth watching

• Posted by Judson Phillips on November 28, 2011 at 7:24am in Tea Party Nation Forum
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There is very little on TV that is worth watching.  In 1961, FCC Chairman Newton Minnow called television programming a “vast wasteland.”  Not much has changed.   From the reality TV freak shows to the mindless sitcoms, ninety five percent of TV can be ignored and it is no great loss.

However, there are a couple of things on TV that are worth watching, including one that is hidden on of all things a minor channel that is owned by NBC.

What is it?

It is a show called Bomb Patrol Afghanistan.

I discovered this show yesterday.   After watching my hometown Titans pull one out from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I flipped over to the other game, which was the Patriots against the Eagles.  That game quickly turned into a blow up and during the commercial breaks I started flipping around and came across Bomb Patrol Afghanistan.

After that, the football game was history.

Bomb Patrol Afghanistan is a reality TV show that centers on Navy EOD (explosive ordinance disposal) unit 342, which is in Afghanistan.  They are divided into two three-man teams and their mission is to go out into Afghanistan and disarm the various types of bombs the Taliban use against American forces.

The show follows the sailors as they are on their deployment to Afghanistan.  There are the funny moments, as the men play practical jokes on each other or blow off some steam by having robot races.   There are tense moments, such as when one of the teams discovers they have stopped their vehicle right on top of a large bomb and someone needs to figure out what to do about it before the bomb kills them.  There are moments that remind us the men are not just sailors but men with lives and homes.   At one moment, a grizzled Petty Officer talks about his blanket.  His father gave it to him and he has taken it on all four of his deployments.

Then there are the moments where the reality of war is brought home.  The sailors attend a memorial service for a fallen soldier as his body is sent on the final journey home.

Beneath all of that is the message through out the show.  We are the good guys and the Taliban are the bad guys.  

The fact that we have a TV show that shows total support for our guys over in Afghanistan is refreshing.  The fact that it is being shown on a network that is owned by NBC is almost shocking.

During World War 2, the entertainment industry supported the war effort.   However, since then Hollywood has given us a pretty steady stream of anti-American propaganda.   It is amazing, even ten years after 9/11 some in Hollywood still cheer for our enemies.

During World War 2, Frank Capra made an amazing series of films called, “Why We Fight.”  It explained to our soldiers and our nation why we were at war.    Bomb Patrol Afghanistan is no “Why We Fight,” but it is a powerful story of Americans serving their country.

I have always been amazed the George W. Bush did not try to get some of the few conservatives in Hollywood to make a version of “Why We Fight” after 9/11.  Perhaps if he had, we might have countered much of the liberal media and might have been able to win in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That opportunity is gone now.  The only film Barack Obama would make would be called, “Why we surrender.”

If you have a chance to catch Bomb Patrol Afghanistan, it is very much worth watching.

And for the men of Navy EOD Unit 342, well done.