Originally, cable networks like TLC and the Discovery Channel offered pay-TV subscribers genuinely educational programming; but over time, customers have been forced to pay for ever-more sexualized content – as two upcoming programs demonstrate.
On Monday, August 19
th, TLC – initials which once upon a time stood for “The Learning Channel,” before the network became home to programming like
Extreme Cougar Wives, My Teen Is Pregnant and So Am I, and, of course,
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo -- will show the special,
The Man With the 132 lb. Scrotum. The special follows one Wesley Warren Jr., who suffers from scrotal lymphedema, in his “difficulty with simple tasks like walking, preparing meals and even going to the restroom.”
Not to be outdone, Discovery’s so-called “Fit and Health Channel” will offer the four-part series
Secret Sex Lives: Swingers, which promotes the “open, healthy, and honest” relationships shared by sexually promiscuous couples. The show, which begins September 7
th, fits in well with the rest of the alleged “Fit and Health” channel’s other programming, which includes
Secretly Pregnant, I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant, and, unsurprisingly,
Shocking Family Secrets.
It is tragic that once-safe, family-friendly, and genuinely educational networks have chosen to turn into channels hosting freak shows and thinly-veiled pornography; but it is outrageous that every cable and satellite customer in America is forced to subsidize such programming every month with their subscription payments. Could there be a better argument for the right of pay-TV customers to pay for only those channels they want to watch?
To contact Discovery Communications (owners of TLC and Discovery Fit and Health),
click here.
