TLC's Livin' for the Apocalypse

[monkeylizard]

Show aired tonight. I don't think it's a series.

Replaying at the following times (central):

8/28 11:00p

9/1 6:00p

9/2 1:00a

Umm.... interesting.

[Guest lowjohn19]

I watched this. I am bothered, but not surprised at the portrayal of the propping community. The show seemed more like a trip to the circus than anything educational or informative. I did enjoy "Survival Doc"'s segment though.

[Guest Bronker]

They made every attempt they could muster to fanaticize and radicalize the concept. Even the title sequence reminded me of a spoof.

[zapfbroad]

The guy with the tilapia pond was featured on the equally bad nat geo special called doomsday preppers. I'm disappointed that they portray extremists but I think the nat geo was slightly less biased as tlc appears to have gone out of their way to find freaks :-(

via EPIC4G SRF1.1.0 by Android Creative Syndicate

[monkeylizard]

That's the new TLC way. Hoarders, Intervention, now this. They used to be a good solid competitor to the Discovery Channel back when both of them ran good documentary shows. TLC tended more towards medical documentaries, but in the past few years, they've fallen into sensationalism and a constant parade of freak shows meant for us to point and laugh. It's sad that they think this is what people want to see. Even worse is that it probably is. Discovery is going the same way with their not-so-reality shows, but TLC is one step away from being a tabloid.

[monkeylizard]

The first couple had it together. Didn't seem overly "crazy" and had a multi-tiered plan. Very organized. Certainly focused on EOTWAWKI scenarios. They came off looking a bit paranoid, but prepared. I'd say they could make non-preppers rethink a few things, and make most preppers jealous.

Survival Doc seemed to be a mix of EOTWAWKI prppeing and a little off the grid living mixed in with some paranoia. His appeal is limited to like-minded people. The best FAIL of the show was that he said he didn't want to use his real name on the show, then when his patient arrived, you can see his name and the name of his practice clearly on a sign behind them. oops.

The pool people were more of just off the grid living (gas masks/chem suits aside). That setup is great for sustainable independent living, but I suspect that it would probably get trashed/looted quickly in a neighborhood during SHTF. Some of their ideas could get some of the sustainable living people thinking up some new ideas though. Not a bad feature at all. It shows what can be accomplished in your own backyard if you're willing to learn and get dirty. Those things pay benefits now, not just if their fears are realized.

TLC had to have it, so they saved the super-looney-drank-the-Kool-Aid-call-the-men-in-white-coats-makes-Tyler-Durden-look-normal crazies for last. And boy did it deliver. The pool people showed their home canned items and said you have to be really careful about it and get the rings locked down tight and that she never cans meat. Then the last people have "chicken sausage" and "beef heart" in half-filled jars with no locking rings at all sitting on a wicker shelf in the bathroom. DOH! I loved that 1 of their 2 small bottles of liquor stored for bartering or as an antiseptic was already half empty.

[RobertNashville]

I find it somewhat amazing...well, maybe more troubling than amazing...that such common sense concepts as being prepared for emergencies (stored food, water, plans to bug out if necessary, etc) is somehow "extreme".

Perhaps it's just the natural progression of the train of thought that the "government" is supposed to take car of you no matter what happens???

[monkeylizard]

I don't know that being prepared for a normal emergency is considered extreme, but when being prepared for an emergency consists of a storm shelter/root cellar at home, and a stocked up bomb shelter at work with sleeping quarters for the whole extended family, and a bug out camp in the mountains (not to mention farming tilapia in the backyard swimming pool), it's not really what a typical person is doing to prepare for a normal emergency. I'm not saying I wouldn't like some of those setups myself, but it certainly is extreme. Not as extreme as say buying a surplus ICBM silo and going ahead and moving in, but extreme nonetheless.

The show didn't exactly feature people with 25-50 gallons of water, a few cases of MREs, a small genny, and spare batteries for their flashlight. They found some people preparing for the end of society, not for a week without power after a storm. That's not what most people do and is therefore by definition "extreme". Unless they turn out to be right, then they're just smart.

One of the nice things about the "green" movement is that sustainability and self-sufficiency will become more and more feasible for a lot of folks as that technology develops, prices drop, and installation becomes more standardized. Whether one sets up, say, a solar array with some yet-to-be-developed advanced battery storage becaue they think it's good for Mother Earth or because they think the zombehs are coming, or they're just cheap and tired of paying electric bills, the tech's all the same. Then being self sufficient isn't extreme. It becomes the new normal. Popular Science ran an article several months ago about a commune out west with a pretty even mix of survivalist/armageddon folks, and tree-hugging dirt people. They all had different reasons for being there, but got along great because they were all doing the same things and helping one another get better at it, just for different reasons. It would make a very interesting case study in human sociology.

Edited August 29, 2011 by monkeylizard

[RobertNashville]

I admit, some "survivalists" ARE extreme...I suppose my point was that media (in this case TLC) seems to be going out of it's way to mostly find just those folks that are on the edge.

Most of us who are concerned about preparedness, even really serious social breakdown are really just doing what folks like my parents and grandparents did as a matter of daily life...I can't remember a time growing up when we didn't have a 1 acre garden in our backyard and many months worth of canned goods and food we canned ourselves. We know how and did hunt and fish. We didn't think of it as disaster preparation...it was, as you say, "normal"; at least in the part of the country I grew up in.

A lot of America today seems to think that being prepared means getting to the closest Kroger before the store shelves have been cleaned out.

[monkeylizard]

I admit, some "survivalists" ARE extreme...I suppose my point was that media (in this case TLC) seems to be going out of it's way to mostly find just those folks that are on the edge.

True. They could have done something more measured with experts from places like FEMA or the CDC showing how to build a "normal" emergency prep kit and focused on different items need depending on geography. They could have even featured people who had survived disasters using their kits after hurricanes, tornados, floods, etc. But that would look like a big giant turd in the ratings lists next to Jackie and Gidget and their little dog.

[Caster]

I admit, some "survivalists" ARE extreme..

Ouch! You stepped on my toe.

[Guest Bronker]

True. They could have done something more measured with experts from places like FEMA or the CDC showing how to build a "normal" emergency prep kit and focused on different items need depending on geography. They could have even featured people who had survived disasters using their kits after hurricanes, tornados, floods, etc. But that would look like a big giant turd in the ratings lists next to Jackie and Gidget and their little dog.

Well the .gov doesn't want to give the impression that they are inept at handling such a disaster, and that they are also willfully / intentionally driving the country towards such an event.

Here's a sneak peek at the 'drivers'

[monkeylizard]

yep...that's the big giant turd I was talking about.