What's going on with the travel channel?
 

The travel channel use to be great. Yesterday I saw a supposed program about Minnesota, hosted by Jesse Ventura. What a joke. It was an hour long infomercial (probably payed for by the Mpls. Visitors & Convention Bureau) about tourist traps in the Twin Cities. It was laughable. They spent ten minutes talking about a doopy restuarant with a ghost named Magie. WHAT? Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes, and vast forests!

I remember great shows like Lonely Planet. Maybe they should rename the Travel Channel to the Travel Infomercial Channel.

Yes, now it's getting to be "pay to play" on the Travel Channel.
Notice how many Las Vegas "infomercials" there are now?
TC should be paying US to watch it.

It sucks. Home & Leisure and the National Geographic Channel are much better travel channels than the Travel Channel, unless you just can't live without the traveling Poker tournament show or World's Best: Dangerous Animals.

I have noticed the same thing...use to love to watch and get great ideas...what's up that reality tv show they have...pack and whatever it's called... it's been disappointing...almost emailed them about it....and enough with vegas...it sells itself enough... I loved lonely planet..another cable channel now plays reruns that i catch every now and then...can't remember which one??

this poker tournament phenom has be baffled

It is so incredibly irritating......I get sick of seeing poker tours and shows on things like haunted hotels and cities that have the best doughnuts...Im starting to wonder if they are ever going to have anything on luxury travel.......

Here in Phoenix, Lonely Planet has been renamed Globetrekker and is shown on PBS. I would imagine this is done on other PBS stations in other parts of the country. I seem to remember they have a website www.globetrekker.com. And while I agree all the Vegas stuff on the Travel Channel is a bit much, they gotta go w/ what pays the bills. As a frequent poker player I can't thank them enough for the World Poker Tour - It has people with no idea what they are doing showing up in casinos/online and throwing their money away.

Try Fine Living -- sometimes they have some fairly good programming.

the website is actually www.globetrekkertv.com

This subject comes up about once a year.

That annoying Samantha Brown has yet to be eliminated however the impressive Amazing Destinations is nowhere to be found.

The assinine poker tourny is still going strong. It is like watching paint dry. Those people look like they've never been outside to see the light of day. Does the public really lust after watching a bunch of vampires play poker around the globe?

Any decent programming is long gone. Maybe someone told The Travel Channel their target domographic was a bunch of mindless idiots.

I've got a riveting show for them, how about Top Ten Haunted Coasters in Vegas?

I've always hated it...it's Discover Channel leftovers warmed-over

Thanks for the laugh, GoTravel. My thoughts exactly. :)))

Lonely Planet and Globe Trekker are also aired under the name Pilot Guides. I believe that is the nameof the production company also. (Pilot Guides Productions)

Here in L.A., it's always been one long infomercial unless your big priority in life is Vegas. And it's devoted solely to U.S. destinations, as if the rest of the world did not exist.

I'm with Bonesaz, thank god for the world Poker Tour!!!!! keep those fish a comin!!!!!!

I happen to love Samantha Brown but it's about the only show that I'll watch on that channel.

What's with all the ghost stories??

Yeah, it used to be fairly interesting, but now I hardly even ever bother to check to see if there's anything I want to watch (it happens so rarely). Pretty much fallen by the wayside and off my radar now.

Ken

I know what you all mean. I'm sick of the Poker Tournament. Maybe Vegas is paying big bucks to the Travel Channel for running there shows. I thought I heard from someone that the cable network is suppose to be eventually having a Vegas channel. I also like Samantha Brown. She just needs to do some more recent (Great Hotels) episodes. I'm tired of seeing the reruns.

I'm so lucky that I get to see 2 seconds of each 100 stations during every commercial break. Yes, I have remote envy. I usually just read.