United Stats of America

Much of what I do is based upon stats, and knowing them at my fingertips.  For example, 10% of appendicitis has a normal white count, and 50% of auto accidents have alcohol involved.  Or a running joke in medicine is that 85% of statistics are made up on the spot.  Anyway, I think you get the point.

A new show on the History Channel is the United Stats of America.  The idea is to come up with a question, and then get some opinions from folks on the street, and then to build an episode around what the real stats are on the item in question.



So the episode I watched had them asking what was the most likely way to die.  I am thinking c'mon, this is really too basic, and found myself yelling "HEART DISEASE" at my TV set.  For some reason, these ninkompoops that they found on the street came up with aircraft crashes, and snake bites.  Seriously, this was a serious time for the producers to do some Hollywood magic, better known as editing, and find someone with some answers on the roadmap somewhere.

Nope, instead, this launches into a snake bite expert, and 15 minutes of trying to get a nonpoisonous snake into a bucket to reach the punchline that only 5 to 6 Americans die of snake bites each year.  And don't get me started with the bit on showing that planes have "extra engines" so they can still fly if one breaks down midair.

In the end, this show is a symptom of the disease that The History Channel does not want to cover historical topics anymore, and wishes to become Discovery 2.  The United Stats of America is not worth watching.

Overall Grade: F

Jonas