You call this archaeology?

A new series on the History Channel, Ice Road Truckers, debuted about a week ago. A description on the show's web site reads:

The History Channel embarks upon an unparalleled adventure revealing the virtually unknown occupation of ice road trucking, considered to be one of the world's most dangerous jobs. ICE ROAD TRUCKERS charts two months in the lives of six extraordinary men who haul vital supplies to diamond mines over frozen lakes that double as roads. The livelihood of many depends on these tenuous roads, which through the years have been responsible for the deaths of dozens of men.

Always prepared for the ice to give way under the weight of their trucks, these drivers put their lives and financial security of their families on the line in an exhilarating dash for cash. Beginning Sunday, June 17 at 10pm ET/PT, this adrenaline packed series reveals the raw, gripping quest of ice road truckers.

Ok. First of all, I can see maybe an episode or two about this particular profession, but an entire series? Are they so strapped for ideas that they need to stretch this out through a whole season?

Secondly - and much more importantly - this is the History Channel. Exactly what does "Ice Road Trucking" have to do with history? Wouldn't this be a program more appropriate for the Discovery Channel? Or the Travel Network? Or Fox?

And this isn't the first History Channel series to stray from the historical path. Though dubbed "the Hitler Channel" several years ago by critics who (justifiably) thought that there was too much WWII coverage, the History Channel nowadays would more appropriately be nicknamed "the Construction Channel". Shows such as Modern Marvels and Mega Movers (the producers of the History Channel seem to have a passion for alliteration with m's) focus on modern technology and large-scale construction, and have nothing to do with history. Unless one accepts the weak caveat that today's modernity is tomorrow's history, these shows deserve no place on the History Channel.

Shame on you, History Channel. Keep living in the past - it's where you belong!