Does EWTN Help or Hurt?

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I saw Mother Angelica on the broadcast of the TLM mass special in Sept. and she was a lert it seemed not able to see a lot of her.
Many of her rosary prayers are from a couple years ago and she is still inspirational to watch and pray with her and I watch some of the older shows when she was young, so much spunk.

I kind of wish there were more shows like a cooking show or a play acting show with young people, like with skits.

I like the tour shows that show the countrys of the saints, where they wer from and once in awhile you will see a movie of old.

I like to see gardens too and that would be a special treat to see some pics of the Holy Land.

If they could have more guest authors then we could hear them speak of their book and get an idea how their walk is in their Catholic faith.

I don’t think EWTN hurts any one.
Do you think a good soap would help.
D.
 
Personally, I love EWTN. Watching Mother Angelica Live is what brought me back to the Church! I was flipping through the channels and stumbled upon her show. Since then, I’ve been hooked! Those shows on the Christian networks seem fake to me. That’s just my opinion.
 
jmcrae said:
I think I just figured it out.

Jay Ingram (Discovery.ca) talks to the camera. (To me, in a sense.)

The speakers on EWTN speak to their little cliques in the studio audience, and often have their backs to the camera. They call people I’ve never heard of familiarly by their first name without ever mentioning who these people are, and it’s often hard to know who the main speaker of the show is, other than his or her name. (If I am randomly flipping channels, and I start to watch Father Corapi, nobody ever explains who Father Corapi is, and half the time he’s got his back to the camera, making small talk and laughing at inside jokes with “Billy and Jane,” whoever the heck they may be.)

Jay Ingram on Discovery.ca (which doesn’t appear to have any bigger of a budget than Father Corapi’s show) introduces himself and his co-hosts and guests on every single show - he never assumes that we know who they are, or even who he is - and he never makes side-talk with any of the guests on camera, without also including the camera in the conversation as a silent observer - he addresses the camera as “you” and if one of the guests makes an “inside” joke, he explains it to the camera - he’ll look at the camera and say (for example), “Oh, you may not remember that time when Sally here exploded a vat of whipped cream on our guest scientist - that was - when, Sally, last season some time?” And she’ll say, “Yes, Jay, I think it was in Episode Four. Did we get that on tape?” And Jay will usually say, “Well, if we have time at the end of the show, we might show a bit of that tape, but right now we need to get on with our next segment …” and off they go.
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I’ve never seen anything like what you’re describing on Fr Corapi’s show or any other show on EWTN. Are you sure you were tuned in to the right station?
 
dessert said:
I saw Mother Angelica on the broadcast of the TLM mass special in Sept. and she was a lert it seemed not able to see a lot of her.
Many of her rosary prayers are from a couple years ago and she is still inspirational to watch and pray with her and I watch some of the older shows when she was young, so much spunk.

I kind of wish there were more shows like a cooking show or a play acting show with young people, like with skits.

I like the tour shows that show the countrys of the saints, where they wer from and once in awhile you will see a movie of old.

I like to see gardens too and that would be a special treat to see some pics of the Holy Land.

If they could have more guest authors then we could hear them speak of their book and get an idea how their walk is in their Catholic faith.

I don’t think EWTN hurts any one.
Do you think a good soap would help.
D.
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What about a Catholic reality show, maybe modelled (loosely) on the “Real World.” I would like to see that.
 
Janet_S said:
What about a Catholic reality show, maybe modelled (loosely) on the “Real World.” I would like to see that.
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Yes like a real funeral or baptism mass and used to the review of the sacraments, maybe a wedding, what is important, because some Catholics don’t even know what it means having a baby baptised in the church or people could come on and tell their life as a real godmother or godfather and walk through the years like the things that went well and wrong and what they could advise otheres to do.

Maybe a game show that could be fashioned after some of our clubhouse games not really getting into prizes but just to watch or even a good debate team show that would show some of the stuff we do here like debate with a JW and it could end with a vote as to who was the best debater or challanges for the next debate.

A lady at one of our parishes and her husband run a very good premarriage program in thier parish.
she was telling me about it at one of our spirit club meetings that we from all the aprishes get together and fellowship sahre a meal and speaker or fun trip.

She said that they get together with the couples and give them a list of 25 questions to ask each of them how they answer and honestly, at the next meeting.
It isn’t whether they are right or wrong but tell the truth so your partner knows how you really feel.
Example; is why are you getting married?
Example; How many children do you want to have and be honest.
What do you think of divorce?
And they led them through the questions not telling them they were right or wrong but to get them to know that they may not know their partner is not thinking the same as them.
She had some real good insights.
I think this is why the Journey home is so popular, the insight.
What other ideas do you have?
D.
 
Janet_S said:
What about a Catholic reality show, maybe modelled (loosely) on the “Real World.” I would like to see that.
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I see you are a book club member that would also be a good thing like Opra does discuss a book club that we could participate in.
 
Janet_S said:
I’ve never seen anything like what you’re describing on Fr Corapi’s show or any other show on EWTN. Are you sure you were tuned in to the right station?
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Yes. I’ve forgotten what the subject was, but Father Corapi was giving a “talking head” speech, with a studio audience present. He would often step away from the platform and interact with studio audience members, as though he were giving a private lecture to a class of students, instead of making a TV show.

My feeling was that someone had put the camera into the room as an afterthought, and that either he wasn’t aware that the camera was there, or he chose to ignore it, but there was a real sense of cliquey “we’re all pals together, and you’re not” kind of a feeling to it.

That’s just my own purely subjective response to it, but it’s because of that feeling of “you’re not really included - you’re just the camera in the corner” kind of a feeling that I think was what caused me to feel bored while watching it, and also the reason why I wouldn’t want my husband ever to watch it - because he is very sensitive about whether he is being included, or not - even when people at my parish have treated him rudely sometimes, he says, “My ‘I’m Protestant’ sign is flashing again, isn’t it?”

So I wouldn’t want him to watch a show that makes me feel like that.
 
About Father Corapi’s show. They were done in Churches,
parish halls, auditoriums and not made for TV. Hence the
bad production.
When I got cable it was because of my frustration with the
alphabet channel’s news shows and I wanted to watch Fox
Cable to at least occasionally get the whole story. The
other more important reason was to watch EWTN. Yes,
some of the shows are boring and I do leave them on as
I go about doing other things around the house, but I watched
so many Journeys Home that so inspired me and that I found
so interesting that I would keep the cable just because of it.
It’s just so hard to compare it to any other type of programming.
When I read “Mother Angelica” by Raymond Arroyo, I learned
to appreciate her more. Life on the Rock is another of my
favorites because they interview some famous people that our
young people find “cool” Whenever there is a live call in show,
especially on The Journey Home, at least one or two people
call in who have converted (from watching) or who are on the
journey. I say that alone puts it in the “help” column.
I have a friend (non-catholic) whose teenage son started watching
and learned enought to challenge his father’s misconceptions
about the Church. (I’m praying for both to continue to find the
truth.)
Another friend of mine has found that when she is besieged with
problems and can’t sleep, she watches EWTN and can count
finding the peace she needs to fall asleep. She says that no
matter whose show is on, something they say or do really
touches her.
Let’s all support EWTN so more can be reached for the kingdom
of God.
Also to those who can’t see the program they want or know when
it is on…go to their website, the live programs are available on
video for about a week after the show and then on the video. The
schedule is on there as well.
 
jmcrae said:
Yes. I’ve forgotten what the subject was, but Father Corapi was giving a “talking head” speech, with a studio audience present. He would often step away from the platform and interact with studio audience members, as though he were giving a private lecture to a class of students, instead of making a TV show.

My feeling was that someone had put the camera into the room as an afterthought, and that either he wasn’t aware that the camera was there, or he chose to ignore it, but there was a real sense of cliquey “we’re all pals together, and you’re not” kind of a feeling to it.

That’s just my own purely subjective response to it, but it’s because of that feeling of “you’re not really included - you’re just the camera in the corner” kind of a feeling that I think was what caused me to feel bored while watching it, and also the reason why I wouldn’t want my husband ever to watch it - because he is very sensitive about whether he is being included, or not - even when people at my parish have treated him rudely sometimes, he says, “My ‘I’m Protestant’ sign is flashing again, isn’t it?”

So I wouldn’t want him to watch a show that makes me feel like that.
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I’ve seen Fr Corapi’s series on the Catechism and several of his parish missions, but I’ve never seen him leave the podium or go out in the audience to talk to the people. That’s why I’m surprised by your complaint.

I do agree that his show is a “talking head” show. Most other shows on EWTN are as well. That’s fine with me, though. That way I can work around the house while I’m listening to them. Also, I download many of the shows to an MP3 player and listen to them in my car.

I love EWTN, but I guess it’s not for everyone.
 
Reading a lot of the posts on this thread makes me wonder how many of you posters “complaining” about EWTN’s shows, production values, etc. would have “reviewed” that Jesus guy’s Sermon on the Mount. I assume it would go something like this:" No sound system. Lousy lighting system for those sitting with themselves on one side of Jesus and the sun on the other. No reclining chairs - in fact, no chairs at all. No refreshment counter. No rest rooms. Cheap production - nothing like Herod’s or Pilate’s proclamations which had proper staging, trumpets, etc."
To all of you: EWTN, 5817 Old Leeds Rd, Irondale, Al. 35210-9948. Make a contribution. My guess is that probably every complainer on this thread has never donated one cent to the network. You truly should be ashamed of your posts. And let me let you in on a little secret - EWTN is a GIFT directly from God Himself. He sent it to us through Mother Angelica who will be canonized one day. If your parents never taught you manners and how to respond to a gift given to you - here’s a clue: it’s not in the fashion that a lot of you have posted here.
 
dessert said:
What other ideas do you have?
D.
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I can’t top your ideas. I think you should go work for EWTN as a program development consultant.🙂

I would like a good Catholic soap opera too. Maybe you and I can write one. (I always wanted to do something like that.)

Here are some more suggestions for EWTN:
–A miniseries of a classic Catholic book. There already is a miniseries of Brideshead Revisited. Maybe EWTN could air this again.

–More movies–like “Entertaining Angels” (the story of Dorothy Day) or the movie “Therese” or the “Hiding Place” (the story of Corrie Ten Boom.) Or any good, uplifting movie. Just before he died, Pope JP II released a list of 10 movies he recommended. EWTN could air these films:
associatedcontent.com/article/388804/ten_movies_recommended_by_pope_john.html
or they could air the movies chosen by The Vatican as the 45 best movies:
domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/reviews/reviews.19990901/bestmovies.htm

As far as a book club, they have a show similar to a book club, and it’s called “Threshold of Hope.” Fr Pacwa reads and discusses the encyclicals and books of Pope JP II.

BTW, for those not familiar with EWTN, here is a list of all the current television series:
ewtn.com/series/index.htm
 
30miller said:
Reading a lot of the posts on this thread makes me wonder how many of you posters “complaining” about EWTN’s shows, production values, etc. would have “reviewed” that Jesus guy’s Sermon on the Mount. I assume it would go something like this:" No sound system. Lousy lighting system for those sitting with themselves on one side of Jesus and the sun on the other. No reclining chairs - in fact, no chairs at all. No refreshment counter. No rest rooms. Cheap production - nothing like Herod’s or Pilate’s proclamations which had proper staging, trumpets, etc."
To all of you: EWTN, 5817 Old Leeds Rd, Irondale, Al. 35210-9948. Make a contribution. My guess is that probably every complainer on this thread has never donated one cent to the network. You truly should be ashamed of your posts. And let me let you in on a little secret - EWTN is a GIFT directly from God Himself. He sent it to us through Mother Angelica who will be canonized one day. If your parents never taught you manners and how to respond to a gift given to you - here’s a clue: it’s not in the fashion that a lot of you have posted here.
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Amen, brother! (or sister?)
 
EWTN helped bring me back to the church, especially Mother Angelica. I can’t make fun of her physcial problems anymore than I would our late Great John Paul ll. She did the best with what she had. If any complainers read the book Raymond Arroryo wrote about the network, Mother Angelica and the many miracles it took to make it, they would be astounded! They run low budget because WE keep it afloat. I’m glad they don’t have a big mega-church like the other channels and will hopefully never have the scandals either.
I don’t like everything, but since certain shows stay on, someone else does and that’s great.
 
Janet_S said:
I can’t top your ideas. I think you should go work for EWTN as a program development consultant.🙂

I would like a good Catholic soap opera too. Maybe you and I can write one. (I always wanted to do something like that.)

Here are some more suggestions for EWTN:
–A miniseries of a classic Catholic book. There already is a miniseries of Brideshead Revisited. Maybe EWTN could air this again.

–More movies–like “Entertaining Angels” (the story of Dorothy Day) or the movie “Therese” or the “Hiding Place” (the story of Corrie Ten Boom.) Or any good, uplifting movie. Just before he died, Pope JP II released a list of 10 movies he recommended. EWTN could air these films:
associatedcontent.com/article/388804/ten_movies_recommended_by_pope_john.html
or they could air the movies chosen by The Vatican as the 45 best movies:
domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/reviews/reviews.19990901/bestmovies.htm

As far as a book club, they have a show similar to a book club, and it’s called “Threshold of Hope.” Fr Pacwa reads and discusses the encyclicals and books of Pope JP II.

BTW, for those not familiar with EWTN, here is a list of all the current television series:
ewtn.com/series/index.htm
Click to expand...
Well I will get my husband to order the series Father Brown for me as it is an old series from 1974 british and has seven episodes, never seen it and I used to even like all creatures and some of the other old Catholic shows but most were from britian so we don’t see that anymore or you have to get public tv to put them on.
Thanks you are a wealth of info and sites.
D.
 
Sr_Sally said:
I understood that she’s had a severe stroke and is not able to speak etc. She turned over the station to a lay ministry several years ago. There are professionals running it, but the budget just isn’t the same as the 700 Club! I’d rather hear an elderly priest speaking the truth, than watch all the glitz over on the other channels and hear watered-down, feel-good nonsense.
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I totally agree. I personally really like EWTN but unfortunately we don’t have it in my town.
 
JRKH said:
Some have clearly stated that they feel there is too much repetition of the rosary and divine mercy chaplet. While I have no problem with these per se, I do think that these are prayers that can be said personally, quietly and by ourselves.
These shows do little to evangelize the faith.
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I only watch Fr. Corapi and “Life on the Rock”. If I wish to say the Rosary or the Divine Mercy Chaplet, I can do that on my own. I do not care to watch either being said. I also go to Mass, so I have no interest in watching Mass the same day I’ve gone to Mass. The endless repetition of devotions and Mass is not something I watch. Fr. Corapi is great, though!
 
lak611 said:
I only watch Fr. Corapi and “Life on the Rock”. If I wish to say the Rosary or the Divine Mercy Chaplet, I can do that on my own. I do not care to watch either being said. I also go to Mass, so I have no interest in watching Mass the same day I’ve gone to Mass. The endless repetition of devotions and Mass is not something I watch. Fr. Corapi is great, though!
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I understand the masses since they service shut-ins and also can expose non-catholics to an actual mass.

James
 
Since I try to watch EWTN as much as I can, I say it helps a lot. It is not perfect but nothing or no one is besides God. I don’t have time to read all the prior posts but I was appalled when someone suggested the programming on EWTN should be more like the rest of the tv evanglists. That is the most bizarre thing I could think of.
 
bigee said:
Since I try to watch EWTN as much as I can, I say it helps a lot. It is not perfect but nothing or no one is besides God. I don’t have time to read all the prior posts but I was appalled when someone suggested the programming on EWTN should be more like the rest of the tv evanglists. That is the most bizarre thing I could think of.
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I agree with you. EWTN should not have programs like the televangelists. I think it needs more hosts and programs like Fr. Corapi and less of Mass and devotions.
 
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