Ancient Aliens

"Is such a thing even possible? Yes it is!"

—Giorgio A. Tsoukalos

To go along with The History Channel changing its focus, Ancient Aliens deals with conspiracy theories about Ancient Astronauts and presents them as reasonable. The pilot aired in 2009, and there has been anywhere from five to twenty-two episodes per year through the end of 2022.

The show is known for having frequent appearances by Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, consulting producer and ancient astronaut researcher. More specifically, it's known for the involvement of Giorgio A. Tsoukalos' hair.

Tropes used in Ancient Aliens include:

All Myths Are True: Albeit aliens were involved with all of them.
Ancient Astronauts: Subscribes to this, using scripture and myths.
Artifact Title: Some episodes have focused on alleged not-so-ancient alien activity, like the American Civil War, The Wild West, and even the present day.
Artistic License History: This is probably the kindest term we could use to describe some of the show's takes on mythology and archaeology. Much of the "basis" of the ancient astronauts hypothesis comes from literal interpretations of figurative elements of myths and history, generous (and non-peer-reviewed) translations, or outright hoaxes.
Beethoven Was an Alien Spy:
- Surely anyone with ideas that were somewhat ahead of their time was abducted by aliens at some point.
- With Leonardo da Vinci, they think that he was either kidnapped by aliens, or even was actually a time traveler.
Dan Browned: A staple of this show.
Early Installment Weirdness: The series is actually a Spin-Off from a one-off documentary that presented a much less biased examination of the Ancient Astronaut theory; both proponents and detractors were interviewed. Myths were not presented as evidence. Artistic licence and symbolism were acknowledged. Ironically, by presenting it as a two-sided argument with evidence against it as well as for it, it makes the whole thing seem more reasonable.
ET Gave Us Wi-Fi
For the Evulz: Aliens apparently cause volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Why they're doing it and what they would have to gain from doing it isn't known or dwelled upon in the show.
The Great Flood: The show takes the Noah's ark story as the literal truth. But aliens did it.
The Grim Reaper: According to the show the black death was caused by Grim Reaper aliens with plague scythes. Seriously.
Groupie Brigade: According to pics, Giorgio A. Tsoukalos is quite the Kavorka Man. It's gotta be the hair.
Hey, It's That Voice!: Narrated by Jim Raynor
Lampshade Hanging: One of the ads for the show says "Apparently, ancient aliens were behind everything. Now you know."
Phlebotinum Killed the Dinosaurs: Yup, the aliens apparently offed them too. Oh, and they made them in the first place as well.
Speculative Documentary: Basically, everything important happened because of aliens.
Stupid Jetpack Hitler: They do this in a few episodes.
You Fail Logic Forever: The main one showing up all the time is the Affirming the Consequent.

1. If aliens really existed and visited Earth, they could theoretically have shown humans how to build pyramids.
2. Humans built pyramids.
3. Therefore aliens!

If Macchu Picchu was built over 20,000 years before mainstream historians think it was (i.e. before the local people invented concrete), it would have lined up with the stars. Therefore, it must have been built then. Therefore aliens!

Have a Drinking Game.