The Monitor: A safari into the wilds of niche cable

In the modern cable age, there is never nothing on. There are several hundred nationally available channels — the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. lists 565 as of 2006 — and many more that are offered by regional providers. Add in digital cable and HD channels, and the range of options become overwhelming.

But rather than stratify the viewing audience, it often feels like all this abundance has merely changed the rules. As network ratings drop and cable claims those viewers, there’s an overwhelming urge to turn what was previously niche programming into the new mainstream.

But the furthest destinations, never to be mainstreamed, remain fantastic. Several-hundred-channel saturation can be overwhelming, of course, but trips to the outer regions of the cable dial can be thrilling, educational and relaxing. Herewith, a celebration of a dozen of the most exciting far corners of the cablesphere: Long live the niche.

Tr3s

A glimpse of what the future will look like, Tr3s is an MTV network focused on bicultural Latinos. The language shifts easily between Spanish and English, as do the music videos. But the reality programming is where Tr3s shines. There’s “Quiero Mi Boda,” an often hilarious series looking at cross-cultural weddings, and “Quiero Mis Quinces,” a Latino version of “My Super Sweet 16” that shows that greed, selfishness and excess span all cultures.

The Word Network

At almost any hour on the Word Network, someone is urging you toward uplift. Largely composed of half-hour blocks with a range of preachers at their native pulpits, Word can make for thrilling viewing, even for nonbelievers. And the channel doesn’t judge, hosting programs even by those who have been the subject of controversy: Creflo Dollar, whose wealth-oriented ministry was the subject of a Senate inquiry into its finances, and Jimmy Swaggart, who overcame a prostitution scandal in the ‘80s and can still be seen nightly here.

Lifetime Movie Network

You sit at home, faced with what feels like an insurmountable challenge. The odds are stacked high against you overcoming the very real problem of what to watch. You’re afraid, confused. Trusted friends and advisors suddenly turn against you. Forced to rely on inner strength you’ve never had to tap into before, you lift the remote. Your frantic channel surfing eventually lands on Lifetime Movie Network: All is magically resolved. You sleep well.

Zee TV

A channel devoted to Indian populism, Zee TV features vintage Bollywood films in the afternoon, and in the evenings a heavy diet of serial dramas, which notably feature plenty of strong female characters, especially on “Mera Naam Karegi Roshan” and “Jhansi Ki Rani.” And inevitably, there’s the fantastic “Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Singing Superstar,” an “American Idol” with Bollywood textures that feels utterly familiar.

Fuel TV

Not much time is spent on the ground on Fuel TV: Water and air are the milieus preferred by its stars, who are heroes of skateboarding, surfing, motocross racing and all other sorts of extreme sport. There are competitions and exhibitions of style, to be sure, but also comedy shows, animation and, best of all, “Bubba’s World,” a reality show about James Stewart Jr., the first black star of motocross, that combines sponsor-friendly action with the sometimes head-scratching behavior of a young star.

Science Channel

For those who spent their youth absorbed in David Macaulay’s “The Way Things Work,” there’s the Science Channel, which understands that no amount of explication is really satisfactory to the truly curious. As such, the network offers a combination of the already-learned (“How It’s Made,” about the manufacturing of common objects) and the still-looking (“Meteorite Men,” who look for space rocks that have made their way to Earth).

TVOne

Second chances are all over TVOne, which is aimed at a mature black audience one step beyond enjoying pop culture on its own terms. So that means reruns of “The Tracy Morgan Show” and “A Different World” for nostalgists; a sharp docu-profile series, “Life After,” about celebs moving past traumatic events; an upcoming reality show documenting the comeback attempt (including struggles with sobriety) by the R&B stars K-Ci & JoJo; and a dating show starring Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth. She ends up alone, though — some first acts are just too tough to overcome.

Halogen

It’s easy to feel unproductive watching Halogen: Apparently, enough camera-friendly people are doing enough charitable work to fill an entire channel’s programming. (Just imagine how many great faces for radio are going undocumented.) In the course of one day, you’ll see celebrities changing the world, artists changing the world, college students changing the world, and — oh, fine, I’m getting off the couch now.

Military Channel

It’s propaganda, sure, but what great television isn’t? The Military Channel isn’t an official media outlet for the armed forces — there’s the Pentagon Channel for that — but it’s reverent in its commitment to shock and awe. Still, it’s best at the margins, whether in the competition shows “Top Sniper” and “T.O.P. Army Fighter,” or in quirkier fare such as “Backyard to Battlefield,” in which big weapons are traced back to very small ideas and the eccentrics who birthed them.

Boomerang

Nu-animation got you scratching your head? Simpler times are available on Boomerang, which specializes in just-out-of-date cartoon series (“Dexter’s Laboratory,” “Samurai Jack”) and long-out-of-date classics (“Top Cat,” “The Jetsons”). Still, watch it for several hours in a row and learn that children’s entertainment has been secretly psychedelic for decades. As well, the channel’s programming is a study in the evolution of cartoon character mouths, which, unsurprisingly, have rarely been anything other than crooked.

National Geographic Wild

For years, reality show stars have been the secret to cost-effective modern cable TV production, but it’s animals who are the real bargain, unable to unionize or to ask for story approval. Nat Geo Wild has a rising star host, Mireya Mayor, who seems to thrill at the prospect of cracking a nail while digging for dirty animals, but mainly the animals, less anthropomorphized than their Animal Planet compatriots, take the spotlight. Recommended especially is the adorable animal true-crime show “My Dog Ate What?” about cute pooches with unanticipated appetites. And yet, they’re animals!

Discovery Health

And finally, a eulogy: Next year, Discovery Health will be dissolved to make way for OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, all tales of righteousness and empowerment and beauty. But while it’s here, let’s celebrate Discovery Health’s perverse approach to wellness, which has always emphasized misfortune and catastrophe: from preemies to autopsies with all sorts of disaster in between. Medical fearmongering at its finest, it should be part of the public option.

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