When being asked to review TV shows, I often factor in their length as one of my considerations as to whether I’m going to watch them or not. I really shouldn’t mark that down as one of my criteria of picking them, but when you have lots to review in a week, time becomes a factor. So when I saw that ‘Decoded’ was nine hours long, I thought at first I might give it a miss, although after a quick read of the information about the series, I quickly changed my mind. A show about historical mysteries and conspiracies is actually very much up my alley, so with that I marked it down on my review list, got my copy, and started the nine hours hoping it was worth the time.
 
“Brad Meltzer's Decoded, (or simply Decoded), is an American mystery and conspiracy theory investigation television series, produced by Go Go Luckey and Berman/Braun, that premiered December 2, 2010 on the History channel. The series is hosted by political thriller author and non-fiction writer Brad Meltzer and follows a team of investigators who try to determine the meanings behind various symbolism, alleged secret codes and conspiracies that surround us every day.”
 
Well, one thing that felt very evident about this show is that it was rather right wing. Sure they looked into lots of different subjects, but I couldn’t help but feel sometimes they had an agenda when researching the subjects they were looking to prove or debunk. In fact, the woman on the show was particularly right wing and I often found things she said to interviewees cringe worthy. So, there were times I stopped caring what the subject matter was and focused more on the annoying and sometimes biased reporting of the subject matters. Despite that though, it was still a good show and gave me a lot of insight into some subjects I hadn’t heard of before. Overall, however, the show came off as pretty cheesy and overly constructed at times.
 
7 out of 10 from me.
 
There is also a copy up for grabs for a lucky New Zealand reader, so as usual e-mail me at likemike@nzblokes.co.nz to be into win!