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Wow! I don't want to hijack this WDYTYA thread with talking about WDYTYA-UK, but the UK episodes on youtube are proving to be excellent.
I watched Patrick Stewart first (Love that Captain Picard!) and his whole episode was learning about his father, who had a fascinating WWII career, but was totally different upon coming home to his family. I'm not always into the "one ancestor for a whole hour" theme, but this one was really good--like a WWII documentary that I'd never seen.
But the Alex Kingston episode is over-the-top great! I can't believe they fit so much into one hour. First there was an in-depth exploration of her great grandfather who worked in photography at the dawn of the technology, and then died in WWI. The work he had been doing in the war, just the science of it, was really interesting. Then they went back a few more generations, because she was curious about having possible Jewish ancestry, and they found a female ancestor in Victorian times, who was a poor Jewish widow with 4 small kids, and who became quite wealthy over the years in a very "questionable" trade (very scandalous). This woman was someone they need to make a movie about. I can't use the word "fascinating" enough!
I need to watch more of these. There's none of the genealogist-waves-magic-wand and poof! here is your info. They actually trudge through old archives, and do some online research, but mostly in-person. No need to jet off here and there, flying 3000 miles to get one little bit of info they could have gotten via e-mail. Patrick Stewart did go to France, but he drove, and his visit was essential to the unfolding story. It's not "hollywoodized" like our US version. Alex Kingston actually went to some of her research destinations on a bus!
I just checked on Youtube for full episodes and guess what---I found FULL episodes of Who Do You Think You Are-UK!!!!
There is evidently a UK version! I noticed JK Rowling being one guest and Alex Kingston from ER as another.
Guess what I'll be watching this weekemd!!!
Oh -- we ripped it off from them.... totally. We were watching Graham Norton (an English talk show on BBC -- a riot) a number of years back, and he was laughing about how they dug up some ancestor who was the town drunk, and they acted like he should be upset or something. He said -- why is this a suprise? I'm Irish!
Wow! I don't want to hijack this WDYTYA thread with talking about WDYTYA-UK, but the UK episodes on youtube are proving to be excellent.
I watched Patrick Stewart first (Love that Captain Picard!) and his whole episode was learning about his father, who had a fascinating WWII career, but was totally different upon coming home to his family. I'm not always into the "one ancestor for a whole hour" theme, but this one was really good--like a WWII documentary that I'd never seen.
I need to watch more of these. There's none of the genealogist-waves-magic-wand and poof! here is your info. They actually trudge through old archives, and do some online research, but mostly in-person. No need to jet off here and there, flying 3000 miles to get one little bit of info they could have gotten via e-mail. Patrick Stewart did go to France, but he drove, and his visit was essential to the unfolding story. It's not "hollywoodized" like our US version. Alex Kingston actually went to some of her research destinations on a bus!
Funny, I thought this thread was about the UK WDYTYA. I don't watch much TV, so I had no idea there was an American version of the same show. Yes, I guess all the episodes I have watched on YouTube so far are British. I did enjoy the Patrick Stewart episode.
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I love the show, but haven't seen it this year. I really like it when the ancestor is someone who's popped up in my research.
I think that they've switched it up over time. For instance, by the time that they got back to the focal ancestor for Tim McGraw they didn't have time to say much about him, & there was a lot that could have been said. Some of the man's descendants had intermarried with other branches of one of my families.
Love the program! And also HL Gates' "Finding Your Roots" which comes in Sept.
Love "Who Do You Think You Are". Unfortunately I missed the first one! And so glad to hear that one of Henry Louis Gates shows is coming back on! I've REALLY enjoyed all of his shows......African American Lives, Faces of America, Finding Your Roots and The African Americans:Many Rivers to Cross!! Could watch them over several times!!
Love "Who Do You Think You Are". Unfortunately I missed the first one! And so glad to hear that one of Henry Louis Gates shows is coming back on! I've REALLY enjoyed all of his shows......African American Lives, Faces of America, Finding Your Roots and The African Americans:Many Rivers to Cross!! Could watch them over several times!!
I'm also a big fan of his I love his shows, his perspective. He always puts on a great program.
In both cases, they focused almost solely on 1 ancestor. What on earth is that? Where is the overview of the different lines or branches of immigrants of overall path that the family took?
In both cases, they focused almost solely on 1 ancestor. What on earth is that? Where is the overview of the different lines or branches of immigrants of overall path that the family took?
I'm not sure that trying to cover the research of several branches of a family tree into 42 actual minutes of programming would work out well. Seasoned researchers sometimes have a difficult time following a line (much less several) so imagine the confusion of following multiple lines in that amount of time. From what I've observed, there is about 7 mins devoted to setting up the storyline, then 15 minutes of an easy path, then 12 minutes on the discussion/realization/unraveling of a specific dramatic family mystery, and finally, 8 minutes devoted to resolution/wrap up. Cramming more than that into one episode might prove too confusing for the average viewer.
For the most part, the aim of this program is to capture the interest of potential researchers by showing that every person has a 'story'. Yes, the base audience is most likely made up of a current researchers (like myself) who have an almost rabid fascination with digging up the facts, but what better way is there to 'court' a new generation of subscribers? Or to nudge current subscribers into upgrading their current subscription to include a wider scope of records?
During an interview on CNBC, just after the program debuted, the CEO was explaining the companys' vision for the future and how the program WDYTYA was likely to capture the fascination of a previously untapped source of customers. Although he specifically declined to call WDYTYA "infotainment", the message was clear that developing this new customer base through television was pivotal to the success of Ancestry.coms subscription model going forward. I suspect that they saw their biggest boost the first season.
I am really invested in the program, but I have been researching for many years so for me, any program with a research focus is just icing on my genealogy cake .
RVcook
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I love his shows, his perspective. He always puts on a great program.
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