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Post by judypatooty on Feb 18, 2011 14:43:19 GMT
In an effort to get this conversation out of the "Zen DVD" thread, I'm replying to KMK here! Judy, don't worry, I think those shows both sound very interesting. Would you mind explaining a bit more about them - never heard of them before with my limited access to the English-language TV world. I Googled "Antiques Roadshow" to see what I could find out about the original UK version and was stunned to read in the Wikipedia article that it started way back in the late 1970s!! I had no idea it has been going on that long. The U.S. version of the show has the same format ... a group of expert appraisers visit a city, and local residents bring in their antiques for appraisal. I just love it when someone has purchased an item for $1.00 at a charity shop and it turns out to be worth thousands of dollars.  "Who Do You Think You Are?" is also originally a UK program that has been copied by American TV. It's an hour-long program in which a celebrity is guided through the process of tracing part of their family tree. I think they do a good job of conveying the excitement when you uncover an interesting fact about an ancestor, but the hour-long format means that they don't even mention the hours and hours and hours of research that go into finding that one precious fact! Oh well. It's still good entertainment. |
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Post by kissmekate on Feb 18, 2011 15:40:58 GMT
Thanks for opening a new thread on that! The family tree show sounds particularly interesting to me. I'll have a look at that if I get the chance, as I love digging around in my own family's past  |
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Post by GreenEyesToo on Feb 18, 2011 20:09:45 GMT
What I like about "Who Do You Think You Are" is getting to see another side to celebrities, getting a look into their backgrounds and how they feel about their pasts. I agree about the format not showing the hours and hours it takes to uncover the tiniest scrap of information - I wish it really was so easy to find the right person, and not instant as it seems on TV!
I mentioned the Stephen Fry one in the other thread, Judy, as being particularly moving - he makes a shocking discovery about one set of great-grandparents that will have you blubbing.
Oh, we've seen some of the US ones here - the Sarah Jessica Parker one was fascinating.
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Post by judypatooty on Feb 18, 2011 22:51:15 GMT
Another thing that irritates me is the way the US version at least makes it seem that you must actually GO to the places that your ancestor lived to find anything about them. This in spite of the fact that Ancestry.com is THE big sponsor of the program. The celebrity is always saying "well, I guess that means I have to go to ______ to find out more." So some of these people are shown trotting all over the continent (and overseas) because it just makes more interesting television. I'm planning to get started watching the UK shows this weekend! I don't know if I'll make it all the way to Stephen Fry's, but I know I'll love it once I get to it. The one about Lisa Kudrow (who is the Exec. Producer of the US version by the way) was really interesting because she found living relatives in Poland ... descendants from a previously-unknown sibling of an ancestor who had been killed by the Nazis. I teared up and sniffled (along with Lisa) when she visited the site of the town the Nazis burned, where her ancestor died. Now. How can get get the UK show to do Rufus's family?!? |
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Post by GreenEyesToo on Feb 18, 2011 23:19:19 GMT
Now. How can get get the UK show to do Rufus's family?!? Ha-ha! Good luck with that one! I wrote to ask them that several years ago - they weren't even tempted by the convict ancestor. I was sure that'd hook 'em!  |
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Post by kissmekate on Feb 19, 2011 11:05:36 GMT
Hmmm ... maybe they would reconsider after Zen's success? |
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Post by Tessa on Feb 19, 2011 11:30:37 GMT
Jo Brand was on telly this week about not being able to cry. (What do you mean, woman, I put in the new CD of Adele, put it on nr 4 and in a few seconds I look like a bl*** panda!!)
She mentioned HDYTYA. When the celeb of the week found out that one of their ancestors was in the work house they reduced to tears.
I remember Barbara (she played Peggy Mitchell) very well. Her family came from the work house and I felt for Barbara and her family.
The actress who played in Sex & the City, I believe her grandfather left his wife and children and they were very very poor. They had jar pots for tea cups. And later one threatened to leave his second wife and children behind again. (Unbelievable ******!
They made an Dutch version as well, with interesting points and it was very moving again.
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Post by stama on Feb 19, 2011 18:07:21 GMT
"Antiques Roadshow" sound very interesting and "Who Do You Think You Are" US version, I can see on our television. I saw Lisa Kudrow last week and Sarah Jessica Parker and after a while I want to watch Matthew Broderick. Oh yes, if it was so easy to find information about ancestors, we found only one of our ancestor, and it was very difficult. |
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Post by francesca on Feb 19, 2011 22:21:56 GMT
Before I discovered The Rooftop and became hooked on it ,I spent a lot of time tracing my ancestors getting back to 1834 on one side and I826 on the other .
Anyway going back to Tessa's comment about workhouses, I found my Father's great great great great (I think) grand mother in a workhouse in Wiltshire, in 1826 She was ten years old with no trace of parents or siblings.
And Yes I did cry for this little girl.
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Judy, don't worry, I think those shows both sound very interesting. Would you mind explaining a bit more about them - never heard of them before with my limited access to the English-language TV world.
