Second season of PBS reality show - using DNA as a genealogy tool.
This is the second season of the PBS "genealogy" series "executive produced" by actress Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.. I reviewed the first season here on Amazon when it was released. This second season is similar to the first (which was titled "Faces of America")- but with a different array of celebrities searching for their ancestry.
Like all reality TV shows, once one becomes a hit there are copycat shows. I'm not sure which came first (and it really doesn't matter) but there is a similar show that aired on NBC titled "Who Do You Think You Are?". I've been watching both second season DVDs and enjoying both. I thought I'd point out the differences in both of my reviews.
Since "Who Do You Think You Are?" (WDYTYA) is on a commercial network, it obviously had commercials. With those deleted for the DVD, each episode runs only 42 minutes. And, because the producers want you to remember what happened before each commercial break (short-term memory loss? <g>),...
Endlessly fascinating
Ostensibly a continuation to his 2010 series Faces of America Dr. Gates continues to serve up genealogies on fairly well known individuals whose family histories more often then not are fascinating and captivating. It's all quite enjoyable and makes for great storytelling, but as a genealogist myself I can't help but wish Dr. Gates would show the actual effort that goes on behind the scenes to create these family histories. I'm certain he must have quite a retinue of researchers working diligently to find all of this information as surely a tremendous amount of effort must go into gathering all of this information. I likewise can't help but wonder what if he has an individual whose family history is rather dull and unexciting? Are they cut? Does he just go with different family branches until he finds something dishy? These are never really answered and I really wish he would do a behind the scenes episode...
Terrific Program
Fascinating and even-handed look at the American story through tracing the ancestry of a variety of celebrities. Entertaining and instructive.
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