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Post by MissGriss on May 23, 2018 7:11:06 GMT
Who Do You Think You Are - Monday 9/8c on TLCHave any episodes aired yet? There are two available on Amazon (Jon Cryer and Laverne Cox), but I don't want to pay for them until I've heard some feedback.
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Post by Critical on May 23, 2018 8:11:26 GMT
Those two episodes aired last night and we'll get four more this season. I thought they were great! Of course, I'm the genealogy addict, so of course I loved it. I'm kind of annoyed that, in this super short season, they burned off two episodes in one week, but I sort of understand why they put those two together. Oddly, there were parallels in both stories with respect to how their ancestors came to this country.
So is paying for them on Amazon the only way you can watch? What a bummer! I'm such a tightwad, I'll do anything to avoid paying, if I can!
If anyone watched the episodes, please jump in because I'd love to discuss it! The nasty transphobic comments about Laverne Cox on the official Facebook page for the show were sickening, so I have no interest interacting with those bigots.
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Post by MissGriss on May 23, 2018 9:22:14 GMT
I haven't looked yet to see if there's another way/place to watch them. I'll have to take a look. Lots of networks let you watch the show on their site for a little while and then you have to pay for them somewhere. Sometimes, though, the free ones stream so poorly that I just give up and buy them. But if I'm going to do that very much, I might as well just pay for cable.
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Punkin
FORT Addict
Hi, it's me, Lynda! Fort member since Jan. 16, 2003.
Posts: 1,023
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Post by Punkin on May 30, 2018 22:26:23 GMT
Thanks for the reminder! The two episodes are on OnDemand for me.
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Post by JosephD on May 30, 2018 22:32:58 GMT
Ah crap! I missed the one about Laverne Cox? I don't have Amazon.
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l144s
FORT Member
Posts: 46
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Post by l144s on May 31, 2018 1:39:44 GMT
I love this show. It is fascinating how families got here and came to be. I really liked Megan Mallally this week too.
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Post by MissGriss on Jun 1, 2018 7:40:05 GMT
I just watched Megan Mullally's episode tonight, and we're more than likely related (though who knows how far back). When she was naming her grandparents, she said her grandmother was Hattie Belle Hales, and my ears perked up, since Hales is my last name. So I went searching to see if I could verify that it was spelled the same way, and the article I've linked to below shows it is. Like I said, I'm not sure how far back a common ancestor would be, but most Hales that I've heard of in the US come from County Kent in England. Kind of cool imagining that we're distant relatives. Megan Mullally's ancestors
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l144s
FORT Member
Posts: 46
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Post by l144s on Jun 1, 2018 10:25:51 GMT
I just watched Megan Mullally's episode tonight, and we're more than likely related (though who knows how far back). When she was naming her grandparents, she said her grandmother was Hattie Belle Hales, and my ears perked up, since Hales is my last name. So I went searching to see if I could verify that it was spelled the same way, and the article I've linked to below shows it is. Like I said, I'm not sure how far back a common ancestor would be, but most Hales that I've heard of in the US come from County Kent in England. Kind of cool imagining that we're distant relatives. Megan Mullally's ancestorsThat is awesome! Checking it out will be a fun little rabbit hole to get lost in for a few hours.
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Post by MissGriss on Jun 1, 2018 17:54:34 GMT
Yeah. I'll have to go into one of the genealogy sites and see if her grandma's line goes far enough back for me to find a common ancestor.
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Post by MissGriss on Jun 2, 2018 2:04:43 GMT
Well, it's not looking good. It turns out that there was a Hales who immigrated to Connecticut in 1631 and another who arrived in Virginia in 1635, so I'm guessing that there are a whole lot of Hales people in the U.S. that are descended from them. My family are more recent arrivals who immigrated to Canada in 1832. Odds are that Megan's descended from one of those other families. There are a lot more Hales than I thought.
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Post by provenceguy on Jun 5, 2018 21:37:07 GMT
I really enjoyed the Hilary Duff episode. Very interesting geneology-wise, and I found Hilary to be very likeable
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Post by MissGriss on Jun 8, 2018 4:33:41 GMT
I enjoyed Hillary Duff's, too. I got a kick out of it, though, when they revealed her famous ancestor, and she pretended to be excited when it was clear that she had no idea who he was and how significant he was historically. (Being vague in case people don't want to be spoiled. 😊)
I did think it was fun that her father's wealthy family thought he'd married beneath himself and then her mother has all these prestigious ancestors.
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Post by justCoz on Jun 8, 2018 13:06:20 GMT
I enjoyed Hillary Duff's, too. I got a kick out of it, though, when they revealed her famous ancestor, and she pretended to be excited when it was clear that she had no idea who he was and how significant he was historically. (Being vague in case people don't want to be spoiled. 😊) I did think it was fun that her father's wealthy family thought he'd married beneath himself and then her mother has all these prestigious ancestors. Yeah, that was funny. She even said she hadn't heard of him before (which frankly surprised me.) But I do like how excited she was to share the information with her son.
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Post by MissGriss on Jun 8, 2018 22:05:12 GMT
I enjoyed Hillary Duff's, too. I got a kick out of it, though, when they revealed her famous ancestor, and she pretended to be excited when it was clear that she had no idea who he was and how significant he was historically. (Being vague in case people don't want to be spoiled. 😊) I did think it was fun that her father's wealthy family thought he'd married beneath himself and then her mother has all these prestigious ancestors. Yeah, that was funny. She even said she hadn't heard of him before (which frankly surprised me.) But I do like how excited she was to share the information with her son. Yeah. Both the royalty and the Blackbeard connections were pretty exciting from a young kid's perspective; though with the popularity of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, I'm guessing the kid might be rooting more for the pirates that the ones who caught them.
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Post by justCoz on Jun 9, 2018 1:03:40 GMT
Yeah, that was funny. She even said she hadn't heard of him before (which frankly surprised me.) But I do like how excited she was to share the information with her son. Yeah. Both the royalty and the Blackbeard connections were pretty exciting from a young kid's perspective; though with the popularity of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, I'm guessing the kid might be rooting more for the pirates that the ones who caught them. You're probably right about that. It's pretty cool history to have. I love how excited the Scottish guy was about her history.
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Post by Critical on Jun 9, 2018 22:47:19 GMT
To be fair, they really don't teach much British history in American schools. At least they didn't *mumblemumble* years ago when I was in high school. It was just the highlights and not many of those. Plus, Hilary probably did her schooling on set with a tutor, so they likely didn't cover even the same things covered in a public hs history class. It didn't surprise me that she'd never heard of Robert the Bruce. I certainly didn't until long after I left high school. Heck, I majored in history in college and he wasn't covered in the British History courses I took. No Scottish history courses were taught at either of the universities I attended. I'll give her a pass on that one.
Not sure about Blackbeard. That wouldn't probably be taught in school (wasn't in mine) but it's more a cultural knowledge thing. Maybe she doesn't have time to watch Black Sails I don't think Hilary is a stupid person - she seemed pretty bright to me. She just had a different education than many people her age. You know I liked how she was so polite to everyone and said thank you to all of them!
I enjoyed Hilary's episode because they went back so many generations and did some real genealogical work. Some episodes seem to focus on only one ancestor. Perhaps that's all they could find OR that's the only person who was interesting enough to merit coverage on the show I've done a lot of my genealogy and am related to the Plantagenet kings on both sides of my tree. There are plenty of lines on my tree that are dead ends, but once you can link to aristocracy/royalty you're generally able to go back a LONG way. They keep track of those people! Poor farmers? Not so much.
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Post by MissGriss on Jun 10, 2018 0:08:49 GMT
Good points, Critical. She's definitely not stupid, and you're right that knowledge of stuff like that is something that comes later in life with exposure that people may or may not get depending on their interests. Truth be told, I knew his name and that he was important but not much more than that. I had to go look him up to review exactly what he did. I mostly associated the name with Braveheart, so that shows how much I know.
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Post by justCoz on Jun 10, 2018 5:38:59 GMT
I don't know a lot about Robert the Bruce and when I did hear of him it probably wasn't in school. I didn't mean to imply I thought she was dumb, just surprised she's never heard of him.
I also liked that they had a few stories to share with her. It seems to make the program more interesting when they are able to find more ancestors. Even if they aren't necessarily "important" historically I just prefer when they delve into more than one ancestor. For me, even learning about different things in different generations is interesting.
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Post by justCoz on Jun 12, 2018 4:14:30 GMT
I loved Molly Shannon's episode. I cried at the end. {Spoiler} I'm a sucker for a reunion. I love when they can do that. Her family was so sweet.
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Post by Eastcoastmom on Jun 12, 2018 15:25:05 GMT
I loved Molly Shannon's episode. I cried at the end. {Spoiler} I'm a sucker for a reunion. I love when they can do that. Her family was so sweet. I cried too. I loved Molly's episode and it was so informative. We learn about the potato famine in history class but hearing about the depths of it and the suffering that occurred, really shook me up. The descriptions were horrifying! Very interesting too about the Roman Catholic to Protestant conversion in her ancestral home. As a RC myself I chuckled "Oh Molly" when she asked if "The Tablet" was a Protestant paper. She should have known it was not....unless she was not reared RC. I had NO idea, however, that that publication had been around for so long.
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Post by justCoz on Jun 12, 2018 17:29:16 GMT
I loved Molly Shannon's episode. I cried at the end. {Spoiler} I'm a sucker for a reunion. I love when they can do that. Her family was so sweet. I cried too. I loved Molly's episode and it was so informative. We learn about the potato famine in history class but hearing about the depths of it and the suffering that occurred, really shook me up. The descriptions were horrifying! Very interesting too about the Roman Catholic to Protestant conversion in her ancestral home. As a RC myself I chuckled "Oh Molly" when she asked if "The Tablet" was a Protestant paper. She should have known it was not....unless she was not reared RC. I had NO idea, however, that that publication had been around for so long. I thought she said she was reared in Catholic school. Was that when her mom was still alive? She was little though, seems like it would have been before she started school. When they personalize history it does make it so much more compelling. I think they (in my experience) teach history incorrectly after grade school. It becomes too much about the dates and facts instead of the stories. Not that I think the dates are unimportant, I just think they'd be easier to remember in a story format than just a facts format.
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Post by Eastcoastmom on Jun 12, 2018 18:58:00 GMT
I cried too. I loved Molly's episode and it was so informative. We learn about the potato famine in history class but hearing about the depths of it and the suffering that occurred, really shook me up. The descriptions were horrifying! Very interesting too about the Roman Catholic to Protestant conversion in her ancestral home. As a RC myself I chuckled "Oh Molly" when she asked if "The Tablet" was a Protestant paper. She should have known it was not....unless she was not reared RC. I had NO idea, however, that that publication had been around for so long. I thought she said she was reared in Catholic school. Was that when her mom was still alive? She was little though, seems like it would have been before she started school. When they personalize history it does make it so much more compelling. I think they (in my experience) teach history incorrectly after grade school. It becomes too much about the dates and facts instead of the stories. Not that I think the dates are unimportant, I just think they'd be easier to remember in a story format than just a facts format. Okay, thanks. I missed the first few minutes so I didn't know if Molly had attended Catholic school. I did not but with our religious education classes, I learned all about The Tablet. Also, how sad that she lost her mom when she was 4 years old.
As far as teaching history goes...I'm pretty sure they don't teach it that way any longer. I remember having to memorize dates, battles, names of generals, etc, and found history boring as heck in high school. It wasn't until much later as an adult that I found out how much I liked it. Now my sons are adults, 29 and 32 and they never were taught history the way I was back in the day, so I think for quite some time it hasn't been all about memorization of dates and facts.
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Post by justCoz on Jun 12, 2018 20:25:30 GMT
I thought she said she was reared in Catholic school. Was that when her mom was still alive? She was little though, seems like it would have been before she started school. When they personalize history it does make it so much more compelling. I think they (in my experience) teach history incorrectly after grade school. It becomes too much about the dates and facts instead of the stories. Not that I think the dates are unimportant, I just think they'd be easier to remember in a story format than just a facts format. Okay, thanks. I missed the first few minutes so I didn't know if Molly had attended Catholic school. I did not but with our religious education classes, I learned all about The Tablet. Also, how sad that she lost her mom when she was 4 years old.
As far as teaching history goes...I'm pretty sure they don't teach it that way any longer. I remember having to memorize dates, battles, names of generals, etc, and found history boring as heck in high school. It wasn't until much later as an adult that I found out how much I liked it. Now my sons are adults, 29 and 32 and they never were taught history the way I was back in the day, so I think for quite some time it hasn't been all about memorization of dates and facts.
So you're saying I'm showing my age? It's good to know things have changed. I thought it was horribly sad she lost her mom and little sister when she was so young.
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l144s
FORT Member
Posts: 46
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Post by l144s on Jun 19, 2018 13:20:31 GMT
Jean Smart's Epi was really great for me. It took place right in my "neighborhood"
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Post by woodiedog on Jun 19, 2018 22:12:51 GMT
Hi! I just saw Jean Smarts episode, but just the end. I love the good bad and ugly history of New England. Her ancestors were tied to the Salem witch trials. How many times have the celebrities ended up in Salem? I remember the Sarah Jessica Parker episode. I have seen the genealogist who wears the bow tie before. It made me wonder if massachusetts genealogy societies are providing stories to WDYTYA?
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Post by MissGriss on Jun 19, 2018 23:29:40 GMT
Hi! I just saw Jean Smarts episode, but just the end. I love the good bad and ugly history of New England. Her ancestors were tied to the Salem witch trials. How many times have the celebrities ended up in Salem? I remember the Sarah Jessica Parker episode. I have seen the genealogist who wears the bow time before. It made me wonder if massachusetts genealogy societies are providing stories to WDYTYA? Jean's ancestors' story was very interesting. I'm curious about your wondering, woodiedog. Are you saying that you think maybe genealogists from Massachusetts are doing research and discovering celebrities with a connection to Massachusetts and then suggesting that WDYTYA do a story on them? I'd never thought that it might happen that way. Interesting.
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l144s
FORT Member
Posts: 46
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Post by l144s on Jun 19, 2018 23:41:30 GMT
It is not unusually to end up in New England if you can trace ancestors back to the early 1600's And still not be In Europe or someplace else. What people don't know is that Danvers, Beverly, and a few other surrounding towns were all part of Salem proper before being divides into smaller towns which is why the memorial at the end of the episode is in Danvers, not Salem.
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Post by woodiedog on Jun 20, 2018 9:24:06 GMT
I started thinking about how many people I know who are decedents of folks from the Salem witch trials. I grew up in Massachusetts and went to school with or knew people who had historic (?) pedigrees. I knew people descended from Emerson, Alden, and Adams. But then I remembered two people who had Salem ties! One was a Bradbury and the other was a Towne, both people had traced their lineage back to the witch families. So it could be easier than I thought to find dececendants of the Salem witch trials.
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l144s
FORT Member
Posts: 46
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Post by l144s on Jun 20, 2018 14:21:41 GMT
I started thinking about how many people I know who are decedents of folks from the Salem witch trials. I grew up in Massachusetts and went to school with or knew people who had historic (?) pedigrees. I knew people descended from Emerson, Alden, and Adams. But then I remembered two people who had Salem ties! One was a Bradbury and the other was a Towne, both people had traced their lineage back to the witch families. So it could be easier than I thought to find dececendants of the Salem witch trials. Those are very common names here in Mass. You can't walk a mile without seeing at least one street with those names on them. I suppose one could track back to celebs and find the lineage by asking them to be on WDYTYA, Either way, asking to be on the show or being asked to be on the show, the ease of DNA and the computerization of documents with access to the public has opened up a whole world of connection many never really understood or bothered with. I personally am not a huge history buff, but the ancestry angle makes it far more interesting to me. I guess it is what makes any story a good one, finding a personal connection.
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Post by Critical on Jun 20, 2018 18:00:00 GMT
I don't think they "pre-scout" celebs for this show by doing research and then asking them to be on the show based on that research. I know at least a few people have been chosen for this show (both the US version and the UK version) and then, after some research, were told the genealogists couldn't find anything. I can't remember who it was very recently on a talk show saying they'd been approached to do the show and then the producers came back and told the person their family tree was too boring for TV. How's that for an insult? I'd guess that's happened more than once. I mean, our own genealogy is interesting to US, but it isn't necessarily fascinating to everyone else. They need a "hook" to interest the viewers. IIRC, Rob Lowe's episode was supposed to be on one season and they had to postpone it because the researchers had so much trouble finding anything. I'd be surprised if that was the only time in the series that has happened. I'm so annoyed the season is already over! Back when it was on NBC, we got up to 12 episodes. That still wasn't enough, but at least it was a SEASON instead of this measly 5 weeks of shows.
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