"Who Do You Think You Are?" NBC TV Series

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If you missed last night's first show in the series on NBC "Who Do You Think You Are?" - click on the link below to watch it.

http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/video/episodes/#vid=1206958

I missed it last night, but watched it online. I enjoyed the show. I read Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and the comments posted by bloggers. Eastman's post was a review of David Hinckley's article on last night's TV show... Hinckley, writing for the New York Daily News, basically, stated the show was worthwhile in promoting genealogy interest. See Hinckley's writing at http://tinyurl.com/y9n23wn

Of course, if you watch it, you can form your own opinion. I thought it was interesting and I was surprised that the sponsor Ancestry.com did not over promote themselves. There was hints of research in archives, libraries & courthouses and other resources. I do not think the show was created to show people how to do research, but rather, to encourage people to begin research in their family history. As genealogists it is easy to poke holes in the show and point out how difficult research can be and that the show seems to nearly magically find some very nice finds almost instantly... but it is TV and they had lots of experienced professional researchers in the local areas concerned. Money & time was probably no problem! However, if you were to read any genealogical history, generally, very little is mentioned about the time, money or difficulties that took place to put the history together. I suspect all would find these histories very interesting! The previews show documents, old books, library microfilm readers... the real stuff in genealogy. Very little was shown of researching on the Internet!

I recommend all genealogists (advanced or beginners) to watch and encourage your non-genealogical friends to watch this series! From the California Gold Rush back to the Salem Witch Trials, Sarah Jessica Parker made some interesting discoveries of her family's involvement in the history of the United States (as all of us can). I have been at this hobby for over 50 years and I still love the hunt and the excitement of finding something new!!!

- Written by JGWest