I have this FANTASTIC idea. Wouldn't it be cool if we had our own genealogy cable T.V. channel? We could name it the Saving Crap and Finding Stories Cable TV Channel, or SCFS channel. Think about it. We have Who Do You Think You Are? [WDYTYA?] on Friday nights on NBC and starting this Sunday evening the PBS show Finding Your Roots will begin its season. If we had our own cable TV channel, we could rerun these shows a la USA cable channel or a la ion cable channel. Then? We could rerun the other countries' WDYTYA? TV shows.

And we could throw in Find My Past's BBC show where they take an historical moment, research it, and find 3 living descendants to tell them of their connection to the historical moment. [And we SO need the American version to this show. STAT.] We could call it something like, I dunno, You're Connected to History!

We could then throw in some forensic-related shows. I can just see it now. Who Shares Your DNA? [I dunno. Who?!?] I can see people getting their DNA tested for genealogy purposes and finding others they are related to. Some weeks, it'd be kinda scary. Do you really wanna meet them? ;)

And then throw in the I'm Not a Celebrity but I Wanna Know My Family History and Be On TV! TV show, which [and I know you're going to find this hard to believe] I totally just made up, but, darn, it sounds good, doesn't it? I bet we'd have NO problem finding people for this show.

Ooh. And what about the House Secrets TV show? I totally made that one up too, but can't you just hear the announcer saying, *in low bellowing voice* "Your house has secrets. It's time you found them out..."? Houses have histories too, and, boy, wouldn't it be fascinating to watch a house historian give us the lowdown on someone's house?

Late nights on the SCFS cable channel? One hour infomercials featuring gadgets researchers could use. Can't you just imagine your insomniac self [Don't lie. You were up doing genealogy.] watching the Flip-Pal infomercial? Yeah.

Then, of course, we could have Made-for-TV shows based on popular memoirs. I bet Melissa Gilbert and Genie Francis would be all over these shows in a skinny minute. And we could rerun them during the holidays a la Lifetime Channel.

Here's a personal favorite: Don't Throw Out That Inherited Crap! TV show. An Ephemera Rescuer saves family ephemera heirlooms from a certain fate worse than death by finding the stories behind all that crap families inherit and giving it meaning and thus, a new life.

Better yet? Bring the 48 Hour Ephemera Challenge to life on TV! Take a team of Ephemera Rescuers who comb antique stores and estate sales in search of identifiable ephemera, watch them research it a bit, tie it into history, and find descendants of those identified in the ephemera, and return it to them. Can you imagine the looks on the descendant's faces when we come a-knockin' with a part of their family history? And, of course, the overlying tension of the show comes from the ever tick-tock of the 48 hour countdown. Can you hear the announcer? *in low bellowing voice* "Can they do it? Can the Ephemera Rescuers put these people back into history where they belong with just...a postcard?" Yes! Yes, we can! [Oops! I totally just got wrapped up into this TV show concept. Heaven only knows why.] We could even have our own critics who chastise the show for not showing all the detailed research steps in each episode. ;)

*Big sigh* Oh, for the Saving Crap and Finding Stories Cable TV Channel to be a reality. But, alas! We have just our 2 TV shows to keep us company.

WDYTYA?
This Friday night at 7pm CST, Helen Hunt will be the celebrity spotlighted on NBC's Who Do You Think You Are? Will it be the Hunt kinfolk they pursue? Were they hunters? Anyone care to guess how many folks will chastise Helen and the show for doing a tombstone rubbing? Here's a sneak peek of Helen's episode:

Finding Your Roots
And then this Sunday is the season premiere of Finding Your Roots on PBS with Henry Louis Gates Jr. He'll be spotlighting 2 celebrities' family histories ~ Harry Connick Jr. [I think I might just faint. Love him.] and Branford Marsalis! Harry has a pirate in his family. And? So do I! [Not that that matters.] Here's a season preview of the show:

It's time to do some more genealogy celebrating. Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. premieres Sunday, 25 Mar 2012 on PBS at 7pm CST. I love this show just as much as I do NBC's WDYTYA?. There will be 20 celebrities featured with 2 being shown in each episode. The list of celebrities includes:

• Kevin Bacon
• Tyra Banks
• Cory Booker
• Angela Buchdahl
• Geoffrey Canada
• Margaret Cho
• Harry Connick, Jr.
• Robert Downey, Jr.
• Sanjay Gupta
• Samuel L. Jackson
• John Legend
• John Lewis
• Branford Marsalis
• Yasir Qadhi
• Condoleezza Rice
• Michelle Rodriguez
• Kyra Sedgwick
• Martha Stewart
• Barbara Walters
• Rick Warren

That is a fine lineup, no? I'm especially excited about the episode with Harry Connick, Jr. That man could be a well digger, and I'd be excited about him, um, digging those wells. So, we're going to get 20 celebrities' stories this season. Woo-hoo! And I'll be doing Commentary Spreecasts [you can be on video with me or just do the chat room] during each show so we can gab before and after the show as well as during commercials. This way, we won't bother the West Coast on Twitter with our comments and spoilers.

And? I like that it's presented differently than Who Do You Think You Are? [WDYTYA?]. Professor Gates presents the celebrity's story to them, and I like that format. Now, before everyone gets all upset about the fact that less research is shown in this show which was a complaint of Gates' last genealogy-related show Faces of America, let me explain myself [further than what I already have in previous posts]. After watching these shows many people never go on to perform their own family history research for a multitude of reasons. And from my conversations in real life with non-genealogy people, a common reply that I get from them after answering their question of what I do is, "I never thought about doing that. That would make a great gift."

You see, a huge segment of the populace isn't opposed to family history. They've just never thought about it. It's never been brought to their attention. And it's a shame we don't do this in schools enough. Remember in school when you were learning about the American Revolution and how you had to memorize all those dates and battles? Wouldn't it have been more meaningful and satisfying if you knew how you and your family fit into that historical event? And educators should take note. But I digress...

Anywho, a fraction of this segment of the populace that will not go on to research their family history themselves after watching a genealogy TV program, will go on to pay someone else to do it. They will pay a professional to do the research, and they will get a report detailing the information that the professional was able to find about their family history, much like the celebrities in Professor Gates' show. Therefore, the complaint that his show is unrealistic because it doesn't show the waiting, the brick walls, and all the difficulties of researching is not entirely accurate because for many it is exactly what they will experience [minus the getting to sit down with Professor Gates, of course, being videotaped, and being on TV. However, no one is stopping a professional genealogist from doing something similar. There are many free online video platforms out there and I'm sure there are some clients out there who'd love to be videotaped. Not all, but some. And you're welcome for the idea.]

Therefore, genealogists ~ hobbyists to professionals [especially professionals] ~ should embrace genealogy on TV in all its forms. The way it's presented may not be your reality, but it's someone's reality. It may not be your story, but it's someone's story. [And professionals, you might get some clients from it.]

For more information about the show, please visit the Finding Your Roots site. It's a well-designed site that's full of information. However, it's not so busy or full that it's overwhelming to a beginner, which makes it a nice link to send to those less-enthused about family history as you.

~Caroline

And just to get you more excited, here's a preview of this season's series [Harry is in this clip. *sigh*]:

In case you are unable to view the video on my site, here's a link to it on PBS' site:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/