This show is on NBC and traces the genealogy of celebrities. The first one featured Sarah Jessica Parker- she learned she had an ancestor who went west in 1849 as part of the Gold Rush but died due to the plague or something.  On the other side of her lineage she found a relative who was accused of being a witch in Salem... the woman was one of the few women to escape execution because the trials were deemed inhumane like a week before she was supposed to appear in court.

Fascinating.


Emmit Smith was last week haven't seen his yet....


makes me wonder about genealogy....  oh I'm gonna start a thread about it.

:)

I know quite a bit about mine and it is fascinating.  It is amazing how even though you think you may not care about your ancestry, when you start looking into it you find that it really does mean something to you.  I found two gguncles who were with the US Colored Troops and were with Grant at Appomatox, a gguncle who was butler to Grant, a Hudson river boatman, a Washington(George) slave who escaped, a couple of slaves who didn't, a Native American, a Parisian Frenchman, and a pirate.  Good stuff!

The UK version of this programme was on a few years ago.  Some of them were a bit ho-hum - following up on stuff the person already knew.  Some were fascinating, tracing families back to Africa, Eastern Europe or filling in major blanks in their family.  I was often in floods.

I haven't started watching the new US show yet, though I'd like to.  I can't recall now why I missed the first one.  Probably watching House

I've always loved history and the personal stories that go with it.  I've done some digging into my own family history and found some signifcant finds most notably being a direct descendent of Pierre La Verendrye, an early Canadian explorer and fur trader who spent years looking for a route to the west coast. Probably not well known in the States like Lewis and Clark, but in Canada I'm thinking he's a pretty big deal.

When I found out this little nugget it really made my day and it still gives me a bit of a thrill thinking about it.  I mean it's not Columbus or a having a family member on the Mayflower or having a family member in the Revolutionary or Civil wars or anything like that, but still, it's kinda cool. Up to that point I found the usual stuff, the everyday humdrum stuff, ordinary people living the life of 10's of 1000's of other Canadians, homesteaders, settlers, farmers, businessmen, etc who's path led to me, somebody who came into existence in the United States because my grandpa came here as a French speaking boy at the turn of the century with his family and homesteaded a quarter of land, land that is still in the family today.  Just that little bit is way to cool.

Just watched Lisa Kudrow's story... very painful

She learned that her great grandmother was shot and burned by Nazis.  but not just shot and burned... marched thru town, told to strip, then the townspeople were sent two or three at a time into a cellar where they were shot. then the next two or three sent into the cellar and shot... and so on... so humiliated then most likely had to watch others die before dying herself

On the brightside she learned that cousin who brought the horrible news home to her father and grandmother (and who had been presumed dead by the family) is actually still alive

can you imagine Lisa Kudrow calling you up and saying Hi I'm your cousin....can I come over?

All in all it was a touching ep!

Lisa's story was heart wrenching.  I was in tears for most of that episode.  I loved that it had a happy ending with the cousin. 

Lisa's story was heart wrenching.  I was in tears for most of that episode.  I loved that it had a happy ending with the cousin. 


I love when she was on the phone asking if "he was still here" cuz she didn't know any other way to ask if he was still alive  ;D 

I've only ever seen two episodes of WDYTYA in full; the ones featuring TV presenter Davina McCall and BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles. I've seen little snippets from the Kim Catrall episode and also the one featuring Michael York, the actor who played Basil in the Austin Powers films.