I received a very welcome e-mail this week about the 7th season of my favorite genealogy program, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? (WDYTYA). I can hardly wait!
These programs are inspiring to everyone, novices to experienced genealogists. They embody the search and the discoveries we all seek. Not only are the shows just plain fun and interesting, we can pick up valuable research tips and historical information relevant to our own family. We all seek those AHA moments that the featured celebrities often find – and you just never know where your AHA-producing tidbit will be found.
I mean, let’s face it (pardon the pun), who among us DOESN’T want this expression on our face relative to a genealogy discovery?
From the press release:
TLC’s Emmy Award-winning series, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? returns this spring with a new group of celebrities ready to delve into their lineage and get answers to the questions they’ve wondered about their entire lives. Eight new one-hour episodes bring more unexpected turns and surprising discoveries of great historical significance. Executive Produced by Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky, the new season premieres on Sunday, March 5th at 10/9c.
This season’s celebrity contributors include:
- Jessica Biel makes surprising discoveries that change what she thought knew about her heritage.
- Julie Bowen uncovers the story of two relatives whose moral codes are from opposite ends of the spectrum.
- Courteney Cox traces her maternal line back seven centuries to the Medieval times to discover royalty in her lineage and an unbelievable tale of family drama.
- Jennifer Grey uncovers new information about the grandfather she thought she knew, learning how he survived adversity to become a beacon of his community.
- Smokey Robinson searches for answers behind the mystery of why his grandfather disappeared from his children’s lives and finds a man tangled in a swirl of controversy.
- John Stamos digs into the mystery of how his grandfather became an orphan, and learns of tensions between families that led to a horrible crime.
- Liv Tyler learns that her family is tied into the complicated racial narrative of America.
- Noah Wyle unravels the mystery of his maternal line, uncovering an ancestor who survived one of America’s bloodiest battles.
For a sneak peek, take a look at this link.
I’ll be writing about each episode and I hope many will include DNA. If not, we’ll discuss how DNA might aid and abet the search!
The show is very interesting and entertaining but it is also unfortunate that those of us who are not celebrities and cannot afford to hire professionals to help them trace their roots and uncover family mysteries continue to muddle through the never ending brick walls. It would be refreshing if every now and then the producers would feature someone from anytown USA.
All I can say is that when I get Rich like when I win the Mega Mega Lottery I am getting myself the BEST Research Genealogist (Maybe, even more than one ) money can buy and putting them on retainer! I’ve got several very intriguing family mysteries to untangle. Maybe I need to start actually buying Lottery tickets? OR if anyone is really bored looking for their folks I can share info and they can look for mine. Too many Ancestors, so little time!
I but a lottery ticket because it gives me the opportunity to dream with a real (Ok, slight) maybe that it might come true.
I love this program. I am glad it is returning. I can hardly wait too.
Yesterday was an off day to relax. When I awoke in the morning, I began to read “Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA” by Richard Hill. I highly recommend this book for a fun ride and an introduction to not only genealogy and DNA, but how DNA has opened up genealogy to hundreds of thousands of new avenues of discovery. I could not put the book down and finished it yesterday. That, to me, is the highest recommendation one can give to a good read.
My name is John Howe.
This is a fun show to watch, but they do have a strange quirk. At the beginning of many of the searches, the star learns that the ancestor came from Montana, or Ireland, or wherever. Right away, they fly off across the county, or world. Of course, visiting the ancestral lands is interesting for television, but it does give the impression that travel is the way to begin a search, and that genealogy is for rich folks who can afford all that travel.
P.S. Roberta, I certainly enjoy your blog. Have done genealogy for ages, but I’m just starting to learn about DNA. Your articles are very helpful.