WDYTYA: Rob Lowe's and my Hessian soldier ancestors

I don't write about every episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, but last night's was neat for me. This one starred Rob Lowe, and his featured ancestor has a lot in common with one of mine.

Rob (God, he's gorgeous!) was in search of a relative named John Christopher East whose name his great-grandmother had submitted to the Daughters Of The American Revolution as a patriot.

Lowe, who is very patriotic and who was eager for proof that one of his forefathers fought for America's freedom, was disappointed to find that no connection to a patriot named John Christopher East could be proven.

The story takes a very interesting turn when

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WDYTYA: Blair Underwood

Last night's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? was pretty interesting. I like the show mainly because the episodes usually give you ideas for resources and tools that you may not have known about or considered using.

Lat night, Blair Underwood discovered a tenth cousin in Cameroon, Africa via DNA testing. He also found that he had a significant portion of DNA that was traced to Europe-- France and Germany, specifically. He laughed when he was told this, saying that he had always felt an unexplainable connection to France.

From what I have seen, many black Americans have some white ancestry; sometimes it comes out in light-colored eyes or other caucasian features. I remember an episode of WDYTYA featuring Spike Lee in which he discovers that one of his 3rd great-grandfathers was white. I couldn't help enjoying his reaction of thinly-veiled horror, as he has always struck me as racist.

Another cool thing about the Blair Underwood episode was that it showed something that most history books don't mention: that not all slave owners back in the day were white. Yes, there were actually black slave owners. Underwood learns that an ancestor of his actually owned other family members, most likely so that they wouldn't have to leave Virginia due to a law that freed slaves had to do so within one year of their release. A clever, albeit sad, way to keep one's family together.

Who Do You Think You Are?, Season 3

Tomorrow, February 3, begins the third season of the U.S. version of this genealogy show which focuses on the family histories of celebrities.

This season's feastured celebrities will be Martin Sheen (tomorrow), Marisa Tomei, Blair Underwood, Reba McEntire, Rob Lowe, Helen Hunt, Rita Wilson, Edie Falco, Rashida Jones, Jerome Bettis, Jason Sudeikis, and Paula Deen.

The Generations Project

I just discovered a show similar to Who Do You Think You Are?, only better: The Generations Project.

Stumbled upon it online tonight, watched a couple of episodes, and was impressed.

I enjoy it more than Who Do You Think You Are? in part because it features regular people instead of celebrities; it seems more genuine and not so scripted.

The show also focuses more on people's personal motivations behind wanting to research their family history; a set of twin sisters wanted to feel closer to their deceased mother-- something I could definitely identify with-- and to heal their own relationship.

In another episode, a young man-- a bit of a neo-hippie/tree hugger who seems like he maybe hit the bong a little too hard in high school-- wanted to find the source of his family members' adventurous spirits and to answer what he continuously referred to as "the call." A very neat episode, in spite of this guy's annoying habit of laughing at everything everyone said to him or showed him.

In both episodes, the featured guests find amazing connections to American history. And at the end, they reflect on how their discoveries have impacted how they see themselves or their lives.

I think this program is only available to watch online, through Brigham Young University's BYUtv.

Who Do You Think You Are?

One of the highlights of my Friday evenings is watching new episodes of WDYTYA (and yes, I'm aware of how sad that is).

Granted, the show is basically an hour-long advertisement for ancestry.com, and it's on the horrendous NBC, but nothing's perfect.

I enjoy this show for a couple of reasons: one, it's interesting to know the family histories of the famous people you watch in movies or on TV. Two, the show usually gives some good ideas of where you might find clues and information about your own ancestors. For example, I had no idea that there was a special census for Civil War veterans until I saw the episode featuring Steve Buscemi. I myself have no direct ancestors who fought in the Civil War (that I know of), but it's good to know what's available.

Now, here's what bugs me about the show: unlike the featured celebrities, most people have neither the money nor the time to jet off around the country and the world and meet with professional genealogists and historians (with whom private consultations are very costly).

I would love to be able to go up to Massachusetts and New Hampshire for a month and dig around in the county courthouses and old churches for records-- or even better, have someone do that for me and then get to meet with them to have them explain what they've found.

One of these days I will go back to New England and investigate that which I can't find online... but I think we can forget consultations with experts.