Comments on: Get Ready For an Encore Performance of NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? (August 13 at 8/7c)

By: Irene Restall

Irene Restall — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:11:01 +0000

I agree that the genealogical content in US series is minimal. eg Susan Sarandon met her last remaining cousin at her ancestral village – all he did was squirm with excitement at meeting a star whose films he had seen – not a long lost relative and info on his family. Watch the British series instead for more depth and less from stars posing. Jessica Parker’s constant shouts of “oh my gahd” was extremely irritating.

By: Enid Jackson

Enid Jackson — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:58:52 +0000

I have spent alot of time trying to piece my family, I watch the show and it is made so easy for the star and they may have payed ,am sure but what about people with little of money that are trying to piece there puzzle together. I can not afford to hired I do not have money so i payed the fee to research on this site and get information and see where it lead me. I have talk to my father who is my only sort

By: Henry Morrow

Henry Morrow — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:09:14 +0000

Yes I did watch all the episodes last year but won’t waste time a second time . They were so unrealistic and portrayed as though Genealogy research was so easy and you always found what you were looking for. The people used were all celebrities and didn’t do the work for themselves. All were rich and could afford to hire any professional they wanted. It seems a publicity stunt to get people excited about who they think they are and sign up for $$$$ to try and find there ancestors when without help there is little chance of finding anyone. If my older brother hadn’t been researching the hard way for the last 45 years and sharing what he already knew I wouldn’t of had a chance finding what I now have .

By: Donna Templeton

Donna Templeton — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:54:29 +0000

I, on the other hand, have thoroughly enjoyed the show. I’ve been doing genealogy for 6 years and find it fascinating. Still trying to find my link to General Robert E. Lee through my gr-x3 grandfather, Edward Lee. I was very disappointed that I did not win the contest, voted every day faithfully! Now, I am disappointed that the show is going to play only “reruns”. Why is that? I was looking forward to all new segments. If you need a new person to look for their roots, I’d be very happy to be the chosen one! By the way, it’s not hard at all to perform genealogy research. Just hook-up to Ancestry.com and they will lead you by the hand! I’ve found tons of info on the site.

By: Gail

Gail — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:17:18 +0000

All of the above comments are valid. The “wow’ comments by Sarah Jessica Parker wore thin very quickly; she must need a script writer to speak intelligently. I did enjoy Lisa Kudrow’s segment, and Matthew Broderick’s (too bad his is not being shown again). The Daughters of the American Revolution gave an annual award for this series. They, of course, are very much into genealogy.

By: Carol A. H.

Carol A. H. — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:20:42 +0000

Oh boy! Get ready for the Ancestry site to be invaded again by a lot of non-serious fly-by-night newbies with unsourced, unresearched family trees. I watched a couple of shows but lost interest quickly so I don’t think repeats will be worth my time.

By: worshacf

worshacf — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:20:29 +0000

Right on Andy!!!!

The series is lacking in content. The “genealogy expert” who the principal movie star seeks help from, is unrealistic.

This is what I don’t like about the series: Average people wouldn’t (1st) spend money to travel somewhere across the US or Europe seeking information about their ancestor, and (2nd) wouldn’t expect an genealogy expert to give us the full detail of our ancestor all laid out ready for our arrival, and (3rd) hopefully wouldn’t simply say is “Oh Wow!” over and over when the genealogy expert tells all.

Personally I have found the series exciting for only those individuals who like to be “in the know” about movie stars.

Andy, you and Lisa #2 are right, perhaps it would be more entertaining and useful if an expert would actually spend the entire segment explaining how genealogical research is performed to our best advantage.

By: Andy Hatchett

Andy Hatchett — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 01:12:51 +0000

Ancestry does *NOT* need to be spending anothre 4.5 million dollars on another TV show when that same money could be used in much better ways for things actually needed. Especially if that TV show is going to be all touchy-feeley and does nothing to educate people as to how to actually do genealogical research.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:35:45 +0000

While it is a heart warming story line, it would be great to see an everyday person discover their roots too. I have enjoyed the series so far and was a little dismayed to find that it was so short. They need more televised genealogy programs to help people explore their family tree that are not “experts”. Having an expert to bring ideas to the table and show us different ways to gather our family history would be very helpful.

By: MikeF

MikeF — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:00:28 +0000

Or one can just go to Hulu.com and watch them online, including the ones not being re-aired on NBC, unless you yanked them recently.

“it will still be worth the time to pop some popcorn and sit back to relive the heart-warming journeys that each of the celebrities experienced”

Popcorn and heart-warming stories. How heart-warming. Seems kind of bad PR when you have to tell folks it is heart-warming.