Who Do You Think You Are: Season 2

A Journey Into the Past
In the second season of this one-hour documentary series, eight popular celebrities (Vanessa Williams, Tim McGraw, Rosie O'Donnell, Kim Cattrall, Lionel Richie, Steve Buscemi, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd) look back through time, exploring their ancestral histories and sharing their life-altering discoveries.

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? plays like a fascinating mystery, as stars travel cross-country and, in some cases, across the globe to learn the stories of their ancestors.

Vanessa Williams, for example, discovers that one of her ancestors was a former slave, who later served in his state's legislature.

In a later episode, Tim McGraw finds out that one of his great great grandfathers was an associate of George Washington.

Aside from being entertaining, this documentary series is also a helpful "how to" guide for viewers who might wish to explore their own ancestral roots. The various historians explain how old census records and visits...

Historical, Entertaining, Genealogist's elation
An episode accidentally provided a link to my own past. This is good stuff for those interested in genealogy, history, &/or lives of entertainment stars. The largest downfall of this series is the fact that they make the research look so easy. For most of us, it is years of digging. Stars, and the show, spend tens of thousands getting their ancestry story.
For me, this season was a gold mine. On an antique document shown on camera, I noticed a potential link (a name, right place & time) of one line of my own family and their probable Europe to America crossing. A needle found in a haystack. You probably will not get that lucky. But you can enjoy celebrities' family searches using highly trained professionals. Some connected to significant moments of American history.

SUBTITLES for Season 2's 8 new celebrity searches aired in early 2011. Safe family viewing.

If you're a person who's interested in seeing where people came from and what made them what they are...

Second season of reality show - fascinating - but could use some editing.
This is the second season of the NBC TV "genealogy" series "executive produced" by actress Lisa Kudrow. I reviewed the first season here on Amazon when it was released. This second season is similar to the first - but with a different array of celebrities searching for their ancestry.

Like all reality TV shows, once one becomes a hit there are copycat shows. I'm not sure which came first (and it really doesn't matter) but there is a similar show that aired on PBS (and on DVD, of course) titled "Faces of America" in the first season and "Finding Your Roots" in the second season. I've been watching both second season DVDs and enjoying both. I thought I'd point out the differences in both of my reviews.

Since "Who Do You Think You Are?" (WDYTYA) is on a commercial network, it obviously had commercials. With those deleted for the DVD, each episode runs only 42 minutes. And, because the producers want you to remember what happened before each commercial break...

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