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Archive through March 26, 2010

Reality TVClubHouse Discussions: Other Reality Shows ARCHIVES: Archives for 2007~2010 WrapUps: Archives for 2010 - 3: Who do you think you are...: Archive through March 26, 2010 users admin

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Twiggyish
Member

08-14-2000

Friday, March 19, 2010 - 5:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twiggyish a private message Print Post    
OMG.. I'm crying watching this about Lisa Kudrow. How awful.

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Friday, March 19, 2010 - 5:44 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
This story is really heartbreaking.

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Friday, March 19, 2010 - 6:04 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
They talk about her great grandmother who died, did they say what happened to her great-grandfather? I missed a bit of the start of the show.

Twiggyish
Member

08-14-2000

Friday, March 19, 2010 - 6:12 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twiggyish a private message Print Post    
I'm not sure, either. Maybe someone will catch that.

Rissa
Member

03-19-2006

Friday, March 19, 2010 - 7:05 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Rissa a private message Print Post    
Lisa's dad was a teen at the time, so his mom must have been mid 30's at least and probably older and her mother mid 50's at least and probably older by a decade or more. I would guess that Lisa's great grandfather had already passed away.

Heartbreaking story.

Brenda1966
Member

07-03-2002

Friday, March 19, 2010 - 8:15 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Brenda1966 a private message Print Post    
Really moving episode tonight. Just devastating to hear about that town and what happened there.

Twinkie
Member

09-24-2002

Friday, March 19, 2010 - 8:45 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twinkie a private message Print Post    
What a show tonight! Very moving and sad. I was shedding tears.

Tishala
Member

08-01-2000

Friday, March 19, 2010 - 11:01 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tishala a private message Print Post    
I know this will sound weird, but I never knew Lisa Kudrow was Jewish until I saw her on Oprah promoting this show. And that's somewhat atypical because Jews have this sort of intra-tribal gossip system where we tell each other who other Jews are. So that came as a surprise to me, I guess in part because her affect has never struck me as remotely Jewish (her father on the other hand....!).

I know that all 4 of my grandparents lost essentially their entire families in pogroms not unlike those that claimed Lisa's grandmother. It was good that she managed to connect with a survivor overseas...there sure aren't many of them, and there really are few of them in Poland, which has always been a rather unfriendly place for Jews. [PBS aired an incredibly moving documentary called Hiding and Seeking about an Orthodox Jew who goes back to Poland to find the family that hid his father (I think) from the Nazis for 2 years. It was a powerful homage to the family patriarch and to the now-elderly woman who saved him from extermination.]

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Saturday, March 20, 2010 - 7:40 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
Tish, I was surprised also, but I'm not in the intra-tribal loop and I can't recall ever questioning whether one celebrity or another was Jewish it's just not something that's on my radar. So I guess I'm surprised that I'm surprised at all - I didn't have any sort of notion of Kudrow's background off-screen. I just know I get a kick out of her on-screen.

But when I tuned in last night I wasn't expecting a genocidal holocaust story. I was depressed enough about last week's episode, with its depiction of the cruelty of slavery, reckoning with the likelihood of a slave-owner as an ancestor to the descendant of a slave, and the reality of research dead-ends for many African Americans. All of my efforts to spread the word of the joy in researching family history has to be tempered by the fact that these stories are out there for many, many people and they can be devastating on multiple levels. Particularly as Kudrow expressed last night, how badly she felt for causing the Polish Ilyea survivor to recall those nightmares. And on the other side of that, there's the pride that Emmitt Smith felt over the accomplishments of his ggg-ma Mariah, and Kudrow's ecstatic reaction at finding her father's cousin alive and thriving with a beautiful home and family all these years later. These are things that can sustain the spirit when researching back through dreadful events. There are still things to be celebrated.

I appreciated last night's focus on finding new/old family, it is a remarkable thing to find whole sets of previously unknown relatives who share a common background and have a different set of archival memories to share about ancestors. They often have photographs and documents that you had no hope continued to exist of relatives, either in common or ancestral. I particularly get a kick out of older relatives who let it all hang out, they speak their opinions and don't care what anyone thinks about it. You can get very, very differing views of the same person you are researching from interview to interview. At the same time they often have to be approached with delicacy, because the people you are asking about often aren't just names on paper to them, they are people who they knew and loved and miss dreadfully.

It would have been nice if the show had time to go back further with Kudrow's research to show the records that may still exist for people who might embark on research affected by the holocaust. Many records that otherwise would have been destroyed were deposited with Salt Lake, there cannot be enough said for the Latter Day Saints' tireless efforts to preserve records that assist us all in tracking our ancestry.

There is a reason why research into African American, Jewish and American Indian ancestries are their own disciplines in genealogy - it's because of the creativity one has to possess to skirt around the absence of typical records and knowledge of alternative sources that may exist. Particularly in Jewish ancestry knowledge of tradition and knowledge of the languages is essential to deciphering records and predicting behavior that may lead to the next clue.

This has been a pair of very interesting shows. Although I'll always wish for the depiction of more extensive research on each of the shows, I am growing to appreciate the manner in which Ancestry.com is unfurling it's effort to draw a new fan base in genealogy.

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Saturday, March 20, 2010 - 7:53 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
I think it was on Oprah that they showed a fair amount of Brooke Shield's ancestry hunt in promoing the series. IIRC, that takes her down an interesting (pleasant) road.

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Saturday, March 20, 2010 - 11:04 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ladytex a private message Print Post    
On this same theme, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints presented Michelle Obama with 5 volumes of her family history this past week. I wish I could get a look at it ...

Mameblanche
Member

08-24-2002

Monday, March 22, 2010 - 3:09 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mameblanche a private message Print Post    
Missed Kudrow's ep. Will it be repeated or possibly be available to watch online?

Kookliebird
Member

08-04-2005

Monday, March 22, 2010 - 4:18 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kookliebird a private message Print Post    
Isn't Lisa Kudrow one of the producers of this show? I think it's an interesting undertaking and really provides a different view of celebrities.

Next week is Matthew Broderick. I'm not sure that I will be too interested in that one, but I'll try just to see.

Curlyq
Member

07-10-2002

Monday, March 22, 2010 - 4:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Curlyq a private message Print Post    
I'm loving this show. It would've been nice to see them go back further in Kudrow's tree, but I know sometimes the family mysteries that most need solving weren't that long ago.

I had posted a few weeks ago how hard it is to find Puerto Rican records and how I was still unsure if my great-grandfather was born in England, Santa Cruz, St. Thomas, or Denmark. I went back to Ancestry.com and thanks to the posters at their forums I found my way to the St. Croix (once called "Santa Cruz") census records at a separate site. I think I found my great-grandfather and 3 more generations of that side of the family. They were all living together. Everything fits, except that I need documentation confirming that his parents names matched those in the census records. I was so excited. If these are the right people, it would at least take me to the late 1700's.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next episode. I tend to need a little push sometimes to keep searching, and these shows are inspirational.

Jgalt
Member

02-17-2009

Monday, March 22, 2010 - 7:30 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jgalt a private message Print Post    
I've been working on family genealogy for 30 years. I've gone back as least 14 generations in many lines, stuck on one line just 4 generations. To do this work you really have to do a hands on type of research, going to libraries, genealogical societies, research facilities, making hundreds and hundreds of copies, tons of phone calls, join genealogical societies, visiting cemetaries, other states, and getting help in other countries. I must own over 100 genealogical books. I'm afraid you can't believe 100% what you see on the net, although I have published some of my research there to help others and save them time and money.

I made a huge mistake once. I was contacted through an online research group by a guy who wanted to borrow my $100.00 limited circulation research book on our common family line. I trusted him and sent it too him, glad I could help out, and save him a ton of money. I never heard from him again, and I can't find him. So beware.

I love how people are becoming interested in their family trees. It's so facinating, and you learn so much history. I'm eligible for the DAR, and Ark and Dove, and many others ( like most of us are!) but I haven't joined, I just enjoy solving the mysteries. I also think this gives you a real love for your country and it's roots, the democratic system, and the people who made our country strong. I guess that's why I'm so saddened by what's happening to America today. I'll just stop right here before I get into trouble. Good luck everyone in your research.

Puzzled
Member

08-27-2001

Monday, March 22, 2010 - 9:01 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Puzzled a private message Print Post    
We had hit a wall on trying to figure out where our crazy last name came from, but a real genealogist whose mother had the same name had all the info.

I'm eligible for both the DAR and the UELs. LOL.

Rissa
Member

03-19-2006

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 4:44 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Rissa a private message Print Post    
I've gone back as least 14 generations in many lines, stuck on one line just 4 generations.

Made me laugh - my husband has a Smith in his direct line. A SMITH!!! How freakin' dare he do that to me? When I first saw that name in a record (it's a woman to boot - sigh) I just smacked my forehead. Done in by a Smith. RFLOL

Riviere
Member

09-09-2000

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 8:01 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Riviere a private message Print Post    
Great show!!! I also descend from 5 unrelated lines of SMITH though the most recent was 200 years ago and originally SCHMIDT. Years ago TV had a show about the Baldwin actor brothers of NY and their immigrant ancestor. Fascinating!!! I'm surprised more people aren't interested in their ancestry. Naturally you find sorrow (my own 2nd great grandma perished in WW1 Belgium) but the new relationships are so rewarding. Sometimes stunning! Years ago I had a 'best friend' who was a year older with blond curly hair, from a different town. We dated two cousins from a town in the middle. Her guy broke up with her, I broke up with my guy, guess who started dating to console each other? Yeah so they ended up getting married and only 34 years passed until I learned: she was my cousin but neither of us knew that. The link was long gone since our families didn't keep oral history much less write about it... I lived a year up in Houghton Lake, MI, as a child and our neighbor was a nice older woman named Leona. She had the first color TV set I'd ever seen and let me watch parades on it. She said it was a gift from her nephew Burt who was an actor. She taught me to play poker, too. I'd see plenty of Burt (Reynolds) on TV later on...


Trini
Member

07-06-2004

Thursday, March 25, 2010 - 7:20 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Trini a private message Print Post    
I also cried during Lisa Kudrow, this show is raw, I appreciate this show.

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Friday, March 26, 2010 - 8:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
Reminder - New episode tonight. Matthew Broderick.

That's a fun story about Burt Reynolds, Riviere.

Aurora
Member

11-24-2006

Friday, March 26, 2010 - 9:16 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Aurora a private message Print Post    
I'm afraid I'm going to be disappointed in tonight's show. Matthew's story doesn't sound as compelling as the last two.

Mameblanche
Member

08-24-2002

Friday, March 26, 2010 - 3:20 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mameblanche a private message Print Post    
I just discovered that City TV in Canada has this show. So I`ll be watching tonight`s ep. But I still can`t find the Lisa Kudrow ep online that`s avail to Canadians. Bummer.

Aurora
Member

11-24-2006

Friday, March 26, 2010 - 6:06 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Aurora a private message Print Post    
I'm afraid I'm going to be disappointed in tonight's show.

Well, I was wrong. Another moving episode. Interesting that there is a Union cemetery outside of Marietta, GA.

And next week Brooke Shields discovers she's a distant cousin of Louie XIV.

Mameblanche
Member

08-24-2002

Friday, March 26, 2010 - 7:36 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mameblanche a private message Print Post    
Oh my I enjoyed tonights show. So far I've seen this one and Emmet Smith's. Love this show.

Kookliebird
Member

08-04-2005

Friday, March 26, 2010 - 8:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kookliebird a private message Print Post    
I'm surprised that I liked it too. Not a Matthew Broderick fan at all, but it was certainly interesting.