Love Bloggo: NBC's Who Do You Think You Are?

Occasionally I worry that because of the synchronization of Glee simultaneously dominating my blog and swirling down the toilet, this place has become far too negative and nitpicky.  I love things, I promise!  And it was recently suggested to me by an anonymous reader that I should share more of the things I love - books, television, music, etc.  

So, in an effort to spruce up this bloggo with positivity and sunshine, I present the first in what will hopefully be a continued trend of sharing random things I love, to balance out the long-winded criticisms occupying the archives.

The first thing you should know about me (which you probably already do) is that I am an extreme nerd.  Now, as we all are aware, there are different types of nerds.  No need to lump us all together in one big category.  There are math nerds, science nerds, video game nerds, comic book nerds, sci-fi nerds, music nerds, film nerds, book nerds, word nerds, history nerds, humanities nerds, art nerds - you get the idea.  I happen to be a conglomeration of the latter five, give or take.  I also happen to be a genealogy nerd.  It sort of combines my love for history and sociology and humanities with my penchant for organization and documentation, with added storyteller and mystery intrigue thrown in.  As such, I am a huge nerd for NBC's Who Do You Think You Are?

It doesn't seem like something that'd ordinarily do well on television: every episode follows a celebrity on a journey to discover their family history.  They talk to a relative to get a few leads, then, as most of them are part of America's historical "melting pot," whisk away to their original homelands to trace the steps.  They meet up with genealogists and hold original documents in awe, and walk the same paths their ancestors did, if they're lucky.  It's part documentary, part reality show, and part mystery hour.

But at the same time, every episode promises intrigue and self-discovery, as every subject inevitably compares their ancestor's circumstances and choices to their own life experiences.  The urge to look at the family that produced you to try and find some similarity in yourself is universal and singularly human, and it's amazing to see the connections people actually legitimately make to their pasts.

Tonight, Who Do You Think You Are? returned with Martin Sheen as its celebrity subject, which means that we also learned the ancestry of Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen!  Sheen traced an uncle on his mother's side to the rabble-rousing half of the Irish Civil War and a great-uncle on his father's to the law-abiding half of Spanish Civil War, and both parties on either side spent significant time in jail.  As a result, this episode quickly became a sober reminder of history's atrocities and how they affected so many people so permanently.  And for me, it's this that is the most powerful aspect of Who Do You Think You Are? and genealogical research in general.  

There are events in human history that bind countless people together, and affect them irreversibly.  Sometimes it's happenstance, like famines and illnesses and outbreaks.  But mostly, it's the dark side of humanity and human actions, where wars reach into every home and disturb a family enough to create a lasting mark on the lives of their descendants, most of whom never even realize. 

So that's what Who Do You Think You Are? is for: for the descendants to understand the realities their ancestors faced, the stories they lived in real life, the seemingly random or mundane events of their life that were woven inextricably into the fabric of their contexts, and dominoed just so, thereby creating the descendant's entire existence, mostly likely taken for granted.

In the case of Martin Sheen, he discovered a half-a-dozen-greats grandfather in Spain that was a judge hellbent on persecuting a young woman in the village who aborted a baby fathered by a married man above her status.  She was lucky enough to escape, and eventually moved away to start a new life in another town.  Then, lo and behold, four generations later, her great-great-great-great granddaughter married her persecutor's great-great-great-great grandson.  And of course, no one realized this until now, when the zoom-out is so cosmic that every piece of information tracked down takes on a strange meant-to-be aura and makes you think about every little thing that happens in your life and how it will affect your future.

So, if you are in fact a history nerd, sociology nerd, mystery nerd, documentary nerd, humanities nerd, genealogy nerd, or OH-MY-GOD-THE-TINIEST-THINGS-BLOW-MY-MIND nerd (like me) -- I highly recommend checking out Who Do You Think You Are?  This season features, along with Martin Sheen, Marisa Tomei, Blair Underwood, Reba McEntire, Rob Lowe, Helen Hunt, Edie Falco, Rashida Jones, Jerome Bettis, Jason Sudeikis, and Paula Deen.  Actually, according to Executive Producer Lisa Kudrow (another reason to love the show, frankly) Rob Lowe's and Marisa Tomei's stories have been in the works since the first season, so I take that to mean they are epic and mysterious!  Tomei's is next week, and the preview hinted strongly at murder and conspiracy theory, so tune in!

(It occurs to me after all this overjoyed plugging that I should make note that I do not work for NBC's Who Do You Think You Are? in any way, shape, or form.  Although, frankly, I would love to.  Your move, Lisa Kudrow.)

Millennials, the Internet, and Adulthood

I am 23 years old.  In general, I'm very happy with when I was born - not that I could really do anything about it if I weren't - but I've found that the process of me growing up has aligned conveniently to the progress made in technology.  I feel fortunate enough to remember a time before the Internet.  I remember the excitement of getting a computer in the house.  I remember the first time someone told me about Google.  I remember floppy disks, and that godawful dial-up noise when your modem was trying to access the Internet.  

But I feel equally as fortunate that I was still young enough during the advent of the Internet that it was easy for me to adapt to the new technology.  It became second nature, so it's not like I'm one of those poor Baby Boomers who still has trouble minimizing windows - but I also get to hold on to that quaint little memory of life, pre-Internet.  I get the best of both worlds, and I'm rather happy about that.

It's true; the Millennial Generation (those born 1982-1995) is the first generation to have their worlds cracked open by the Internet.  It has wholly shaped who we have become as human beings - we've had MySpace, LiveJournal, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr accounts.  We congregate on message boards and forums to share our opinions.  The second we wonder about something, we flock to Google to see what we can learn about it.  And most of us have interacted with strangers from far-off places, to find that we actually have something in common, despite the physical and tangible barriers.  We use the Internet in a specific, recreational way, and I can't help but wonder how this generation is going to grow up.

As it is, I feel like I'm one of the Internet Elderly, at the ripe old age of 23.  I guess that's what I get in exchange for being able to still imitate that damn dial-up noise.  But what happens as people in my age bracket grow up?  Are we going to keep our Twitter and Tumblr accounts?  Are we going to keep reading message boards and joining social networking communities?  Will we be married, with kids, tweeting about how we just made a down payment on a house?

I just can't envision it.  The adults that our generation has grown up with haven't embraced the Internet in that way.  They grew up before it could get to them, and so they are content to keep a modest (if cluttered) Facebook page in order keep in touch with old friends, and to play Farmville.  But past that?  Their Internet usage is significantly less, and manifests itself in a completely different way.  I think it was widely regarded that this trend has to do with age alone - young people love the Internet!  Old people don't!  

But frankly, I think this is not quite accurate.  It's not a hallmark of age, it's a hallmark of generation.  The children of Millennials, and their children's children, will be just as hooked on the Internet as we are - if not worse - and it makes me ask the question: what is the social landscape going to look like when the entire world is made up of people heavily embedded in the Internet?

I don't really have an answer for this question, obviously - my crystal ball's in the shop.  But I must admit, I'm wildly curious to see what will happen as my generation ages.  I'm 23 years old.  I'm supposed to be an adult.  But when I have to spend the length of an average work day away from my computer, all I can think is, "I miss the Internet."  That is currently not widely regarded as the hallmark of an adult.

I guess they don't call us the Peter Pan Generation for nothing.  But every generation after us is going to have the same problem, so we're certainly not going to be alone in this.  Will we all just eventually outgrow the Internet, and the way in which we use it to interact with others?  Or will we be forced to negotiate our real life adulthoods with the virtual existences we've built for ourselves in our younger days?  I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.  Page refresh?

Note: If you'd like to read more about the characteristics of the Millennial Generation, I'm linking the Wikipedia page here.  Because, like any respectable Millennial, I use Wikipedia as a major source of information and think it's totally legit 100% of the time.

A Star Wars Fan's Lament

Here's the thing: it kind of sucks to be a Star Wars fan.  

This idea did not really dawn on me until recently, after growing up a bit and learning to look at the things I've loved since childhood a little more objectively.  And it's not entirely true - "sucks" is perhaps too strong and absolute a word to describe exactly what it's like to be a fan of George Lucas' sprawling saga.

No, the associated malaise is better described as the general angst derived from the fact that these movies can be SO GOOD and also SO BAD.  They giveth, and they taketh away. 

I'll be honest, most of the "taking away" has stemmed from the prequels.  And let me get this out of the way - they're not all bad.  In fact, I was one of those people who got SO. EXCITED. about the prequels and would defend their honor when critics dressed them down, right out of the theaters.

But I've come to learn that every diehard Star Wars fan has to confront the sad realization that the prequels are just... upsetting.  The story of how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader should be the most fascinating, compelling, amazing story, and yet, the prequels tell the underwhelming story of a whiny mama's boy who turns evil because he was weak and things just weren't going his way. 

There are a slew of problems with Episodes I, II, and III, many of which I have of course discussed endlessly with my similarly-minded friends (largely because they're the only ones who'll listen.)  For instance: why are there so many new characters, when we already care so much about the pre-existing ones?  Lucas cluttered up the prequels with useless new characters like Mace Windu and Qui-Gon Jinn and Jar Jar Binks and Darth Maul and Darth Sidious and Jango Fett and General Grievous and it was practically pointless.  Did any of those characters matter?  Not so much.  But did we get anything substantive about Owen and Beru Lars, or Grand Moff Tarkin, or Bail Organa, who were connected to characters we actually cared about?  Or anything meaningful about the Clone Wars, which was even name-dropped in A New Hope?  Of course not.

It's so frustrating that this trilogy spawned a whole expanded universe where the most background of background characters have their own names, species, languages, home planets, and back stories, YET the most basic connections to real characters with interesting conflicts were completely ignored.  Why did Anakin and Padme fall in love?  Beats me.  They just did, because the story required them to.  How uninteresting.  Why did Obi-Wan decide to train Anakin?  Oh, just because his dead master wanted him to.  Oh, okay.  What a compelling reason.  Why did Anakin kill all those little Jedi?  I'm still baffled about that.

The prequels' representation of the Jedi is just baffling on the whole, frankly.  The OT gives us the impression that the Jedi are supposed to think with their heads, not their hearts, which is great and Enlightened and all, but remember when Yoda and Obi-Wan told Luke NOT to save his friends just because it wasn't really in his best interest as a budding Jedi?  That's some cold shit right there, and honestly makes the Jedi a little off-putting.  So of course, the Jedi were ALL like that in the prequels, generally making them rather unlikeable and wooden.  Do you know how hard it is to care about unfeeling characters?  And yet even with Anakin being the one to break this rule, he still turned out boring and unsympathetic.  Why on Earth wasn't it decided that the Jedi used to be emotional, social beings in the prequels, but because Anakin turned out like such a dud/evil, they all died off and Yoda went back on what it originally meant to be a Jedi?  Now, that would be interesting.  Sigh.

All of this basically amounts to the fact that while George Lucas may have fantastic ideas, he often makes terrible creative decisions.  The man who thought up the lightsaber also invented "midi-chlorians."  The mind who created Han Solo also spawned "Little Ani."  The brains behind the Force also bastardized its original meaning and turned the Jedi into annoyingly pedantic and emotionally isolated monks.  It's enough to make one want to put his or her fist through a wall.

And there, ladies and gentlemen, is the angst that comes along with being a Star Wars fan.  There is the magic of C-3PO and R2-D2, and then there's Jar Jar Binks.  There's Princess Leia, who kicks ass straight through her three films, and then there's Padme Amidala, who loses luster in hers and just becomes a casualty of Anakin's storyline.  There's the peaceably powerful puppet Yoda, and then there's the lightsaber-wielding, bouncing-of-the-walls CGI Yoda. We, as fans, have to negotiate the fact that there is so much good and yet so much bad, all wrapped up in one shiny far-off universe.

Yesterday, three diehard devotees (me included) sat down and forced the original trilogy on someone who had never seen them before.  (He had, unfortunately, been exposed to the prequels.)  The following exchange happened, brought on by a rather large continuity error between the prequels and the OT:

Q: "But didn't they watch their own movies before they made the prequels?"
A: "Soon, you will know what it feels like to be a Star Wars fan."

And that's what it feels like: bewilderment at such a grand misinterpretation of what would expand on and honor the original stories, bitterness for the epic disappointment that tastes a little too much like betrayal, and the tiniest hint of foolishness for having such high hopes in the first place.  Star Wars fans are obsessively devoted, so this letdown is awfully damaging.  George Lucas gaveth, and tooketh away.

But at the end of the day, it's still nice to pop in the theatrical release DVDs and watch the twin sunsets, and the first glimpse of the lightsaber, and the Millennium Falcon maneuvering through the Asteroid Field and know that some things can't be ruined.  Some things were taken away, but also a lot of things were given, and it's important to focus on that.  Because  the true tragedy of a Star Wars fan is that through all this bitter angst, there always lies the tiniest bit of optimism.  We fell in love with these stories for a reason, and so we'll always keep going back.

Pop Culture Christmas Haul

Predictably, at least 50% of my Christmas presents are pop culture-related, so I thought I'd share this year's load - a veritable treasure trove! Among the lovely gifts I received:

- DVDs of Mulan, Date Night, The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, and Season 4 of 30 Rock
- magazines devoted entirely to Glee and Joss Whedon (nerd alert!)
- the book "30 Rock and Philosophy," Star Wars playing cards and a WMHS t-shirt (courtesy of my BFF)
- the kickoff of my record collection, including the likes of Nat King Cole and Barbra Streisand (I have old people taste in music; don't hate)

As you can see, Christmastime just increases my pop culture nerdiness. My loved ones are only encouraging me! And I love them for it.

(And yes, I took a nap in the pile of my opened presents. If you've never done it before, I highly recommend it. It increases Christmas contentment by at least 50%.)

Anybody get any good additions to their pop culture collections?

Glee Character Approval Ratings, part trois

Hello, merry readers! It's been a week since I've posted - what a delinquent I've become! I must make it up to you, first in the form of an updated chart of Glee Character Approval Ratings.

Things of note: Brittany continues to lead the pack in likeability, with Kurt not too far behind. But lo! Mike Chang has skyrocketed into Top 3 material! He has slowly and steadily climbed in recent weeks! Quinn's ascent has slowed some, perhaps due to her sudden gooey romance with Sam.

I also want to point out that due to mere coincidence, Sue and Tina currently share the same likeability rating, as do Santana and Emma. I'm not sure what to make of that, on a grander scale, but it makes me giggle. Puck is pulling himself up by his bootstraps after his big "Never Been Kissed" drop, and Will ups and downs more than a yo-yo in the hands of a six-year-old. I refuse to take sides in the Finchel break-up, so Finn and Rachel's changes have been the same in recent weeks, and they currently sit right back at 0, where they started the season. That's fitting, I guess.

Again, these are all my silly opinions based on how much I approve of certain characters on an episode-to-episode basis. I'm not quite sure how Artie managed to sneak into 5th place though. I remember being a little mad at him lately. Oh well.

I promise I'll be back again before another week crawls by! Glee fans, look for an update on Quinn Fabray, and little ode to Tina Cohen-Chang. And if I get really ambitious, I might tackle some shipping woes. But those usually end in me wanting to chuck things at the wall, so for the safety of my possessions, I might have to refrain.

Pop Culture Give Thanks

Lovely readers! I am vacationing for Thanksgiving, and it is entirely probable that this will be a dust-bunny week here at SHE BLOGGO. But, I have a parting gift for you until I return.

I decided, in addition to being thankful for my health, family, friends, and the general good blessings of my life, that I would jot down a few silly pop-culture-related items for which I am thankful.

Left to right, according to turkey feather, I AM THANKFUL...

I. ... that Cougar Town is defying its ill-chosen title by poking fun at it and continuing to be funny as hell. PENNY CAN!

II. ... that Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway are reuniting their lovely chemistry for Love and Other Drugs.

III. ... that Jim Parsons won the Emmy for his work as Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory. I don't even watch that show regularly, and I know he deserved the win.

IV. ... that Nathan Fillion is on my television, on a show that's not in danger of getting canceled! He really is ruggedly handsome. (And the best part of Castle.)

V. ... that Parks and Recreation is coming back! Patience, friends - January 20th, 2011! And not only that, but NBC is expanding their comedy block on Thursdays to be THREE HOURS LONG. That's a lot of funny, and I cannot wait.

VI. ... that Lea Michele sings on my TV every week. I know people are starting to complain of an over-abundance of Lea solos, but I guarantee we're all going to miss hearing her sing every week when Glee goes off the air.

VII. ... for the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I. Enough said.

VIII. ... that Conan is back on my TV, up to his usual tricks. And with more jokes about cable programming.

IX. ... for Chris Colfer. I didn't particularly want to have two Glee-related thanks, but whatever. I love Chris Colfer, and am thankful for his presence on television. He's amazing.

Happy Thanksgiving to all those celebrating! I'll be back in a week!

Glee Character Approval Ratings, part deux

Alright, gang. My somewhat arbitrary character approval ratings are back, updated for "Duets," "Rocky Horror Glee Show," and "Never Been Kissed."

We're really seeing some breaks out of the pack! Kurt, Brittany, and Quinn have separated themselves nicely, and Rachel, Finn, and Will are pulling themselves out of the negatives. Puck, Sue, Santana, and Sam have dipped a bit in recent weeks.

Check it out, math nerds! Who doesn't love a good graph?

Daylight Savings: The Couch Potato's Side Effects

Last night, the entire United States - excluding Hawaii and Arizona - shifted their clocks back one hour to accomodate Daylight Savings Time.

I admit; I don't know much about the why or wherefore, I just generally do what I'm told when it's to do with everyone else in the nation essentially re-synchronizing their watches. Sure, it's annoying getting hungry one hour earlier, and it's disorienting to have it be daylight when I wake up again, but why fight it? It's pointless.

I discovered, though, the worst side effect of Daylight Savings. And by "worst," I mean "the one that demonstrates to me just how addicted I am to pop culture."

Tonight, as it started to get dark, I thought, "I'm hungry! I shall eat." And so I did - a weird microwave burrito which sounded very promising and turned out not to be. Not the point.

Then, when I was done, I noticed that it was suitably dark outside, and my body seemed to say, "Aha! It's time to sit on the couch and watch Dancing with the Stars!"

Except I looked at the clock and it was only 6:24. I drew two conclusions from this information:

1. Dancing with the Stars is not on for another hour and thirty-six minutes. Sigh.

and,

2. My circadian rhythms are adjusted to give me instincts about television programming.

The latter is truly disturbing. But not disturbing enough to actually make me stop indulging in TV. So don't worry, Glee; I haven't canceled our date tomorrow night. Even if you are showing up a full hour later than anticipated.

What Makes "What Makes It Great" Great

I've inadvertently turned this week into Music Appreciation Week here at SHE BLOGGO. But I can't help it, and also I don't care. I love music. Unfortunately, I am kind of stuck in the "appreciation" camp because I don't have a great voice and also I'm pretty terrible at instruments. But, I got good rhythm and I can rock a mean harmony, so there's at least that.

Anywho. I'm getting off point.

After posting the three renditions of "Over the Rainbow" earlier today, I remembered a piece NPR aired a few years ago about why, musically, the song is so amazing. After some fairly basic Googling, I managed to find my way back to the link. Turns out NPR has a series called "What Makes It Great," in which a man by the name of Rob Kapilow analyzes and explains how a particular song uses its melodies to tell an emotional story.

In short, every segment blows my mind. Just listen:

I couldn't help but share. I harp, time and time again, that creativity is decision. Composing music is just a string of choices - the artist's craft. But do I have any idea how composers go about making their creative decisions? Heck no. As much as I can analyze the visual arts with author intention, I can only get starry-eyed at how beautiful some music is. Music theory was never my thing. But Kapilow breaks it down with such enthusiasm and clarity that understanding the beauty is doubly as rewarding as simply appreciating it. Each segment is a revelation.

"Words make you think thoughts. Music makes you feel a feeling. But a song makes you feel a thought." - E.Y. Harburg

Songs are stories, and the best songs use its notes to incite an emotion. It absolutely blows my mind that just by combining together what are essentially frequency vibrations, a melody can obliterate our heartstrings and make us feel the most sublime and complex of emotions. I'm convinced now that all composers are genius and all music belongs on a pedestal. Seriously.

Also, if anyone would like to follow me around on a piano and play the accompaniment to my life, I am currently accepting applications. Just sayin'.

Rocky Horror Picture Fans

The Rocky Horror Picture Show was very much off my radar until about a month ago. Glee's tribute episode to the cult phenomenon was rapidly approaching, and a friend of mine decided to audition for a local production of the show, and suddenly Rocky Horror was everywhere. I decided to be more informed. The plan? Rent the movie, then watch it. Then, watch the Glee episode. Finally, see my friend in the production. Best plan ever! It really was the most sensible way to introduce myself to the Rocky Horror phenomenon.

Well, this plan did not unfold the way I anticipated.

Here I am, a few hours before Glee's tribute, and all I've done is attended the local Rocky Horror shadow cast production. That's right: my first foray into Rocky Horror was going to see it at midnight with a shadow cast.

Perhaps a bad idea. I couldn't focus on the movie at all, because there were a million other things drawing away my attention. Shadow cast members act out the movie as it plays on the screen, and their cohorts are often shouting insults at the onscreen characters at the same time. Audience members are simultaneously yelling back at both the cast and the movie, and throwing rice and toast and cards, and getting up to dance, and all the while I just kept trying to duck under the countless objects flying through the air.

In short: it was kind of a sensory overload.

Do I regret going? Not at all. In fact, I had more fun trying to figure out what the hell was going on whilst getting smacked in the head with a roll of toilet paper than I would have at home by myself in front of the television. It's actually the perfect way to be exposed to Rocky Horror. The show really is nothing without its fan following.

And it's remarkable that such a cult fanbase exists after 35 years. The loyalty and obsession displayed by Rocky Horror devotees is hallmark of the Internet era. The idea that a gaggle of people banded together in love of a piece of pop culture without message boards or forums or Tumblr or LiveJournal seems so impossible to me. And yet Rocky Horror fans did just that - and perpetuated their traditions for almost two decades before any kind of web usage arose.

It boggles my mind, truly. So I say, hats off, Rocky Horror fans. You love a movie that I can only really describe as the 70s gay psychedelic love child of Tim Burton and Baz Luhrmann, and you've loved it in a way that transcends space and time. I still may have no idea what exactly happens in the film, but I know to yell "Slut!" and "Asshole!" when Janet and Brad are onscreen, and I know that the faint smell of bread in the auditorium means the dinner scene is coming. I know about Rocky's famous muscle twitch, and I know to berate the Criminologist about having no neck.

Being surrounded by people who love The Rocky Horror Picture Show so wholly and unconditionally, backwards and forwards, made my whole experience rather charming. I may not be ready to don my fishnets and wig anytime soon, but dammit (Janet!) if I didn't enjoy the hell out of the whole production. And eventually I'll get around to seeing the movie within the comforts of my own home, without worrying about bread-shaped air missiles, and I'm almost certain it'll still be a lovely experience. I'll probably even get up and try to do the Time Warp. It's just a jump to the left, and a step the right, you know.

When Awesomes Collide

Any celebrity who does Sesame Street is instantly 100x more likeable. This puts Amy Poehler's likeability off the charts.

Glee: Character Approval Ratings

What I've noticed this season on Glee is that my favorite characters are shifting a bit. It makes me a bit angry, usually, but I decided to just compartmentalize that and instead make a graph out of it!

Behold, the Glee Character Approval Ratings, as detailed by DR SHE BLOGGO.



Now, I'm not a scientist. My value system is entirely subjective, and the graph is best looked at in the big picture. But look, in the first three episodes: Quinn, Brittany, Santana, and Kurt are on their way up! Rachel, Will, and Finn are tanking. Everyone else is somewhere in the middle, waiting to break out.

Agree? Disagree? I hope to get a new graph up every few episodes to chart the characters. For the record, I judge using mostly character continuity and likeability, but also a little bit with the songs and how the character is portrayed.

In Defense of "Who Do You Think You Are?"

This spring, NBC premiered a show called "Who Do You Think You Are?" which endeavors to do genealogical research about celebrities and uncover interesting stories from their pasts. Frankly, I'm not sure how popular it is, but I've thoroughly enjoyed watching it.

It must be known first that I am a genealogy nerd. I've spent the past year or so trying to decipher the mysteries of my mom's family line, and despite the weird discoveries we've made, I've enjoyed every second of it. So, I'm probably more likely to enjoy this show than others.

I've read, however, a few critiques of the show that I can't entirely disagree with. The first of which being that the show is about celebrities - as if their histories are inherently more interesting than the common person's. Not true. But, I can see why they need celebrities to do this: it's network television. They're familiar faces. If I wanted to turn on the TV and watch, for all intents and purposes, a documentary about some middle-class stranger, I'd watch the History Channel or Discovery. This is NBC. That's not going to fly unless they're trying to win some sort of competition or have strange habits that people can laugh at. (I'm looking at you, "Minute to Win It" and "The Marriage Ref.")

The second main critique is that the show is a touch over-produced, embellishing a bit too much on some stories. There is also some truth to this: the show is a bit too polished. It's like they're trying to edit "Who Do You Think You Are?" to be like "The Biggest Loser" with its intense music and cutaway cliffhangers before commercial. On top of that, the research on each celebrity's family is done ahead of time, and so it predictably feels a bit plotted as the celebrity moves from one researcher to another, each holding the exact document they need in their hands.

But: to me, the show's merits far outweigh its weaknesses. Inevitably, each story that is told is remarkable, and, celebrity or no, watching someone learn more about their past is extremely touching.

The thing about history is this: even just two generations back, there were so many more hardships involved with living every day life. Not to mention in every other generation, there was a major war - and for WWI and WWII it was two in a row. The things you can learn about your ancestors are astounding.

What the show is particularly good at is turning dates on a page into an actual human story. Each celebrity gets to travel to the locations involved in their ancestor's histories, and in doing so, it allows both them and the viewer to understand the reality of what they're learning. These are real stories of real people who got tangled in history, and all that's left of them are vague stories and ink on the page. But they existed, and their existence suddenly becomes hugely important to their descendants, who have embarked on these journeys to know where they've come from. It's a weirdly spiritual experience for these people, and to me, it's an overwhelmingly compelling emotion to watch. And that is where "Who Do You Think You Are?" finds its true value, and why I enjoy watching it.

And also why I end up crying at least three times per episode.