DVD Reviews

Who Do You Think You Are?: Season One – DVD Review

By June L. Apr 4, 2011, 14:26 GMT

$To know who you are, you have to know where you came from. In this fascinating reality series, seven celebrities share their life-altering discoveries. Working with genealogists, historians, and researchers, they travel the world to uncover the secrets and surprises in their family trees. Sarah Jessica Parker\'s (Sex and the City) search leads back to the Salem witch trials. Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith follows his slave ancestors to Benin.$

To know who you are, you have to know where you came from. In this fascinating reality series, seven celebrities share their life-altering discoveries. Working with genealogists, historians, and researchers, they travel the world to uncover the secrets and surprises in their family trees. Sarah Jessica Parker\'s (Sex and the City) search leads back to the Salem witch trials. Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith follows his slave ancestors to Benin. ...more

Finding one’s roots, or learning about the generations that came before us is a fascinating course of discovery. In this television reality show, stars trace their families, often with surprises, dramas and much personal satisfaction.

Seven celebrities chosen for this first season of Who Do You Think You Are, made viewers conscious of the infinite rewards of tracing family through working with genealogists, historians and researchers. Questions suddenly have answers, and the mysterious can be explained.

Not all lives are happy, but they all are interesting and have value not only to the descendants, but to the rest of us as a snapshot of the times in which they lived. This show has humor and pathos, reveals strength and determination, love and friendship, and most of all shows that those who have gone before have important roles in our personal history.

It is intoxicating to watch as these well know celebrities find answers to their questions. Sarah Jessica Parker learns about an ancestor who was part of the Salem Witch Trials. Emmitt Smith traced slave ancestors back to Benin. Lisa Kudrow finds answers to questions about her great-grandmother’s life during the time of the Holocaust. Matthew Broderick finds family history in the battlefields of France and America. Booke Shields discovers she has connections to royalty.

Susan Sarandon finds an ancestress who led an intriguing life and Spike Lee has the chance to meet a relative previously unknown to him. Through careful research of both genealogical records, and historical documents, these family moments are made possible. It raises questions in our minds about the past, and what discoveries might be in our own family trees.

Who Do You Think You Are?: Season One is presented by Acorn Media in a nice two disc set, containing all seven episodes. With a running time of the series as approximately 293 minutes, and in widescreen format, this is a program that will be viewed multiple times. Each facet of the research is valuable, and may give hints or information to others searching for ancestor information around the same time periods or geographical areas.

As viewers follow the research, a picture of the time period is also constructed, with social, political, and daily living elements to add to our knowledge. This is a series to collect and enjoy for entertainment and for bringing the past into clearer focus. More like a carefully produced documentary than reality television, this is responsible and intelligent programming.