Pet Peeves: WDYTYA? Edition

These Who Do You Think You Are? pet peeves are not about the show itself but rather the "Me! Me! Me!" fans. I know, you're shocked.


I love you. Now change.

The show is amazing but they should change it and feature regular people. They should listen to ME since my idea is so original.

I'd volunteer.

After the show is completely revamped they will need people to feature so why not ME? The producers will have to beg people to participate just to fill a single season so they will appreciate ME offering to be the recipient of free research, free travel, and national exposure. Look at ME being completely selfless.

Everyone would want to watch ME.

Once this show happens there is no question that they would pick ME. An episode about ME would be just as interesting as Gwenyth Paltrow's or Tim McGraw's and would definitely draw the same number of viewers.

Behind my brick wall is an amazing story.

No one knows what is behind that brick wall but it would definitely make for the most amazing television show you have ever seen. The research blocks couldn't possibly be because the family has been peasant farmers for 10 generations. Doesn't matter, a show about ME would be completely fascinating.


This is what goes through my head when I read comments from WDYTYA? fans. I really should stop reading them.


Related Material: Interview with Lisa Kudrow (Aug 2014)
                             Interview with Dan Bucatinsky

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Another WDYTYA? Rant

Cindy Crawford on Who Do You Think You Are?:

"That's really incredible to go back that far
on my first day really, doing this."

"I think this sets the bar really high for a first day.
I've already gone back to 1633..."

Bless her heart. Sweetie, you didn't do anything. A group of professional genealogists worked for 1000 hours so you could get that far in a day. This was an episode to make clickophiles feel good about themselves. I can hear it now, "Well if Cindy Crawford could get to Charlemagne in an hour why don't you believe I got there during my 14-day free trial?"

There was no mention of any of the important sources used to make that huge jump to Charlemagne and no explanation of the "unestablished" notations on the behemoth scroll she was given.

Screen caps after the jump.

Ordinary People

The complaints about Who Do You Think You Are? not using "ordinary people" are becoming as annoying as playing cello on Pachelbel's Canon for a wedding with a dozen bridesmaids. (If you don't get that there's an explanation in the video at the end of this post.)
After the jump I take on the whiners.

What's Happening?

Sorry that there is no crazy tree today. THIS is what I've been working on this week. Please bookmark and share! I love that there's such a wide variety of videos available online. If I haven't found your favorite genealogy video or YouTube channel yet let me know so I can add it to the bunch.

Here are some interesting links that have crossed my path this week...

Kerry over at Clue Wagon has made Family Tree Magazine's list of 40 Best Blogs! Check out the May/June issue for the list. Kerry's posts never fail to make me lau-SQUIRREL!

Get the handouts from this year's Who Do You Think You Are? Live.

WDYTYA? is coming back to American television! Between that and Family Tree, Christopher Guest's new show on HBO, I just might get cable.

The Ginger Jewish Genealogist has found the most depressing death certificate I've ever seen.

FamilySearch has revamped their website and it has some people concerned. (I haven't had a chance to explore the new site.)

Rootsonomy now has a researcher in Ireland! They haven't updated their web page yet but they made the announcement yesterday on their Facebook page. "Cost for Irish lookups is $20. Records will be emailed to you within a couple days. To submit your request, click the button "Request Research or a Lookup" on this Facebook page." Lookups are limited to these records:
• Births, marriages, deaths for 32 counties, Jan 1864 to Dec 1921
• Births, marriages, deaths for 26 counties, Jan 1922 to Mar 2013
• non-Catholic marriages, April 1845 to 2013
• Catholic marriages, April 1864 to 2013

I'll leave you with this great graphic from got genealogy?

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A Must Read Book for 'Newbies'

On St. Patrick's Day I pulled out the WDYTYA? companion book again. Just wanted to read the bit in Chapter 8 about Megan's search for President Obama's Irish ancestors. I decided to read it again from the beginning since I hadn't pulled it out in a while. Is there a way to make this book required reading for anyone who wants to start working on their family tree? In just the first twenty pages she covers a majority of the pitfalls for newbies. In one section of Chapter 1, "Don't Believe Everything You Read or Hear," she succinctly debunks these common genealogical myths:

1. Our name was changed at Ellis Island.
2. We're descended from a Cherokee princess.
3. Three brothers came to America. One went north, one went south, and one went west.
4. Here's your coat of arms!

After the jump is an excerpt from Chapter 1 that I think is spot on for this blog ;-)
Seriously, go get a copy.

Dear WDYTYA?

Today's post isn't so much a tip as it's a plea to Who Do You Think You Are? to provide us with tips. I'm sending this letter to the show and hope others will too. Go HERE.
Look down the page for the "Select Show" dropdown. Once you select a show the message box will appear.
Here's the email I sent:

Dear Alex, Lisa, Dan, Jennifer and Al,
I would love to see a fact sheet for each episode. Some facts that would be interesting and helpful:
Number of genealogists employed ___
Number of total research hours ___
Number of online research hours ___
Number of states visited (for research) ___
Number of countries visited (for research) ___
List of documents used ____________________________________________
List of repositories for those documents (on and off line)____________________________________________
Information provided by featured guest (a checklist to see how much information they already knew):
___ Paternal Grandfather’s birth date/place
___ Maternal Grandfather’s birth date/place
___ Paternal Grandmother’s birth date/place
___ Maternal Grandmother’s birth date/place
___ Paternal Great-Grandfather’s birth date/place
___ Maternal Great-Grandfather’s birth date/place
___ Paternal Great-Grandmother’s birth date/place
___ Maternal Great-Grandmother’s birth date/place
ETC.

I hope you'll consider providing this information to your many genealogy obsessed fans.
Thanks!

UPDATE: I only got error messages on the NBC website. On their corporate site I found a link and sent a message about the website errors. Instead I'll be posting this on the WDYTYA? Facebook page and on Dan's Facebook page. If you're able to send a message through the NBC site please let me know. Also, if you wouldn't mind, let me know your platform and browser. I'm using Firefox 6 on a Mac so maybe that's an issue.


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