Can You Feel It?

Here it is, the beginning of February and I can feel the excitement in the air. Genealogy has come to prime time television. Finally I have a great visual aid to help me explain to my family and friends why genealogical and historical research is such a passion for me. For years they have given me the "eye-roll", the heavy sighing and the most dreaded "glazing over of the eyes while smiling and nodding" any time the subject came up.

Harvard scholar, Henry Louis Gates did a series of genealogy programs for PBS awhile back called "African American Lives" which were so well received that he is back with a new series called "American Faces." Using the latest tools of genealogy and genetics, he will explore the family histories of 12 famous Americans that include Stephen Colbert, Meryl Streep, Yo-Yo Ma, Queen Noor and Kristi Yamaguchi. The series premiers on Wednesday, February 10th at 8:00 PM EST. You can watch a 3 minute video clip by clicking here.

Only 30 more days until the premier of the show every genealogist has been eagerly awaiting. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" will finally make its debut on Friday, March 5th at 8:00 PM on NBC. Matthew Broderick, Lisa Kudrow, Spike Lee, Sarah Jessica Parker, Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields and Emmitt Smith are the celebrities that will take the journey into the past to discover their family history and how many of them tie into events from American history. NBC has 3 short video clips you can watch here. If the show is even a smidge as good as these video clips. . . well just watch them yourself and you'll see what I mean.

I really feel that this show will make family history and historical research irresistible. The impact from the show on the genealogical community is going to be huge. I can feel it in my bones!