More Celebrities Searching For Roots

An now, for the occasional non-political post on an unimportant (but interesting) subject:

I've seen three versions of the genealogy documentary series "Who Do You Think You Are": I've seen all the episodes of the Israeli version, the first season of the American version, and just one episode of the original BBC series. That one episode of the British show was about Kim Cattrall and her search for her long-lost grandfather, who had abandoned his family when her mother was a young child.

A few days ago, the American version returned to NBC for an 8-episode second season. Interestingly, Kim Cattrall is one of the subjects of this season, and according to Executive Producer Lisa Kudrow's description of Cattrall's story, it looks like they're just re-airing the two-year old episode from the BBC. My guess is that they're going to do some editing, like replacing the British narrator with an American one, and making a slightly more emotional, commercial version than the drier, more strictly documentary-like British origin.

It seems odd to me that the show is recycling an episode from the British version and claiming it as an episode of the new version. Why not announce: "And here, between seasons of the NBC show, let's show you a few episodes from the original BBC series of interest for Americans."

Finding Roots on Television

My previous post was about a new NBC show, "Parenthood", which reminded me of another new show about to debut on that much-maligned network on Friday, March 5. Every episode of "Who Do You Think You Are", a documentary series based on a British show of the same name, takes a different celebrity on a journey to find their roots and uncover unknown facts about their ancestors. Several international versions of this show have been produced in different countries, including in Israel.

I've been fascinated with the Israeli version, where every episode and every celebrity's story and reactions have been very different, even in cases when there were similar family histories (two stories included ancestors serving in the Hungarian Labor Battalions, and in all four episodes that have aired so far, the story of at least one side of the family involved the Holocaust). The episode with comedian Tal Friedman was laugh-out-loud funny, while other celebrities were more somber. Friedman retraced his mother's steps as a young child running across the French-Swiss border alone, only with an even younger boy by her side. Actor Ohad Knoler discovered that one of the scenes in "Munich", a film he appeared in, was filmed in a building designed by his own great-uncle and once owned by his family. Journalist Gabby Gazit discovered the horrible conditions both his parents lived through during the Holocaust. Writer Shifra Horn discovered she was descended from the Moroccan rabbi who re-awakened the Jewish community in Buchara, Uzbekistan. Each one of these celebrities discovered much more information about their families.

Two episodes are left. The promo for Thursday's episode promises actress and TV presenter Michal Yanay will discover a horrible secret. Then a week later, TV psychoanalyst Yoram Yuval, will explore his own roots as well.

The celebrities on the American version will be Lisa Kudrow, who also serves as producer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Susan Sarandon, Spike Lee, Matthew Broderick, Brooke Shields and Emmitt Smith.