Driad

CeCe Moore's article about the DNA-focused season finale. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/blog/season-wrap-finally-dna-takes-center-stage/

Crossovers -- I prefer not to see them either, partly because so many are a show I watch plus a show I don't watch. But fanfiction writers can do crossovers and anything else. There may be some good fics around. Someone might want to start a fanfic thread to point out fics that are worth a look.

C.J. Cregg: They sent me two turkeys. The more photo-friendly of the two gets a Presidential pardon and a full life at a children's zoo. The runner-up gets eaten. President Josiah Bartlet: If the Oscars were like that, I'd watch.

TV writers seem to think it's cute to have people cooking and/or eating in labs, but having worked in labs I find it annoying. (1) There are poisonous materials in the lab that might accidentally drift into the food, even if the cook uses brand new glassware. (2) Labs like this are subject to surprise inspections from several government agencies; if an inspector found even a gum wrapper in the trash in my lab we could have lost our radiation license.

They almost fooled me into thinking the dead guy's brother was the culprit, because he said dead brother *was* a workaholic. In TV crime dramas, innocent bereaved people use the present tense. But he was too early in the episode, the first person they talked to, so he wasn't guilty after all. Maybe I have seen too many TV crime dramas. Gates's little glasses pushed down on her nose looked uncomfortable. If she needs glasses only for close work she should get half frames. Yay, Old Haunt! Wish we had seen it.

Tomorrow's episode, the season finale, will focus on DNA. http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/2014/11/dont-miss-special-dna-themed-episode-of.html

I'd be pleased if we never saw the family again. Would be fun to hear Arm Candy's latest accomplishments occasionally. "Too bad I have to be in Argentina on Tuesday; I'll miss seeing him walk a tightrope from Mount Everest to K2. At least I'll be home in time to hear him perform all four parts of the string quartet he wrote."

We know that Howard's master's degree is from MIT, but where did he go for undergrad?

AIUI, many NA groups took in non-NAs, ranging from children captured in raids to people escaping from slavery. So it was possible to be culturally NA without being genetically NA.

About Dre's mother saying she was Zulu and Native American -- didn't Oprah Winfrey say she thought she had Zulu ancestry but the DNA test showed she doesn't? Henry Louis Gates, on his "Finding Your Roots" show, has said that many African Americans think they have Native American ancestry but most do not actually have it according to DNA tests.

The DNA of the Jewish guests was tested. The DNA thread has a link to an article.

It aired on the east coast of the US, at least where I am. So if you would like to start a discussion, go ahead!

Yes, that is the scheduled episode. We'll see whether it will actually air tonight. Some schedule sites have removed BBT from the grid.

Has anyone heard whether we will see an episode tonight? President Obama is scheduled to speak about immigration at 8 PM Eastern time. CBS might just delay all the evening shows, or skip BBT, or skip one of the other sitcoms. If they skip a show on the east coast, historically they will air a rerun of that show in other time zones rather than a new ep. Hoping that the speech is short and we can see BBT. (I don't watch any of the other sitcoms.)

A little peeve: Walter having to tell the team "You figure out how they built the bomb, you analyze the software," or whatever. These people know their specialties. It feels as if the writers have to keep reminding us that Walter is the team leader. It would be more realistic to me if they chime in "I'll do X" etc. and Walter would occasionally say "The most important thing is Y, do that first."

Jay's complaints about spending too much time with the other two families would have sounded better it any of the families had seen each other in the past several episodes.

For Boston viewers --- WBZ TV has Jeopardy scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 PM. Description: "The 2014 Tournament of Champions concludes with the final championship round. The winner receives a grand prize of $250,000." I hope this is true. WBZ loves to preempt Jeopardy for football, elections, shiny things, etc.

The PBS site for this show is http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/ "Behind the Scenes" has many resources including DNA articles.

My family has a line of Puritan ancestors, and our saying is that the Puritans came to America to have the freedom to persecute other people for their religion. And a riddle -- Q: If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring? A: Pilgrims.

The wardrobe department at least chose the mathematician's shirt well. Not that it was attractive, but it's what he would likely have worn in college, and those shirts have so much polyester that they last many years. If he had a good rayon shirt he might have kept it on.

The "Stop the execution!" scene was not in the book. IIRC, the confession appeared right as the trial ended, and the judge reversed the conviction in the courtroom.

From CeCe Moore: "The episode that aired last week with Carole King, Alan Dershowitz and Tony Kushner did not include any DNA research, but that doesn’t mean that I hesitated to delve into their genetic genealogy. In fact, a short segment featuring Alan is included in the special DNA-themed last episode scheduled to air on November 25." more at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/blog/ashkenazi-jewish-dna-potential-piece-together-shattered-family-branches/ "Ashkenazi Jewish DNA and the Potential to Piece Together Shattered Family Branches"

Since Kitty has an animal name anyway, can we call her Poochie? http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Poochie Maybe she will have the same story line.

Has anyone heard the name Nitoja or Natja? According to a friend's family's oral history, their enslaved ancestress had that name. She was brought to the US as a girl in the 1840s. Of course her name may not have been exactly that, but likely a similar name.

If we're listing all the food that ever appeared in TWW, please include a pot of chili and a five-gallon tub of ice cream with two spoons.