Season 9: All Episode Talk

[ChicagoCita]

I loved the snark of the camera showing his massive eyeroll when the translator said, "It's all Greek to you."

I felt like I was watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding at times.

What a very sweet woman his father's cousin was.

[Ina123]

The best WDYTYA ever. So loving. What an experience that must have been for john Stamos.

[luna1122]

6 hours ago, ChicagoCita said:

I loved the snark of the camera showing his massive eyeroll when the translator said, "It's all Greek to you."

I felt like I was watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding at times.

What a very sweet woman his father's cousin was.

To be honest, tho the eyeroll was funny and something I totally would have done, I thought a little less of him for allowing it to be so obvious. He could have inwardly eyerolled--I personally do it a thousand times a day, every day--and not let the camera capture it. That woman was just trying to help him, she's not a celebrity, and so her joke was corny--it was unkind to let the camera catch it. I felt bad for her, even if the eyeroll was deserved.

That said, it was a nice episode and the scenery---both Greece and Stamos, who wins in the who ages less, John Stamos or Rob Lowe? battle--was really lovely.

[Granny58]

On 4/3/2017 at 8:03 AM, Chicklet said:

I liked this one, she was engaged and quite engaging. I can understand her shock about finding out about her Jewish ancestors as I had the same experience. I didn't get the idea that she decided to be Jewish just because they were, it sounded like she wanted to find out more about it.

It occurred to me only this morning (04/17) her last name was Biel and there were the famous Bielski Brothers from the same part of Eastern Europe (check out the movie with Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell), Jewish resistance fighters.  I wonder if Biel is the shortened version of Bielski and there is a connection. 

[DkNNy79]

9 hours ago, Katydid said:

That was quite a story. And then the realization that in naming John after his grandfather, his parents were unknowingly giving him the name of his great-grandfather's murderer.  Loved the sweet connection between John and his relative at the end.

Since the great grandmother tried to get her husband's killer's name off record as god-father, I'm assuming his grandfather knew who killed his father.  So, why name his son after the killer?   

I wonder if that village knew of John's celebrity and his connection to them?  Since 1/2 the village are Stamostapoulis (sp?).

Kinda like the episode where Lisa Kudrow found some distant relatives and they knew she was on Friends.

[BusyOctober]

Loved this episode with John Stamos!  I never had feelings one way or the other about him as an actor or celebrity, but he was adorable in this.  Loved his connection with his Greek cousin. Loved the little woman still whispering in the graveyard b/c the ancestors didn't want to talk about/hear the killer's name.  Very sweet story overall, despite the tragic murder of his GG.  I was kind of surprise that he said he couldn't read Greek.  I figured at some point in his life his father would have encouraged the kids (or at least the son) to go to "Greek School".  I have Greek American friends who are in their 40's & 50's and they all had to go to Greek School...and work in the family restaurants on the weekends!

[Galloway Cave]

"You are like my little boy. Here is the key to the house."  {Walks off hand-in-hand to view the ancestors in the massive cemetery.} Can genealogy get any better than this?

Overall, this season has been very good. A good mix of history lessons and personal stories, close relatives and distant history. Hoping the Tylers knock it out of the park next week!

[zenme]

Yeah, I think it's going to a good episode next week. How much you wanna bet Steve is going to go off into an acapella tune? He does it every. Single. Time. I've seen him in an interview. Lovely Liv balances his in your face personality very well.

[Jadzia]

3 hours ago, DkNNy79 said:

I wonder if that village knew of John's celebrity and his connection to them?  Since 1/2 the village are Stamostapoulis (sp?).

I loved this episode and I wish they would do this more - find living relatives and reunite them. It's heartwarming to see and I always wonder if these people with famous relatives have any clue who they are related to. Also, I think doing this more would help address some of the criticisms I have read of the show, that is "why help only famous people with their genealogy?" By tying in the celebrity's genealogy with living people it would show how this research helps not just the rich and famous but ordinary people as well.

[iMonrey]

Quote

To be honest, tho the eyeroll was funny and something I totally would have done, I thought a little less of him for allowing it to be so obvious. He could have inwardly eyerolled--I personally do it a thousand times a day, every day--and not let the camera capture it.

I found Stamos to be kind of "on" through the whole episode, playing for the camera, and found it off-putting. 

That said, I agree this has been a strong season overall because they have consistently focused on grandparents and great-grandparents, and the connection feels a lot stronger that the ones where they hopscotch back along the family tree until they find someone interesting (Courtney Cox). 

[ElleMo]

4 hours ago, DkNNy79 said:

Since the great grandmother tried to get her husband's killer's name off record as god-father, I'm assuming his grandfather knew who killed his father.  So, why name his son after the killer?   

I wonder if that village knew of John's celebrity and his connection to them?  Since 1/2 the village are Stamostapoulis (sp?).

Kinda like the episode where Lisa Kudrow found some distant relatives and they knew she was on Friends.

 

John Stamos' father was William and was born in the US.  John had never heard the story before so perhaps William never knew.  Or perhaps Willian knew part of the story but not the name of his father's godfather/grandfather's killer and thought he was killed in disagreement.

The cousin may know facts that the grandfather was unaware of.   I wouldn't think it unusual for the family/entire town to talk about this event among everyone except the wife and child of the murdered man.   Just because the priest didn't let the mom change the godfather, it doesn't mean that  she didn't try to do it on her own. She may have told  Iohannes that he was named after another Iohannes - uncle, cousin, St. John, etc)  I don't think it is an uncommon name in Greece -  it's a biblical name.

[oucellogal]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Quote

To be honest, tho the eyeroll was funny and something I totally would have done, I thought a little less of him for allowing it to be so obvious. He could have inwardly eyerolled--I personally do it a thousand times a day, every day--and not let the camera capture it.

I found Stamos to be kind of "on" through the whole episode, playing for the camera, and found it off-putting. 

I agree with both of you. I loved the story, the murder mystery, his tough-as-nails great-grandma Georgitsa, the scenery, and of course his adorable cousin, I found John Stamos himself to be a little annoying at times. It wasn't enough to ruin a very good episode for me, but I found myself wishing he'd just stop playing to the camera all the time. (That said, when he was with his sisters, he seemed more at ease, and I really liked him in those bits).

[Shannon L.]

45 minutes ago, oucellogal said:

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Quote

To be honest, tho the eyeroll was funny and something I totally would have done, I thought a little less of him for allowing it to be so obvious. He could have inwardly eyerolled--I personally do it a thousand times a day, every day--and not let the camera capture it.

I found Stamos to be kind of "on" through the whole episode, playing for the camera, and found it off-putting. 

I agree with both of you. I loved the story, the murder mystery, his tough-as-nails great-grandma Georgitsa, the scenery, and of course his adorable cousin, I found John Stamos himself to be a little annoying at times. It wasn't enough to ruin a very good episode for me, but I found myself wishing he'd just stop playing to the camera all the time. (That said, when he was with his sisters, he seemed more at ease, and I really liked him in those bits).

Add me to the list.  My husband and I even found him to be a bit melodramatic at times.  On occasion I got the impression that he would rather be anywhere else and even frustrated with some of what he was being told or what they couldn't tell him.  I also got the sense that he wasn't too bright and, (completely unrelated to his IQ), wondered if he may have some sort of learning disability that he compensates for by repeating every single thing that everyone was saying.  Maybe he's a verbal learner?  My son used to have to repeat things to himself to get them to sink in (but it didn't last long).  I tried to keep that possibility in mind when I was listening to him, but it was tough. 

Having said that, I think he's probably a nice person and liked that he was able to meet a cousin (I love those episodes in particular*) and she was the sweetest lady.  I also don't think he was as irritating as Julie Bowan, who felt was playing for the camera, too.

*My favorite "meeting a relative" moment was Angie Harmon.

[iMonrey]

There are probably just some actors like Stamos who automatically go into acting mode whenever a camera is pointed at them. They really aren't able to let down their guard and just be themselves, they have to "perform" whenever they're on camera. That's the way I felt about Stamos, like he was playing a part.

[BookThief]

3 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

I also got the sense that he wasn't too bright and, (completely unrelated to his IQ), wondered if he may have some sort of learning disability that he compensates for by repeating every single thing that everyone was saying.  Maybe he's a verbal learner?  My son used to have to repeat things to himself to get them to sink in (but it didn't last long).  I tried to keep that possibility in mind when I was listening to him, but it was tough. 

A few thoughts ran through my head...one, that he's a mimic. Not in a mean way, but just sort of identifies with/understands the person by mirroring them. And I wondered if he may also be hard of hearing. He made a few faces/head movements that my mom does when trying to listen to what I'm saying sometimes. And maybe having another language (that he can understand a bit of) and also English may have been a lot to take in.

And going back to Jessica Biel's, the historian on the show I know was in that episode. The one she met before she went to Alton. I mentioned how I found it surprising the Alton guy said they didn't know the names of those that were killed in the escape but happened to know her relative. He said they actually did know but it was left out for maybe time or whatever reasons. Not really sure why they had to say anything about knowing/not knowing the other names if that's true. That's "reality" TV for ya!

[sskrill]

12 hours ago, luna1122 said:

To be honest, tho the eyeroll was funny and something I totally would have done, I thought a little less of him for allowing it to be so obvious. He could have inwardly eyerolled--I personally do it a thousand times a day, every day--and not let the camera capture it. That woman was just trying to help him, she's not a celebrity, and so her joke was corny--it was unkind to let the camera catch it. I felt bad for her, even if the eyeroll was deserved.

That said, it was a nice episode and the scenery---both Greece and Stamos, who wins in the who ages less, John Stamos or Rob Lowe? battle--was really lovely.

I have to admit that put me off right away - it was uncalled for and rude.  I'd always heard nice things about him but through the first half of the episode I found him unlikable.  He became a lot more likable when he got to Greece.  He was so open to meeting the 2 women before he even knew he was related to them - and he greeted them so warmly.

I wonder if maybe he's just kind of shy and thats how it manifested.  It was like he knew the women in Greece might not know him as a celebrity so he was a bit more at ease.  

[MrsWitter]

6 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

Having said that, I think he's probably a nice person

Unfortunately, I think he's actually a pretty bad guy (which I hate as a major childhood fan of Full House).    I won't go into all the details here, but you can just google "John Stamos" and "Jane magazine" and you can read where he personally confessed to being an accessory to a sexual assault.  I read it back when it first came out and I've been disturbed since then that he remains such a sex symbol.

I really loved his family story and him meeting a cousin and thought this was one of the stronger episodes.  But little things, like him complementing the appearance of his cousin and discussions about the male-dominance of Greek society, kept reminding me what a creep he is.

I'm looking forward to Liv next week!

[Snarklepuss]

2 hours ago, MrsWitter said:

Unfortunately, I think he's actually a pretty bad guy (which I hate as a major childhood fan of Full House).    I won't go into all the details here, but you can just google "John Stamos" and "Jane magazine" and you can read where he personally confessed to being an accessory to a sexual assault.  I read it back when it first came out and I've been disturbed since then that he remains such a sex symbol.

I've known who John Stamos is since his very first day on "General Hospital" as "Blackie Parrish".  I never watched "Full House" but I always knew he was still around in various roles throughout the years.  Despite that I never had a sense for him as a person until watching this episode.  I felt something was "off" about him right away because of all the weird and off-putting stuff mentioned above.  I wasn't sure if he was uncomfortable being himself on camera and putting on an act that came off poorly, or whether my gut instinct was sensing something not quite nice about the guy.  Now that I read this, I am leaning toward my gut instinct, which I would really rather not have to accept.  This is very disappointing after 35 years of feeling positively about a person!

Not that I want to find reasons to excuse him, because I think that's pretty awful, but back in the 80s there was a lot of messed up stuff going on and I can see how things could get out of hand and people doing stuff that today we would gasp at in horror, which back then would elicit a minor chuckle - NOT excusing it at all but it was just a more f-ed up mentality back then.  In my own life I was slipped some hash brownies at a college dorm party back in 1978 - This was when alcohol was legal over age 18 and I had already had a beer or two, then a couple of brownies not knowing they were hash laced and got totally BOMBED to the point of hearing things and passing out, then sleeping for almost 24 hours, and needing black coffee and cold showers to wake me up, and when I later complained to the PRIEST that lived in the dorm he just laughed it off, and he was my ETHICS professor and chair of the Philosophy Deptartment!!!

That said, I found this episode very interesting and wonder if similar stuff wouldn't happen to me if I visited the town in Southeastern Sicily where my mother's family is from as I've been told the family is very big there and that I would find many cousins.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Snarklepuss

[Emily Thrace]

8 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

Add me to the list.  My husband and I even found him to be a bit melodramatic at times.  On occasion I got the impression that he would rather be anywhere else and even frustrated with some of what he was being told or what they couldn't tell him.  I also got the sense that he wasn't too bright and, (completely unrelated to his IQ), wondered if he may have some sort of learning disability that he compensates for by repeating every single thing that everyone was saying.  Maybe he's a verbal learner?  My son used to have to repeat things to himself to get them to sink in (but it didn't last long).  I tried to keep that possibility in mind when I was listening to him, but it was tough. 

Having said that, I think he's probably a nice person and liked that he was able to meet a cousin (I love those episodes in particular*) and she was the sweetest lady.  I also don't think he was as irritating as Julie Bowan, who felt was playing for the camera, too.

*My favorite "meeting a relative" moment was Angie Harmon.

Actually he might be, he played a dyslexic character on ER and I think it was mentioned he was dyslexic himself. That might also be why he doesn't read Greek since he did seem to know a far bit of the language. I don't think he was so much frustrated with the process though as that he got involved int he story. He wanted to know what happened and was affected by the tragedy of it. He was a bit "on" but I think a lot the celebs who go on this show feel like this ia gig and they need to perform. 

 

15 hours ago, Granny58 said:

It occurred to me only this morning (04/17) her last name was Biel and there were the famous Bielski Brothers from the same part of Eastern Europe (check out the movie with Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell), Jewish resistance fighters.  I wonder if Biel is the shortened version of Bielski and there is a connection.

Its not likely, for one the Bielski's were from Belarus which is actually quite far from Hungary. Also the name can be similar in various Slavic langauges but it doesn't mean anyone is related. It usually just means the names have the same meaning in the language. So if your name means River your name might be something like Riverski in Polish, Riversky in Russian and Riverchuk in Ukrainian. It usually would just mean all these families lived by a river at some point not that they're related. Plus Hungarian is a little bit different from all the other Slavic languages so Biel might not even mean the same thing in Belorussian.

[MrsWitter]

1 hour ago, Snarklepuss said:

I've known who John Stamos is since his very first day on "General Hospital" as "Blackie Parrish".  I never watched "Full House" but I always knew he was still around in various roles throughout the years.  Despite that I never had a sense for him as a person until watching this episode.  I felt something was "off" about him right away because of all the weird and off-putting stuff mentioned above.  I wasn't sure if he was uncomfortable being himself on camera and putting on an act that came off poorly, or whether my gut instinct was sensing something not quite nice about the guy.  Now that I read this, I am leaning toward my gut instinct, which I would really rather not have to accept.  This is very disappointing after 35 years of feeling positively about a person!

Not that I want to find reasons to excuse him, because I think that's pretty awful, but back in the 80s there was a lot of messed up stuff going on and I can see how things could get out of hand and people doing stuff that today we would gasp at in horror, which back then would elicit a minor chuckle - NOT excusing it at all but it was just a more f-ed up mentality back then.  In my own life I was slipped some hash brownies at a college dorm party back in 1978 - This was when alcohol was legal over age 18 and I had already had a beer or two, then a couple of brownies not knowing they were hash laced and got totally BOMBED to the point of hearing things and passing out, then sleeping for almost 24 hours, and needing black coffee and cold showers to wake me up, and when I later complained to the PRIEST that lived in the dorm he just laughed it off, and he was my ETHICS professor and chair of the Philosophy Deptartment!!!

That said, I found this episode very interesting and wonder if similar stuff wouldn't happen to me if I visited the town in Southeastern Sicily where my mother's family is from as I've been told the family is very big there and that I would find many cousins.

I know how you feel, Snarklepuss! As a child of the 1980s and one of three daughters, Full House was my favorite show. I loved Uncle Jesse and, ever since I read the article, my view of Stamos has completely changed.  I know it was a different time, but the way he so openly and casually discussed the incident in 2005 was really disturbing.   At least today, in the United States (not sure about Finland, where it occurred), what he described is legally rape.  His cavalier attitude just made it worse. I can't help but be reminded of it every single time I see him and it ruined for me what would otherwise have been a really great episode.

I'm Sicilian too, but my family is from the Trapani-area. My family came over in the 1890s, so I'm not sure how many people I would have over there now.  I'm also Irish and I have been able to trace that part of the family more even though those family members came over a bit earlier. I even got to have my own Stamos-esque journey in Ireland where I went to my family's village and talked to older people in town who knew my family. I would love to be able to do that in Sicily too!

Edited April 18, 2017 by MrsWitter

[Snarklepuss]

10 minutes ago, MrsWitter said:

I'm Sicilian too, but my family is from the Trapani-area. My family came over in the 1890s, so I'm not sure how many people I would have over there now.  I'm also Irish and I have been able to trace that part of the family more even though those family members came over a bit earlier. I even got to have my own Stamos-esque journey in Ireland where I went to my family's village and talked to older people in town who knew my family. I would love to be able to do that in Sicily too!

I went on a Stamos-esque journey in Ireland myself with my husband as his father was born there and he has many cousins living all over Ireland and we got to meet many of them.  From a genealogical perspective it was pure GOLD.  In the town where his father came from they even had a town "yearbook" with photos and my husband was shown people's faces and told how they were related to him.  That was in 2005 and we keep meaning to get to Sicily so I can have my own similar journey but somehow it never seems to happen.  My relatives came from Pachino in 1904 and from what cousins here have told me there are so many people in the town that are related to us I would have no problem finding them.  I suppose they'd be more distant than my husband's relatives but I might meet some 3rd or 4th cousins, who knows?

P.S.  Thanks to one of the DNA sites I got in touch with a 3rd or 4th cousin (descended from my great grandmother's sister) who has been to Pachino and says her mother moved there from the US when she retired and is still there so I know one person already!

Edited April 18, 2017 by Snarklepuss

[peaceknit]

On 4/5/2017 at 9:20 PM, Snarklepuss said:

Another curiosity is that on the 23 and Me test I come up with .5% Sub Saharan African on my mother's side (which was interpolated based on knowing it didn't come from my father's side as my test and his are linked and compared on the site).  Meanwhile I don't show up with any Sub Saharan African at all on the Ancestry.com test.  I understand that with such a low percentage the result could either be in error or it didn't somehow match the sample on the Ancestry.com test.  Such low percentages usually mean there was one ancestor several generations ago that was either part or all that ethnicity, but it didn't get repeated again.

Sounds similar to my 23&me results, except that mine were .7% EA/NA. Everything else was European, with .3& "Unassigned". This corresponds with what I myself (no family rumors) found out about a possible NA ancestor, that it was ONE person, in the 1600's, a Dutch fur trader, who married a Mohawk woman. It is well-researched. DNA doesn't lie.

Oh, on edit, my brother took the 23&me test too, and he showed ZERO NA. It's not that it wasn't there, he just didn't display it in his DNA. My sis will be taking it too, will be interesting to find out!

Edited April 18, 2017 by peaceknit

[ChicagoCita]

One of the shows this season showed a Chicago genealogist taking the celeb to a website called Cook County Genealogy. I kept it bookmarked and went there when I had a little money to spare this month and wow, it's a genealogical gold mine. It's run by the County Recorder's office, so it's not an inaccurate scan. Plus you can get immediate downloads of vital records ($17 each, plus a LexisNexis handling fee, so it's not cheap).

It may be the first time that watching TV has proven to be so beneficial in my real life! I was able to find the names of my aunt's grandparents for her (she's in her 80s and never knew them; oddly, her grandfather lived literally a mile from her while she was growing up. Her mother died when she was four, so it just seems weird that her grandparents didn't stay in touch with their orphaned young grandchildren. I need to become famous so WDYTYA can do some digging about this!)

[Snarklepuss]

5 hours ago, peaceknit said:

Sounds similar to my 23&me results, except that mine were .7% EA/NA. Everything else was European, with .3& "Unassigned". This corresponds with what I myself (no family rumors) found out about a possible NA ancestor, that it was ONE person, in the 1600's, a Dutch fur trader, who married a Mohawk woman. It is well-researched. DNA doesn't lie.

Oh, on edit, my brother took the 23&me test too, and he showed ZERO NA. It's not that it wasn't there, he just didn't display it in his DNA. My sis will be taking it too, will be interesting to find out!

This just in - As was suggested upthread, I uploaded my husband's raw DNA data from 23 and Me to Gedmatch and on several indices he turned up with between .4 and .6% Native American.  I was so excited I called him at work to tell him.  I was happy I told him not to dismiss family lore!  Interestingly, my father's DNA produced similar results but not mine.

[Granny58]

9 hours ago, Emily Thrace said:

Its not likely, for one the Bielski's were from Belarus which is actually quite far from Hungary. Also the name can be similar in various Slavic langauges but it doesn't mean anyone is related. It usually just means the names have the same meaning in the language. So if your name means River your name might be something like Riverski in Polish, Riversky in Russian and Riverchuk in Ukrainian. It usually would just mean all these families lived by a river at some point not that they're related. Plus Hungarian is a little bit different from all the other Slavic languages so Biel might not even mean the same thing in Belorussian.

I agree it's unlikely they are related...it would like all the Smiths being related.  On the other hand, I think they said her family was from Slovakia and later moved to Budapest.  Back then, Slovakia was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.  This is part of my family too and our ancestry records indicate we are from Slovakia, or Austria or Hungary - depending on who filled it out and what the era was.  Same with my friend's Polish sides.   I guess I'm fortunate.  Every person in the world with my maiden name apparently comes from one small Slovak village.  Groovy!

[riverblue22]

16 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

I went on a Stamos-esque journey in Ireland myself with my husband as his father was born there and he has many cousins living all over Ireland and we got to meet many of them.  From a genealogical perspective it was pure GOLD.  In the town where his father came from they even had a town "yearbook" with photos and my husband was shown people's faces and told how they were related to him.  That was in 2005 and we keep meaning to get to Sicily so I can have my own similar journey but somehow it never seems to happen.  My relatives came from Pachino in 1904 and from what cousins here have told me there are so many people in the town that are related to us I would have no problem finding them.  I suppose they'd be more distant than my husband's relatives but I might meet some 3rd or 4th cousins, who knows?

P.S.  Thanks to one of the DNA sites I got in touch with a 3rd or 4th cousin (descended from my great grandmother's sister) who has been to Pachino and says her mother moved there from the US when she retired and is still there so I know one person already!

You have really got to do this!  I'd love to have that opportunity.  My husband's family is from Sicily and Calabria, but he has zero interest in genealogy or traveling there.  So frustrating.  My British ancestors came over so early there really isn't much of an ancestral village to visit.  I did have an ancestor from Cornwall so I have fun imagining them in a Poldark environment!  I also have a bunch of German from Russia ancestors, but their villages in Russia were all destroyed.

[Spencer Hastings]

Did anyone else want to start searching for Koliopolous? It wouldn't have been too hard to disappear back then.  I wonder where he ended up. 

Agree with those who say John was kind of off.  He seemed like he was performing as a character rather than a person looking for his heritage. The repetition, the gestures, the eye rolls...so strange.  

[Negritude]

This isn't related to any episode in particular just a general observation but it always make me chuckle when they find out their ancestors were prominent or did something great or were artistic then its like, "must be in the genes." But let them find out they were slaveowners or Nazis or something else considered shameful, then its, "that doesn't define me" lol. I mean it is what it is.

I'd probably do the same but it is funny/predictable/...typical...yeah, typical, lets just leave it at that.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Negritude

[ElleMo]

On ‎4‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 10:05 PM, MrsWitter said:

Unfortunately, I think he's actually a pretty bad guy (which I hate as a major childhood fan of Full House).    I won't go into all the details here, but you can just google "John Stamos" and "Jane magazine" and you can read where he personally confessed to being an accessory to a sexual assault.  I read it back when it first came out and I've been disturbed since then that he remains such a sex symbol.

I did just that and now I am disturbed too. 

[rhys]

I thought he was repeating the interpreter for *us.*  IOW, he was thinking: "hey, this woman is hard to understand so I'll repeat in my unaccented English."

He totally forgot about closed captioning.

I found the show interesting (& Greece = gorgeous), but was disappointed it didn't cover many people. I also never heard why Georgitzia wanted to sell her acres & if she got some help getting a better price.

[Mom2twoNonna2-3]

She sold it to pay for prosecution of her husband's murderer.

[chitowngirl]

1 hour ago, rhys said:

I thought he was repeating the interpreter for *us.*  IOW, he was thinking: "hey, this woman is hard to understand so I'll repeat in my unaccented English."

He totally forgot about closed captioning.

I found the show interesting (& Greece = gorgeous), but was disappointed it didn't cover many people. I also never heard why Georgitzia wanted to sell her acres & if she got some help getting a better price.

Some people process things better if they repeat them. My boss and I both talk under our breaths when we're doing something and have agreed that if we are talking to each other and not ourselves, we'll get the other's attention.

[Snarklepuss]

In the beginning of the episode John said he wanted to know why his family left Greece.  I guess we can assume why after hearing the murder saga, but I thought the show would wrap that up a little neater, like with John speculating about why his GF left.  Unless I somehow missed that part.  I just thought he came off strange and didn't really "narrate" as well as some of the stars on this show have.

[Ina123]

Sometimes I think I'm in a twilight zone when I read what's posted. I had just the opposite reaction on John's demeanor than most here. I thought he was truly genuine throughout and his affection for his old cousin warmed my heart. I took the eye roll on "it's all Greek to you", as just a "gee, I haven't heard that before" and just a laugh it off gesture.

[chitowngirl]

And I thought the Genealogist said it in a way in that she was in on the joke in her saying it and him hearing it.

Does anyone know when the Liv Tyler's episode is supposed to air? It's not on the Sunday schedule on the next 2 Sundays. 

Edited April 20, 2017 by chitowngirl

[luna1122]

4 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

And I thought the Genealogist said it in a way in that she was in on the joke in her saying it and him hearing it.

Does anyone know when the Liv Tyler's episode is supposed to air? It's not on the Sunday schedule on the next 2 Sundays. 

It's moving to Monday nights, or at least, Liv's episode is Monday April 24th.

[chitowngirl]

Thank you. You think they could have just aired the final episode where the whole season and 7 previous episodes have aired! ?

[attica]

I love the eps where they find 'live' relations. That's fun in general, and she was so cute.

Stamos is well preserved for a man in his 50s.  Fun fact to blow your mind: Wilford Brimley was actually younger than Stamos is now when he did Cocoon and the Natural!

[Chippings]

To start the discussion about the Liv Tyler episode (for those lucky enough to remember it was on on Monday!) ..  a thing I noticed again in this episode that has been frustrating to me is that when the researchers have made copies (in this case some Census pages), on nice large paper, when the celebrity is done they just get up an walk away and don't take it with them.  It seems foolish to walk away from something that you've just said is so exciting to you, and also just rude.  "Reality"..  Go figure.

Also, in this one, fairly early in the story the researcher had found a book (one of the local histories they were doing so much in the 1890s) which had a segment on her Elliott ancestor, "a colored man" -- and after noting that was how it started, they didn't read the rest of it!  It was a little early in the narrative to sum up everything, but we'd like to have known what it told about him.  The story didn't entirely hang together concerning the racial issue.   He was recorded as White in 1860, fought in the 1860s, noted as "M" in 1870, then was active in the various local groups including the "White" Masonic group - but in the 1890s noted in the book as "colored".  It happened, but it doesn't compute.  Maybe the segment in the book sorted that out?  Usually I can read a couple of lines of those things really fast, but failed in this case. 

[bybrandy]

13 minutes ago, Chippings said:

It seems foolish to walk away from something that you've just said is so exciting to you, and also just rude.  "Reality"..  Go figure.

I don't know about the US version, but the UK version they get a notebook with everything in it.   

It was Liv's 4 times great-grandfather, George's father, that was listed as M in the census.  I thought it was George's father in the book listed as colored, as well.  Then they moved on to talking about George.   The book from Essex county that said (a colored man) was, I believe, George's father, as well.

George, on the other hand, left that county and left behind all traces of his black ancestry with him.  

[ChicagoCita]

I thought Liv seemed like a nice person, and very interested what the researchers had found out about her history. What a life! Todd Rundgren as stepfather and Steven Tyler as blood dad.

I was a little surprised she didn't seem to know what the battle of Antietam was, but someone who has a passion and curiosity about their ancestry is always pleasing to watch. I was touched by her seeing one of her ancestors' signature and running her fingers across it. It was a small gesture, but it seemed so genuine, like she was really trying to forge a connection with him.

On someone else, the tears when the drummer came in might have come off as twee, but I believe she was honestly emotionally touched by it. (Funny, I knew that the bagpipes in Scotland were classified as a weapon of war by the British because they gave battle instructions, but it never dawned on me that drums performed the same function. Very cool.)

[bounnatalie]

Liv seemed like such a lovely person. I think she was touched that music was in their blood. I liked that Steven Tyler knew the battles and said, "he survived both?" I thought they were going further back, since they started to go back so quickly, but it seemed like they stopped and dug their heels into George's story, which was fascinating. The fact that they had so many photos was amazing. 

[Shannon L.]

It's time to show my ignorance of history with this question:  I thought there were black soldiers in the civil war.  Didn't they say something about him identifying as white so that he could sign up because there were no black soldiers?  Did I miss something?

I thought she was great and the story was fascinating, but a little disjointed.  I also love Steve Tyler.  He seems genuine and sincere-a really nice guy who just loves life--and music! 

[Jadzia]

55 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

It's time to show my ignorance of history with this question:  I thought there were black soldiers in the civil war.  Didn't they say something about him identifying as white so that he could sign up because there were no black soldiers?  Did I miss something?

I thought they said that at the beginning of the war there were no black soldiers (they were only allowed to join later) so that is why they figured he must have been passing as white since he was enlisted in the beginning of the war

I really enjoyed this episode and Liv Tyler was very sweet. By doing her dad's side, we also got 2 celebrities for the price of one - ha ha. One thing I thought strange was that while Liv seemed very empathetic to her black ancestor she never seemed to really make the connection that she was part black as well. I thought that was a neat discovery and she seemed a little distantly removed from it. I loved Steven's reaction to it, instead. He seemed to really grasp that it was part of his blood too.

I would have loved if they gave her a DNA test and found some living black relatives to meet.

Edited April 25, 2017 by Jadzia
typo

[rjs]

1 hour ago, Shannon L. said:

It's time to show my ignorance of history with this question:  I thought there were black soldiers in the civil war.  Didn't they say something about him identifying as white so that he could sign up because there were no black soldiers?  Did I miss something?

I thought she was great and the story was fascinating, but a little disjointed.  I also love Steve Tyler.  He seems genuine and sincere-a really nice guy who just loves life--and music! 

There were a lot of black soldiers in the Civil War but they served in the US Colored Troops, not in the state regiments. So he probobly would not have been able to enlist in the New York regiments.

[Lugal]

Very cool episode.  Liv Tyler really seemed like a very down to earth person, who wears her emotions on her sleeve.  She was ready to do her happy dance at one point and then moved to tears very easily.  I loved how into it she was.  I also liked Steven was into as well, and his "he survived both of them!" reaction to George fighting at Antietam and Gettysburg.  I think this episode may have been my favorite of the season.

7 hours ago, ChicagoCita said:

I was a little surprised she didn't seem to know what the battle of Antietam was, but someone who has a passion and curiosity about their ancestry is always pleasing to watch. I was touched by her seeing one of her ancestors' signature and running her fingers across it. It was a small gesture, but it seemed so genuine, like she was really trying to forge a connection with him.

On someone else, the tears when the drummer came in might have come off as twee, but I believe she was honestly emotionally touched by it. (Funny, I knew that the bagpipes in Scotland were classified as a weapon of war by the British because they gave battle instructions, but it never dawned on me that drums performed the same function. Very cool.)

Being able to find a photo of an ancestor is special, to be able to see their face it really brings a connection, and there was a resemblance between George and Steven.  Especially since photos are rare, especially the further back you go (and there are none before the 1840s).  Signatures are a little easier to find and they bring a connection as well, so I totally understand Liv touching the signature like that. 

As for the drums, I found an ancestor in the cavalry during the Civil War and in a letter he mentioned the bugle calls for various maneuvers and that the horses knew the calls as well as the men.

1 hour ago, Jadzia said:

I really enjoyed this episode and Liv Tyler was very sweet. By doing her dad's side, we also got 2 celebrities for the price of one - ha ha. One thing I thought strange was that while Liv seemed very empathetic to her black ancestor she never seemed to really make the connection that she was part black as well. I thought that was a neat discovery and she seemed a little distantly removed from it. I loved Steven's reaction to it, instead. He seemed to really grasp that it was part of his blood too.

I would have loved if they gave her a DNA test and found some living black relatives to meet.

4th GGrandfather is about 8 generations removed from Liv, and it sounded like he (Robert) mixed race to begin with. That far back Liv might not have enough in her DNA to trace anything.    But I loved how into it Steven was.

[BusyOctober]

Liv Tyler looked genuinely thrilled and happy with her discoveries, and getting to share that with her dad was a cool experience for them both.  I think it was a very sweet episode and she found a really fascinating branch of her family tree.  I don't think I've seen her acting in more than 2 movies, so I'm not very familiar with her.  In both movies, she had a "little girl" voice and a vacant way of looking at the other people as if she couldn't understand what was said to her. Her characters came across as "simple" to put it politely.  After seeing her in this episode, I came to see she wasn't making acting choices for those roles...she does have a little girl voice and she does look as if she struggles to follow the conversation. Like several actors on these shows, Liv Tyler seemed a little dim IMO.  Even if you aren't a history nerd, there should be some basic understanding or recognition of certain events from the past.  I get that she had a Bohemian rocker childhood, and she was a model/actress at a young age, so I don't think education was her ( or her parents') focus growing up. 

Overall, I didn't like this season's guests or the stories uncovered as much as I enjoyed previous seasons.  I wonder if PBS is doing any more "Finding Your Roots" w/ Prof Gates?

[Granny58]

On 4/17/2017 at 3:44 PM, Shannon L. said:

I also don't think he was as irritating as Julie Bowan, who felt was playing for the camera, too

Could anybody be?

[Granny58]

On 4/21/2017 at 1:49 PM, attica said:

Stamos is well preserved for a man in his 50s.  Fun fact to blow your mind: Wilford Brimley was actually younger than Stamos is now when he did Cocoon and the Natural!

MIND.BLOWN.

[Granny58]

Somebody please straighten me out.  The ancestor who was part black and served in the Civil War, it was HIS father who was "mulatto" and indentured, right?  And married a white woman.   So if I understand this, then the one who served at Gettysburg had even less African genetics and passed as white?  Or am I wrong?  Thanks.