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When I was a kid we visited one of those colonial set-ups where you get to see various trades and homes. Growing up next to Williamsburg and Yorktown makes you see a lot more Colonial stuff than other places.
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
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There was a big fuss when I was in High School about them holding a re-enactment of a slave auction. I don't remember what the decision was.
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Manor house was positively PAINFUL to watch. I felt so sorry for the servant faction and it was rather amusing to watch the 'family members' raise their haughtiness to the level that their roles required. It was an amazing transformation and I'm sure the whole thing was really a psychology experiment in disguise. Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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Oprah today was about Colonial House. She and her friend Gail went out there for a weekend. It was amusing to watch her choose her leaves to go squat in the woods with! Posts: 601 | Registered: Sep 2002
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I watched some of 1900's house, but I experienced "Frontier house" through my mom giving me the water cooler synopsis when we exercised in the mornings. I may watch it. We used to go see colonial places a lot in Virginia. I wonder if they will make macrame jewelry from human hair.
I bet my husband would love to do neolithic house (cave). Valley of the Horses was one of his favorite books :smirk:
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Ok, I have a question. What do you guys think of the preacher? I couldn't decide if he was just a humble, slightly eccentric guy or a power-hungry jerk just waiting for his turn.
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I missed Manor House, but I've seen Frontier House and 1900 House, plus the other one - Pioneer Quest?
I'll have to tape it tomorrow and next Tuesday - I have church tomorrow night and I'll be working next Tuesday night. Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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ack! our satellite PBS station isn't showing it until tonight (Tuesday), so I haven't gotten to see it yet... stupid satellite...
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I haven't managed to see it yet, we've TiVoed it, but am looking forward to it. The couple from California is from here, and here is a story on them from yesterday's paper. They spoke several weeks ago and it was fascinating stuff, all about how it works and what went on, etc.
It turns out that PBS doesn't want you to know anything about the period; they really want to just plunk a bunch of diverse, clueless people down and see how they deal. The couple from my town kind of cheated and read up beforehand (as I would, being myself and all).
Posts: 335 | Registered: Feb 2001
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There was actually a part where the women were quarelling over a schedule they were trying to work out, and one of them said, "Is this a solution women in the 17th century would have come up with?" And the others said something like, "They were facing a winter just like we are and had to figure out a way to prepare for it, just like we do. We're talking about survival and will do whatever works." So I thought, I wonder what those early colonists would do in this time period with their sensibilities?
Posts: 377 | Registered: May 1999
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Perhaps I'm just being snarky, but I'm kind of disappointed so far. It seems that other than having to do the physical work of that time period, they aren't truly "living" in it. I thought it would be a bit more true to life. I'm also sick of people on these types of shows gettting to have contact with modern cities, as the one guy who claimed he set out to "explore." He had 1000 acres, and instead of camping or trying to hunt, he finds the nearest bar...ugh!!
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I've been a bit disappointed myself because I am not watching it for the "drama" and I don't think most of them are really getting into the spirit of it.
Posts: 1777 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I agree, Christy. We watched the first episode last night. They weren't quite as whiny as I expected them to be, but I did want to yell at them every so often. Go plant the corn, people! Yer gonna starve! What's with this skinny-dipping stuff?! They know they won't die and they won't actually need that corn, and it makes them lazy.
What's interesting to me is that they complain about the hard work, but they aren't doing most of what they ought to be doing. They should have had that field planted in a couple of days--it would be the absolute first thing to do. They should be planning or preparing to make beer, cheese, preserves, etc. And shouldn't they have brought seeds from home to plant vegetable gardens--onions, squash from the Indians, herbs? Surely real colonists knew that much.
And I was wondering what colonists did about making clothing, which was a hugely time-consuming task, often even more so than food production. I can see not doing anything about it in the first week, of course, but what would real colonists have done? They would need either raw wool or some sheep, and flax seeds. Flax takes a long time just to grow and prepare for spinning, so you'd have to start planting right away.
I'm annoyed with the woman who complains about church all the time, she's so moody about it. Suck it up, just like everyone else back then, lady! But at least she actually wants to stick it out, so I gotta respect that. I was all set to like the Chico couple, but he's so wishy-washy in an emergency nothing gets done, which annoys me. He is absolutely typical of half the people here in Chico, and normally I like them all very much, but some decisiveness would help.
I'm looking forward to the next ep, where the governor comes back and announces he watns a 'city on a hill.' I think he's getting a little overambitious, there...
Posts: 335 | Registered: Feb 2001
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Actually, the second episode was more disappointing for me, although it had some great moments -- I'm continuing to watch for those and since I'm Tivo-ing, skipping past the melodrama.
They definitely need some more community togetherness. Its too hard to force people to comply with the lifestyle. I had hoped they would try a bit harder, although I think the "governor" is doing the best he can. I want to smack the laypreacher, though, for whining that the governor doesn't discuss with his council enough.
Its a shame that its running a night off for some people. *looking forward to the 3rd installment*
Posts: 1777 | Registered: Jan 2003
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We really wanted to apply to do this but because of Stephen's health problems we can't. Would have been fun though We would love to have our own family farm, though I wouldn't want to do without some of our modern conveniences for too long Posts: 1132 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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quote:It's a shame that its running a night off for some people.
Christy, actually what happened is that I tried to TiVo the 1st episode on Monday from the local feed, and the reception went out halfway through as we were about to start watching (just as DangerDad was saying, "You know, we should probably record it from the national PBS station, since the local one doesn't always have the best reception...oh. See what I mean?"). So we rerecorded a rerun at 1am. So now we're running a little behind, but only because I wanted to sleep. Posts: 335 | Registered: Feb 2001
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I'm also wishing that they'd show more details of colonial life and less drama. More stuff on clothes, agriculture, medicine, etc. would be great.
I like the drama when it points up the difference between life in 1628 vs. life in 2004 -- the guy who comes out, and would've been shunned if he'd done so in 1628; the Sabbath attendance rules; etc.
I've got to say, it's sometimes hard for me to relax while watching this show, since it's all about folks struggling to survive... and I find myself thinking about my own crops and what I didn't get done today and what I really need to get done tomorrow... Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I would have been all over that rancid bacon, even if it meant not eating it but just reducing it down for the fat. Sooo many uses...and tasty.
Posts: 349 | Registered: Feb 2004
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So, uh, what's the tragedy in episode 2? I get from the next episode description that something happens to the Governor's family. The lack of spinning and weaving did strike me as very phoney. There is no way a woman should be in a position to apologize to the men for all the hard work they've been doing as happened in the first episode.
Posts: 2010 | Registered: Apr 2003
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(sidenote: In England they do a lot of these, half as psycological experiments, half as educational. I saw an episode of WWII House. The thing that caused the mother the most trouble was rations and actually managing to make something edible for the family. It felt very real to me.)
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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IIRC, one of the governor's daughters was engaged to a guy back home. He was injured or killed in an auto accident while they were doing the show.
Edited to add: I googled and finally found an article that mentions what happened. Bethany Wyers' fiance was killed and her brother (the oldest Wyers son) badly injured in an auto accident.
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I've never seen any of these. I watched the 1900 house when it came out, but I'll catch a few minutes of one of these, and it just doesn't seem realistic enough, and rather irritates me.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I like these better than shows like Survivor, Fear Factor, The Great Race, etc. It gives me a sense of how I could do in similar circumstances. I am in a position to say either "I could do better than that" or "there's no way I could do that."
It makes me appreciate modern technology.
Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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