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Civil War Interactive Discussion Board > Civil War Entertainment: Books, Movies, Music & Art > Civil War in Movies and on TV > History Channel: America, the Story of Us |
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Civil War Interactive Discussion Board > Civil War Entertainment: Books, Movies, Music & Art > Civil War in Movies and on TV > History Channel: America, the Story of Us |
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| History Channel: America, the Story of Us | Rating: 
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| Posted: Mon May 10th, 2010 02:47 pm |
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1st Post |
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Albert Sailhorst Member 
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Did anyone wacth the May 9th History Channel "America: The Story of Us" regarding the Civil War?? I thought it was stupid. I am disappointed in the History Channel for thinking people like Al Sharpton, Melissa Ehtridge, et al are qualified to comment on things with historical significance.....that and the fact that the "actors" don't remotely resemble who they portray and that the brogans worn by the soldiers had treads on the soles.....
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| Posted: Mon May 10th, 2010 03:47 pm |
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2nd Post |
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TimK Member
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I watched it. Stupid is a pretty strong word - but I wouldn't pay to get the DVD. I'm a sucker, so I'm sure I will watch the next episode next Sunday. I got a little tired of seeing the same train graphics about every 30 seconds. Somebody was very proud of that. Like Albert Sailhorst said - I was trying to figure out who a character was, until the narrater told us. Had the person in charge of casting ever seen a picture of Sherman? And I think the producers figured their audience was dumb enough to believe that if they could find an actor with a white beard, he could pass as Lee. I was surprised that, in my mind, a major turning point in American history was noted with one sentence. "A week later, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated". Then the show took us to the evolution of the cowboy. I think that left quite a gap in American history. So yeah, I was little disappointed. But I still thought it was more interesting than what is usually on television.
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| Posted: Mon May 10th, 2010 04:21 pm |
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3rd Post |
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Albert Sailhorst Member
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I'll agree with TimK that the show was more interesting than anything else on TV.....I also thought they made a broad jump from Lincoln's death to Cowboys, completely passing over Reconstruction. I'll most likely finish watching the series; however I fear my ignorance of other parts of American history will be, in some part, erroneously learned from the History Channel!! I am glad there is a channel that spends the money to produce historical shows....I just wish they'd make a better effort at accuracy so that those who want to learn CAN learn.
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| Posted: Mon May 10th, 2010 08:34 pm |
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4th Post |
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javal1 Grumpy Geezer 
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Seemed to me to be a simplistic view of American History based on some 7th grade textbook. Good camera work and some decent special effects, but that's about alll I can say good about it. How do you tell the story of Yorktown and never mention that the French were there? Did anyone else find the way they tried to incorporate the Bank of America commercials downright creepy?
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| Posted: Wed May 12th, 2010 01:36 am |
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5th Post |
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Captain Crow Progressive Southerner 
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I gave up on the "History" channel when they started doing shows about Axe men and fast food...this post tells me I was on the right track. History International however still shows some good stuff now and then.
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| Posted: Mon May 17th, 2010 01:41 am |
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6th Post |
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ole Member 
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I'm appreciating the effort HC is making with "Us." Overly simplistic and skipping over important stuff and dwelling on romantic things is annoying, but we have to remember that the audience is not "us." We're a bit freakish with our devotion to history; maybe about 98 percent of the American public isn't (I made that up.). So we gather in groups like Round Tables and discussion boards to avoid the rolling eyes, and indulge ourselves in elite sniffing and neener, neener. At least, the History Channel is reaching some who might develop an interest in history and, one might hope, the Civil War. Ole PS. And I enjoy finding out how they make candy bars and HoHos, and the differering styles of lumbering, and why in heck someone would take a multi-ton rig over a frozen lake. Last edited on Mon May 17th, 2010 01:45 am by ole |
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| Posted: Mon May 17th, 2010 03:24 pm |
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7th Post |
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TimK Member
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I enjoy it and I also appreciate it. Because my wife's favorite show, "The Amazing Race" is over for the season, I got to watch this on our "big" television, and my wife watched it with me. Not being a history buff, she found it quite interesting. After watching for about an hour and a half though, she asked "How long is this going to be on?" I told her that it should be on for several more hours - they keep skipping over or only touch on things I would consider major occurrences in the "story of us". Like Ole said - maybe I'm a little freakish. To my wife, this was mostly new and interesting. I think the HC did a good job in keeping both of us watching.
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| Posted: Sat May 22nd, 2010 12:51 am |
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8th Post |
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Captain Crow Progressive Southerner
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You guys have a valid point (ole and Tim)...I sometimes forget that a huge portion of our fellow Americans are almost completely ignorant with regards to history...so yes I can see this series serving a purpose as an introductory tool....as for me I'll pass...I've got too much reading to do before my ACW road trip begins next Friday.
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| Posted: Sat May 22nd, 2010 09:06 pm |
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9th Post |
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64thNYDrummer Member
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TV is only for watching horseracing, football, baseball and C-SPAN (Washington Journal) when you get up in the morning, any other viewing will only poison the mind. Dennis
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| Posted: Sun May 23rd, 2010 03:06 pm |
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10th Post |
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ole Member
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There is some good news about the program: Your school's principal can get a free copy of the series directly from the History Channel. The series is at a level ideally designed for middle-school history class.
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| Posted: Thu May 27th, 2010 03:34 pm |
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11th Post |
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TimHoffman01 Member 
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My kids and wife (not a history buff...or even remotely in the same state as one) found this series interesting, although they noticed I was shifting a lot. Granted we had to record the entire thing thus far and have only watched "Rebels" the first episode, but my son (10) actually picked up on a pretty big omission. We had just finished Diana Gabaldon's Echo in the Bone, which if you aren't familiar with the series is a nice fantasy/romance/historical novel series. They made quite a big deal of the Battle of Saratoga...missed mostly by History of US. Andrew picked up on it from the names they kindasortasomewhat mentioned. And that is held by some to be the turning point of the entire revolution. You're correct about the actors not resembling thier characters, George Washington wasn't even close...although he did have a white wig. As for the BoA commercials, we weren't even sure we were watching the first commerial until it was most of the way over. Hard to distinguish the commercial from the program. Ah, sponsorship. Andrew got Virginia History for his SOL's this year (Standards of Learning tests for those who aren't familiar with the term) and asked another good question early on: "Wasn't the first Thanksgiving called in Jamestown?" Yes, it was, actually. Nice catch. Still, I figure it is good enough for a general survey of US history, at least to let people know it actually happened.
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| Civil War Interactive Discussion Board > Civil War Entertainment: Books, Movies, Music & Art > Civil War in Movies and on TV > History Channel: America, the Story of Us | Top |
