t-bag
12-12-2006, 10:33 AM
If you haven't checked them out, you guys should watch PBS's 'House' Series. Basically, a group of people is chosen to live completely immersed in a certain period of history for a few months, and experience life as people did in that time period. It started kind of stupid on the BBC with 1900 House and 1940s House and whatever else they had, but once it came over to America, it got awesome, because it started focusing more on the fights between people rather than just trying to teach history. What's great is that you actually do learn a bunch, too. The best three are:
Frontier House, in which three families build log cabins and live on the frontier together. The best family is by far the villainous family, who are completely wealthy in the real world, and therefore very spoiled. The girls try to sneak make-up onto the show several times, and are caught every time. The parents manage to steal a modern mattress, and try to justify that if settlers on the frontier had found a modern mattress, they would have taken it. But the best moment is when the two spoiled daughters are forced to walk and milk a cow in a blizzard. Watching them shuffle along in the snow, sobbing and trying to milk the cow is endlessly hilarious.
Texas Ranch House, the latest one, which aired last year, started out bad, but became awesome near the end. A family owns a ranch, which is run by a group of young, single male cowboys. The producers were brilliant in selecting a feminist college woman skilled in horseback riding to be the maid, because once the owner decides to make the woman a cowboy, all the other cowboys go on strike. Near the end, the cowboys won't even speak to the owner or his family, and - well, I won't ruin the ending for you.
But Colonial House takes the cake. The families chosen to "settle the New World" are perfectly selected. The governor of the colony is a Baptist minister and his family from Waco, Texas. The preacher of the colony is an extremely liberal religious studies professor and his feminist wife. And a freeman and his family are a peace-loving, free-wheeling, atheistic family. With the addition of a closeted gay indentured servant, three freemen unhappy with their roles in the colony, and the later addition of a business manager to whip the colonists into shape so they can make a profit for England, the show is incredible.
Everyone must get their hands on these DVDs. They're not hard to find, and they are only two discs, with four episodes per disc. It'll be your new favorite series. I'm eagerly awaiting the next season.
Frontier House, in which three families build log cabins and live on the frontier together. The best family is by far the villainous family, who are completely wealthy in the real world, and therefore very spoiled. The girls try to sneak make-up onto the show several times, and are caught every time. The parents manage to steal a modern mattress, and try to justify that if settlers on the frontier had found a modern mattress, they would have taken it. But the best moment is when the two spoiled daughters are forced to walk and milk a cow in a blizzard. Watching them shuffle along in the snow, sobbing and trying to milk the cow is endlessly hilarious.
Texas Ranch House, the latest one, which aired last year, started out bad, but became awesome near the end. A family owns a ranch, which is run by a group of young, single male cowboys. The producers were brilliant in selecting a feminist college woman skilled in horseback riding to be the maid, because once the owner decides to make the woman a cowboy, all the other cowboys go on strike. Near the end, the cowboys won't even speak to the owner or his family, and - well, I won't ruin the ending for you.
But Colonial House takes the cake. The families chosen to "settle the New World" are perfectly selected. The governor of the colony is a Baptist minister and his family from Waco, Texas. The preacher of the colony is an extremely liberal religious studies professor and his feminist wife. And a freeman and his family are a peace-loving, free-wheeling, atheistic family. With the addition of a closeted gay indentured servant, three freemen unhappy with their roles in the colony, and the later addition of a business manager to whip the colonists into shape so they can make a profit for England, the show is incredible.
Everyone must get their hands on these DVDs. They're not hard to find, and they are only two discs, with four episodes per disc. It'll be your new favorite series. I'm eagerly awaiting the next season.