America the Story of Us Westward Episode 3 Review
History From Unexpected Characters
THE outset clue that "America: The Story of U.s." isn't your typical PBS-way documentary comes five minutes in. Later actors re-create the early travails of the settlers at Jamestown and their eventual success building a tobacco business concern, the very first expert who comes on camera to put it all in context is not an eminent Harvard historian or noted archeologist, simply the man of affairs Donald J. Trump.
This sweeping 12-60 minutes history of the country, which volition exist shown on the History channel for half dozen Sundays beginning Apr 25, is full of such odd juxtapositions. In the beginning episode the histrion Michael Douglas comments on the pilgrims, while Jimmy Wales, a Wikipedia founder, reflects on the communications revolution brought by the Pony Express. Commentary from the NBC News anchors Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw is interspersed with that of Gen. Colin 50. Powell, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York and yes, some bookish historians, like Henry Louis Gates Jr. of Harvard and Annette Gordon-Reed of Rutgers and New York Police School.
The notables (who in a flake of cantankerous-promotion include Richard Harrison, the patriarch of History's "Pawn Stars") are a naked endeavour past the producers to rope in viewers whose experience of United States history may exist limited to their school history classes. "In that attempt to go far experience epic, information technology's actually quite refreshing to run across large personalities commenting on what history means to them and what that moment in the story ways to them, and how that has inspired them," said Nancy Dubuc, the president and full general director of the History channel. "It sort of ups the entertainment value of the evidence."
"Information technology'southward non virtually dates, facts and dead people," she added. "Information technology'south virtually presenting a very rich story in an engaging and entertaining fashion, and forth the way, lo and behold, hopefully millions of people volition spotter something that they hadn't anticipated they would watch."
The History aqueduct nether Ms. Dubuc has expanded what qualifies for its programming lineup, incorporating popular series similar "Pawn Stars" and "Ice Road Truckers." Ms. Dubuc, apologizing for being "testy," dismissed criticisms that the new shows take History away from its cadre mission, saying they aren't reality shows but "vérité documentaries on people doing history today." "America: The Story of U.s.a." may too go some criticism for its eclectic approach to its subject.
It was the ballot of Barack Obama that sparked the serial. With an African-American president, a recession dwarfed only by the Great Depression and two wars, History executives were taken with "the idea that we are living in historic times," Ms. Dubuc said.
The bulletin of the series is meant to be inspiring, she said: "The genesis of the thought for me came from this notion of showing people that you can get through difficult times and that this country has been in hard times many, many times. And the perseverance and the strength and the conclusion and the sacrifice that so many millions of people have had to suffer to form this country is far greater than annihilation that nosotros tin really imagine. I'm a big believer in: Bear witness people that path and it becomes easier in some ways."
A similar sweeping history of the state hasn't been washed since Alistair Cooke's 13-part "America: A Personal History of the The states," in 1972, executives at History said. (PBS broadcast the eight-hour "Freedom: A History of Us," based on Joy Hakim's books for course schoolers, in 2003, but History isn't counting that.) The executive producer of "America: The Story of Us" is Jane Root, a old Discovery Aqueduct president who was involved in the product of Simon Schama's 15-role "History of Britain" when she was a meridian BBC executive a decade ago.
In add-on to the re-creations, which employed some 1,600 actors and extras, this series makes liberal apply of computer-generated imagery, which, Ms. Root said, lets viewers "experience things they might only have been able to recall nearly before," whether the sight of 400 British ships in the waters surrounding Manhattan or the building of the Statue of Freedom.
In a move that provoked much internal debate — including some questioning from the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Daniel Walker Howe, who with David G. Kennedy, also a Pulitzer winner, is a "specialist consultant" on the projection — the producers left out a swath of history. They jumped from the Plymouth Colony, which was established in 1620, to the Revolution, some 150 years later on, in simply 90 seconds.
"In the end we decided that was the almost immersive, energizing thing to practise," Ms. Root said. The post-Earth State of war II period is also given just a quick in one case-over; instead the series ends with a give-and-take of the American grapheme. Ms. Dubuc said, "I think those are stories that people know so well, and much of our audience has actually lived through."
The aqueduct has a lot invested in the serial, although Ms. Dubuc won't say how much, for competitive reasons. But information technology's the network's largest programming investment to date and expectations are high: Ms. Dubuc said she hopes it will be among the highest-rated specials of the year. History's height special, "Life After People," in January 2008, had five.4 million viewers.
In 2006, the year earlier Ms. Dubuc joined the channel, it drew an average 1.i million viewers in prime time. For the start three months of 2010 the channel has averaged i.five meg viewers in prime time.
"America: The Story of U.s." is also receiving the network's largest ever educational outreach. A DVD set up of the series is beingness offered, costless, to any school, college or academy in the land that requests one. More than 30,000 have already signed up, History executives said.
Apart from telling the actual history the program is meant to be "a conversation," Ms. Root said. "We want anybody to bring together in with their story of what it is to be an American."
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/arts/television/18story.html
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