"Colonial House" Anyone?

[internetmama]

I saw it last night, mostly because Amy-Kristina was in my class at Columbia. I cried when they explained that Bethany's fiance was killed in a car accident. When Julia (the Governor's indentured servant) said: "Her cries and screams will stay with me," it was chilling. What did you all think of the show? Hans and I are hooked.

Comments

[gator_mom]

I haven't been able to watch yet... it's been tivo-ed. Looking forward to it though... I got addicted to a Frontier House marathon this past weekend and can't wait to see CH.

[grassyslough]

Oh, that was funny!

[christisboy]

OH! Robert and I LOVED it! We watched and recorded Frontier House when it came out two years ago and so we were pumped about this one. We are considering ordering both sets of tapes for Home Schooling purposes later on.

We were both crying when they announced Bethany's loss. Crazy world we live in.

[sophonisba9]

I got hooked on frontier house two years ago, but I only saw the first two episodes. Tivo has caught frontier house for me and now colonial house. I wish they'd show the BBC shows that these are inspired by. Has anyone seen Victorian House? I think it came out before Frontier house.

We watched colonial house last night. It had some pretty interesting twists. They seem to be doing a really good job of expressing just how close to the edge the colonies were. I hadn't realized what a high percentage of the people who came over on the Mayflower died. I'm a descendent of two people on the Mayflower, so that information really struck home. Makes me want to find out even more about my family history.

I can't wait to see what happens next week.

[grassyslough]

PBS did show "1900 House" aka the Victorian House, and that was the first. And PBS also showed "Manor House," which was about Edwardian England. Channel 4 in Britain has also done "Regency House" (think Jane Austen) and "1940s House."

I watched "Colonial House" last night and will probably tape the rest to watch later.

The Colonial House website has good information about behind the scenes stuff. I particularly liked the Q&A with the producer

The PBS website also has some information about 1900 House and Frontier House, in case you missed those.

I also plan to peruse the websites for Regency House and 1940s House

[sophonisba9]

1900 house, that's the one I was trying to think of. I'll have to check out the website.

I've seen parts of the BBC show where they are put into an iron age village. I'd really like to see more of that. I'll have to peruse the BBC website and see what I can find.

[grassyslough]

I think, in general, the shows set in Britain had a greater percentage of people who really wanted to live the times. But, then again, the two I saw were closer to *our* times, although different. In 1900 House, the kids went to school and the dad went to work as they normally would, so they weren't stuck in the time period at all times.

In the Edwardian one, there were problems with some of the servants. Two maids left because the work was so hard/mindless. And there was a romance that would have been prohibited in Edwardian times, but the couple didn't care. That said, the attitude was more of, "This wouldn't have been allowed; I could have lost my job. But this is just for TV, and I'm really attracted to this other person."

The American shows, in contrast, had "cheating" that seemed to be focused on reinterpreting history or rationalizing non-historic actions as being "resourceful."