Mama Bin Cranky

Channel surfing brought me to this series, based on the book set, A History of US. It would be a good choice for the day. I first learned about these books after they were published on Book Notes on C-Span. I was a faithful watcher. When we moved to our current house, the books served as our curriculum for a year of home school for our kids. We read them all. They were great, even though there is a bias of the author against Reagan that comes through at the end. Flash forward to today.

I had heard this is a great series on the History Channel. I tuned in in time to see Custer blow it at Little Big Horn. Now I am watching the late 1800’s and the rise of industrialism in the US. It would be a great series if whoever produced it had resisted the urge to put celebrity interviews in segments. The story of the Statue of Liberty features Meryl Streep. The story of the influx of immigrants around the late 1800’s features an unintelligible vignette from Michael Douglas. I keep shaking my head at their inclusion. Since the series is probably playing out in chronological order, I have probably missed the part where they interview Meg Ryan on the assassination of Lincoln. Darn. They should have left the vignettes to the professors, biographers, and historians. Not celebrities.