# "History Detectives" on PBS **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363 "2003-07-14T13:12:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/1 "2003-07-14T13:12:39Z")
PBS is premiering a [new show](http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/) this week—every night at 8:00 (ET). It _sounds_ like it _might_ be really good; I have my fingers crossed. Anyone else going to give it a try? ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/2 "2003-07-14T13:27:27Z")
I plan to check this one out tonight. Could be fun, and it’s _science_. By the way, is it weird that I’m also thinking “That’s one cute art historian”? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/3 "2003-07-14T16:16:39Z")
I am required by my marriage contract to say no, one can NEVER be weird for thinking “That’s one cute art historian.” Especially when she looks like that one OR my wife. I’m looking forward to this show, especially since it is followed by two murder-based “American Experiences,” including one new one and one during which I can ogle Evelyn Nesbit. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/4 "2003-07-14T16:46:15Z")
Evelyn Nesbit? I thought the special following it was about the Dr. Parkman murder of the 1840s. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/5 "2003-07-14T16:59:44Z")
PBS is again ripping off the cable channels it distains so hautily. First “Warrior Challenge” ripped off History Channel’s “Conquest”, now they rip off Discovery’s Unsolved History. At least, when they ripped off the reality shows, they added something interesting (the 1890’s House, etc.). My respect for PBS, once considerable, keeps going right down the toilet. I mean, sure, ripping off your competitors is Standard Operating Procedure for TV, but doesn’t PBS claim that they’re _above_ that sort of thing? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/6 "2003-07-14T17:10:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*Evelyn Nesbit? I thought the special following it was about the Dr. Parkman murder of the 1840s. \*\* In Chicago the Crime of the Century one follows that one. (sigh) How I used to kick myself for getting all gooey over a mere pen and ink sketch, never realizing she was real! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/7 "2003-07-14T17:50:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BrotherCadfael \* > \*\*PBS is again ripping off the cable channels it distains so hautily. First “Warrior Challenge” ripped off History Channel’s “Conquest”, now they rip off Discovery’s Unsolved History. At least, when they ripped off the reality shows, they added something interesting (the 1890’s House, etc.). > > My respect for PBS, once considerable, keeps going right down the toilet. I mean, sure, ripping off your competitors is Standard Operating Procedure for TV, but doesn’t PBS claim that they’re _above_ that sort of thing? \*\* Hey, as long as they’re ripping off good stuff to make more good stuff, I’m not complaining. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/8 "2003-07-14T18:28:00Z")
I was in touch with the producers a few months back and pitched them some NYC historical mysteries. They appreciated my enthusiasm but, alas, none of the raft of ideas I gave them fit the profile of the type of mystery they were looking for. Oh well. [Frownie.] I’ll be watching anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/9 "2003-07-14T18:49:31Z")
_What?!_ How about the unsolved Dot King murder of 1923? It’s got a gorgeous dead model, her slutty chorus-girl pal, a Philadelphia sugar daddy and a slick moustachioed gigolo! What more do they want? Zombies? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/10 "2003-07-14T19:12:13Z")
Sounds like your first bestseller, Eve! I can see it now! Eve Golden, the Ann Rule of the early 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/11 "2003-07-14T19:48:43Z")
Actually, I’ve been thinking about doing a book about the tabloid coverage of [that case](http://www.paulsann.org/thelawlessdecade/new1923-5.html)—anyone have any contacts at the _NY Daily News_ or _NY Post_ archives/morgue? ---
**Author:** ![TelcontarStorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ab097/32.png) [@TelcontarStorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcontarStorm)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/12 "2003-07-14T21:28:12Z")
Yup, I’ll be tuned in. Anything PBS has to offer is better than just about anything a cable channel has to offer. This time slot is usually taken up with a rerun of Antiques Roadshow, so no great loss there as there’s still Saturday nnight. I’ll even agree with **Eve** about ripping off something worth ripping off. **BroC** PBS has sure been around alot longer than any history based Cable channel. To me, History, Discovery, Learning and Nat’l Geographic Channels are ripping PBS off._I think_ that PBS only showed Warrior Challenge here in the States, Channel 4 is responsible for the Rip off. We non-cable folks rejoice in quality TV no matter where it comes from. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/13 "2003-07-14T22:11:27Z")
i’m gonna give it a whirl. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/14 "2003-07-14T22:20:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Actually, I’ve been thinking about doing a book about the tabloid coverage of that case—anyone have any contacts at the NY Daily News or NY Post archives/morgue? Umm, yes. Email me off the board and maybe I can help. As for why none of my ideas got picked, the show’s producers wanted cases that 1. involved a tangible object (a photo, artifact, document, etc.), and 2. could reasonably be “solved” with the application of historical and scientific research. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/15 "2003-07-14T23:09:02Z")
Evelyn Nesbit-I did my senior thesis on that case. Thaw and Nesbit were local, and the Heinz Center has the Thaw papers in the archive. (Old family letters, a copy of Thaw’s book about the case, etc). **Eve** -THERE’S someone for you to write about! The Girl in the Velvet Swing! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/16 "2003-07-14T23:33:27Z")
I prefer thinking of her as The Real Gibson Girl. That patrician (or is it nearsighted?) sighting down her nose! That hair with a few strands astray! The playful and artificial laughing without the slightest hint of joy! Or maybe Gibson just couldn’t draw that well. I obviously had the wrong major. My senior thesis was–I kid you not and some people here might see some irony in this–a social history of castration and sexual reconstruction. ---
**Author:** ![Maria](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Maria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maria)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/17 "2003-07-14T23:56:40Z")
It’s circled on my TV Guide. I saw a preview last week that seemed like it was going to be well done. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/18 "2003-07-15T00:13:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\ ***Eve** -THERE’S someone for you to write about! The Girl in the Velvet Swing! \*\* There’s already four or five books on Evelyn Nesbit and Stanford White–I doubt I’d have anything to add. **StuyGuy** , I’ll e you from work tomorrow about those \*Post \*and _Daily News_ archives! I know I can make useful photocopies from the NYPL microfilms–but I would need reproduceable hard copies of articles and photos if I were to do a book about the case. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/19 "2003-07-15T00:47:38Z")
Shallow mysteries for a premiere. I hope they get deeper as the week goes by. Yes I will keep watching. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363/20 "2003-07-15T01:09:29Z")
Yeah, I thought the execution was pretty good (except for that awful theme music!), but the three Mysteries they chose were pretty yawn-inducing. Now, on to two hours of PBS moidah! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-detectives-on-pbs/188363.md?page=2)