I don’t watch the History Channel much anymore. You see one episode of Pawn Stars, you’ve seen them all. But I love the documentary they made, “How The States Got Their Shapes.” It combined two of my favorite things, obscure history trivia and Brian Unger. So it’s on again tonight and imagine my surprise when I discover they made it into a tv show. And it premieres Tuesday! There will actually be a new show of the History Channel about history and not featuring antiques!
What I want to know about is the state of Washington. It doesn’t look anything like George.
This isn’t actually a new show. This is a repeat of a series they ran a couple of years ago. I think. If the format is 5 states per hour, then I’m thinking it’s the same one. They just blew some dust off of something educational and history-centric.
The good news is that I watched the original airing of this and it is a very good program. It’s even better when you can catch it in a marathon.
No, it’s a new show. You’re thinking of “The States.”
I stand corrected then.
Although I imagine much of the same material will be covered.
No, I’m rather certain Stink was right. There may or may not be new episodes, but it is definitely not a new show. In fact, I’m looking at the DirecTV info on my screen now for a currently airing episode, and it has a date of 2010.
I saw it a couple of months ago. Good show. I went and got the book; it’s great!
OK, it’s great if you’re a geography geek like me, but still good if you dig US History. It’s pretty amazing how much the states behaved like their own separate countries up until fairly recent times.
Great news! I am a cartography nut (i have a job interview next week in that industry) and I loved the original documentary (finally an explanation to that little chunk at the north border of Vermont). I’ve been meaning to pick up the book too…i take it that it wouldn’t translate well to Kindle?
The suspense over finding out how Hawaii got its shape is just killing me.
Mauna Loa
Seriously? It got its shape from macadamia nuts?
I watched the original show when it originally aired, and again last night. It’s going to be a new series. (though limited I’d assume) The preview had him in a coffee shop on the TN/GA border, so it’s a new show. BTW, how many state borders exist in total? (this should roughly correspond to episode count)
Checked Ask.com, there are 109 different state borders.
No, it’s a new show. What t has been airing is the two-hour special from 2010. They’ve now turned it into a TV show.
I don’t think they’re going state by state, border by border. It looks like each episode will be based around a theme. The first one is about water. And it looks like it’ll be both about how the boundaries were formed and what it’s like today. The clip I saw showed a bar right on the Tennessee/Georgia border. The bar is in TN, but the kitchen and backroom are in a dry county in Georgia. Georgia’s looking to expand their border, which would put that bar out of business.
:smack: you are correct enalzi! It was a bar! He had to abandon his beer to respond to nature’s call, as the john is across state lines!
It was so weird seeing history on the History Channel, but this was pretty good. I wasn’t familiar with the story of Kaskaskia, Illinois (which makes you wonder why they didn’t just annex it to Missouri).
I forgot about half the stuff he talked about from my 1st viewing. Thought it was cool that Winnipeg is only 1 degree over the border.
The segment about the town in Vermont that’s split between the US and Canada had me shaking my head. The border splits neighborhoods. Relatives who live a few houses away from each other can’t just go visit.
Although my guess is that the security aspect was played up for filming, to reassure us (or the gubmint) that the guards are on the job.
I wonder if this will also cover the oddities of time zones. I’ve occasionally wondered why a little slice of Kansas is in the Mountain Time Zone rather than just extending the Central Time Zone a little to include the entirety of the state.
Do they draw the outlines of the country on a plexiglass board? If so, then it is the one that was on some months ago…
I think the fact that it’s the first state capital probably keeps it on our side. If it was just another town I bet they would make it part of MO.