# Russia: Land of the Tsars-who else is excited? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295 "2003-05-24T21:56:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [May 24, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/1 "2003-05-24T21:56:37Z")
I’ve been seeing the trailers on the History Channel for weeks now, and I can’t wait. My VCR is primed and ready for this. I even entered the sweepstake. I hope, I really hope that the History Channel won’t screw this up. Like say that Alexandra slept with Rasputin, that Anastasia really did survive, or blah blah blah. C’mon, you guys KNOW I’ll be watching this! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/2 "2003-05-24T22:39:55Z")
Depends . . . Is this going to be a professional documentary, with paintings and etchings and documents; or is it going to be heavy-breathing actors All Dressed Up Funny and crowds of out-of-work summer stockers playing soliders and peasants? Judging by the _True Romances_ ads, I am not holding uot much hope. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/3 "2003-05-24T23:12:54Z")
Since they’ve been promoting the hell out of the damn thing: No. If every other ad on the Hitler Channel _wasn’t_ about the program, I’d be interested, but they’ve been hyping it just a bit too much for my tastes. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/4 "2003-05-24T23:22:00Z")
I’m interested, though I wouldn’t say “excited”. The History channel has quickly become one of my favorites, and their “History’s Mysteries” and “Modern Marvels” series have been some of my favorites. But I’ve always regarded ALL TV as something that I’d watch only if I have a few moments to kill, and it’s convenient. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/5 "2003-05-25T01:31:26Z")
**Morelin** arranged to be off work on Monday and Tuesday just so she could catch it. I’m just sick of all the damn Hitler ads. Especially that “Project Foxley” thing where the Brits plotted to assassinate Hitler. He thought he was safe…HE WAS WRONG! ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Major\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Kong)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/6 "2003-05-25T01:51:25Z")
> [@](#): > > HE WAS WRONG! No he wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/7 "2003-05-25T01:59:44Z")
Look, all’s I know is, it’s “ **Cz** ars,” not “ **Ts** ars.” The word is supposed to be derived from “Caesar,” dammit, not “Teaser.” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/8 "2003-05-25T02:01:26Z")
That’s what _caused_ the Russian Revolution, you know–when the peasants found out the Czar and the Tsar were the same person. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/9 "2003-05-25T02:03:24Z")
What can I say? I LOVE Russian history. ---
**Author:** ![smaft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@smaft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaft)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/10 "2003-05-25T03:00:24Z")
See, now, I’m all for Russian history, but my big problem (and by “big”, I mean “King-Kong-on-a-bender size”) is the logo. Yeah, I suppose it’s cute to take the “R” and turn it around, and change the “U” to a “square U” as if it was written in Russian. But it’s not- those are completely different letters in the Cyrillic alphabet, and there isn’t any “S” or “I”. It just looks ignorant. And it is. And if they jsut make up the language, how could they possibly be relied on for facts? Um, oops. Sorry for the rant. Move along, people; there’s nothing to see here… ---
**Author:** ![smaft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@smaft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaft)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/11 "2003-05-25T03:02:05Z")
And by “jsut”, I mean “just”, of course. That’ll learn me to complain about letters. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/12 "2003-05-25T03:05:55Z")
Maybe I’m a pessimist, but I am looking for lots of Bad Acting and Overheated Dialogue. Kind of an _E! Hollywood’s Mysteries and Scandals_ version of “history.” I hope they prove me wrong . . . ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/13 "2003-05-25T03:14:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smaft \* > \*\*See, now, I’m all for Russian history, but my big problem (and by “big”, I mean “King-Kong-on-a-bender size”) is the logo. Yeah, I suppose it’s cute to take the “R” and turn it around, and change the “U” to a “square U” as if it was written in Russian. But it’s not- those are completely different letters in the Cyrillic alphabet, and there isn’t any “S” or “I”. > > It just looks ignorant. And it is.\*\* Just like “My Big Fat Grssk Wedding.” Oy. I’m moderately pumped. I don’t know as much about Russian history as I should, only where it intersects American history (ie Cold War) and European history (ie Catherine as an enlightened absolutist). I am a big fan of their using March Slav in the ads. I love that march. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/14 "2003-05-25T03:14:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*Maybe I’m a pessimist, but I am looking for lots of Bad Acting and Overheated Dialogue. Kind of an _E! Hollywood’s Mysteries and Scandals_ version of “history.” I hope they prove me wrong . . . \*\* But I LIKE all that. It sure as hell beats the kind of history documentaries I used to have to watch in high school, where a British guy in a suit stood in a field, rambling about the battle of Agincourt, and there were lots of pans of trees, grassy fields, and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/15 "2003-05-25T16:06:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*I hope, I really hope that the History Channel won’t screw this up. Like say that Alexandra slept with Rasputin, that Anastasia really did survive, or blah blah blah. > > \*\* …or Catherine singing a cover version of Bill Monroe’s “Tennessee Stud.” ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/16 "2003-05-25T16:15:01Z")
I’m very excited. I liked their bit on Ivan the Terrible a lot. I’m also really sick of HC’s Alien Conspiracy marathon. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/17 "2003-05-25T16:45:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Splanky \* > \*\* I’m also really sick of HC’s Alien Conspiracy marathon. \*\* Is that what that was? I was looking for something decent to watch all day and it was all this weirdass alien stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/18 "2003-05-25T16:48:11Z")
Yeah, it was on all day yesterday. Yuck. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/19 "2003-05-25T21:41:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Terrifel \* > \*\*Look, all’s I know is, it’s “ **Cz** ars,” not “ **Ts** ars.” > > The word is supposed to be derived from “Caesar,” dammit, not “Teaser.” \*\* No, it’s Tsar. There is no Cz in the Russian alphabet! I HATE “Czar”. I really really want to make myself a Russian Court Dress, as in this picture of [Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana](http://players.gamernic.com/Guinastasia/Romanov/bigpairdressformalcourt1913b.jpg). (And yes, I DID color that picture myself) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/20 "2003-05-26T00:11:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > **No, it’s Tsar. There is no Cz in the Russian alphabet! I HATE “Czar”.** Actually, wouldn’t it be “Imperator”? I think Peter the Great formally abolished the title Tsar. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295.md?page=2)