We do?
I spell it “Beijing”, and I thought most of the rest of the English-speaking world was with me on that one.
Perhaps the reference is to the famously crispy and delicious recipe for duck.
Mmm…duck…
Oh fer chrissake, will you people open a spelling thread, and let’s get back to whether or not this special is crap?
Eve, you are absolutely right; I started this whole wagon train to nowhere (albeit unintentionally), and I apologize to all and sundry. Sorry for the hijack, Guinastasia.
It got great reviews in the New York Times yesterday or today. Said it was very artfully done.
Not the copy of the Times I read! I repeat, from above: " . . . a pop-up textbook of grisly moments brought to lurid life in heavily costumed and scored reenactments."
I may watch the Ken Burns docu on the U.S. Congress instead . . .
So far, so good, it seems. The images of Moscow are breathtaking.
Sorry, I’m really anal about Tsar/Czar.
Oooh, they’re showing the cap of Vladimir! Ooh, and the Kremlin! I can’t wait until tomorrow, to see Nicky and Alix!
Ah, yes, “Bloody Nicholas,” as my grandfather called him. Oh, well, if it weren’t for Bloody Nicholas chasing my family out of Russia, we’d have been there for the even-worse people who followed him.
Oh, you’re right, the show’s much better than I’d predicted.
I enjoyed the musical theme based on the promenade from “Pictures at Exhibiton,” but I felt they overused it. There are more songs in the piece.
Yes, I heard the themes from the castle and the crypt, but they were unutilized.
I am enjoying the show, but I liked “History of England” better. Tomorrow should be good.
And by unutilized I of course meant underutilized.
Ah yes, Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” One of my favorite pieces of classical music.
It wasn’t bad at all—but I was so exhausted that I fell asleep in the middle of Peter the Great. I’m sure they’ll rerun it sometime . . .
They showed Peter’s infantry using precussion caps in the 17th century. Not good for the History Channel.
Standard gripe about the HC: Waaaay too many commercials, plus they use the same shots over and over and over.
Same “horses galloping over the rocks.” Same “dead soldiers in the grass.” Same “incinerated building.”
Yeah, and when the Mongols were losing, they didn’t even show they riding the other way!
You forgot the “Evil Dead Karo Syrup Blood” dribbling down/across various surfaces.
I still liked it. Peter the Great kicked ass.
I love it when the narrator said, “Tens of thousands of soldiers were killed,” and I was thinking, “But we can only afford to show you four of them.”
Good gad Eve, I’ll never be able to watch the History Channel with a straight face again.
The stock footage was beyond annoying, but I really enjoyed the analysis from the historians. Overall the material was good enough that the budget limitations didn’t matter to me.
Go History!
The only thing wrong that I heard so far was last night, when they showed the Imperial Crown and said it was designed by and created for Peter the Great, when actually it was Catherine who had it designed for her coronation.
I’m wondering which Nicholas they’re going to feature-I think Nicholas II, but the promo I saw last night showed a painting of Nicholas I. Perhaps they’ll discuss the Crimean War and the Decembrists, then?