I'm not a guy who cares all that much for PBS and I consider most of the stuff on PBS boring but there are some exceptions.One of them is the History Detetctives a show that has "experts" taking what may or may not be genuine historical items owned by ordinary people to authenticate (or not). There are historically important items everywhere when you think about it and that old tattered coat you have could be worth a fortune if the person who owns it now becomes famous.


 



I've been watching this show since it's inception and while it's not quite as good as it was the first year, it's a great summer replacement series for history buffs. The concept is thus: people send in information on what they consider valuable "historical" items and the History Detectives Crew pick out the ones they consider worth researching and try to prove or disprove the authenticity of that item. The show usually features three "items" that are first presented to a member the History Detectives Team, and then the show follows the leg work concerning the research involved in the process of authentication of that item. The list of stuff is getting long since the show has been on for a while now but some of my faves have been an art forger who forged George Washington portraits and Napoleon sword found in Louisiana that turned out to be fake. If you happen to read this before June 14, the next show will have fabric possibly from a hot air balloon used in a Japan attack against the United States.



This is a show worth watching.