History Detectives
Encyclopedia
History Detectives is a documentary television series on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

. A group of researcher
Researcher
A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.-Examples of research institutions:...

s (listed on right) help people to seek answers to various historical questions they have, usually centering around a family heirloom, an old house or other historic object or structure. It devotes itself "to exploring the complexities of historical mysteries, searching out the facts, myths and conundrums that connect local folklore, family legends and interesting objects."

Format

Episodes usually include three segments, each centering on a single "mystery" or "case". Usually a case will be handled by a single "detective" although in early episodes two would occasionally investigate a single case, and there have been cases where a "detective" has called on one of their colleagues for help, usually when the case involves a specialty of their colleague's.

Each segment begins with a brief introduction and then shows the "detective" meeting with a person who has brought the case to their attention. The cases always revolve around a physical object which is supposedly related in some manner to American history. Usually these are family heirlooms of some type, although occasionally they are public objects or landmarks or items owned by private archives or museums. The person presenting them with the case then shows the investigator the item in question and relates their understanding of how this item is connected to American history. Often this involves some element of folk history which has been handed down as family or local lore. The investigator will then ask them what they want to find out about the item and the owner will generally give them two or three central questions. Often the questions will revolve around whether the item was owned by a particular famous personage or whether it was used in a particular historic event. Sometimes the investigator will be asked to track down an obscure creator of a certain item. The investigator will then promise to look into the questions and, if the item in question is portable, will ask to take it with them.

The rest of the segment involves an investigation of the item's history, focusing particularly on the questions asked by the person who presented them with the case. If the provenance
Provenance
Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing...

 of the item is in doubt they will often begin by establishing whether or not the item came from the period in question. This will often involve a series of physical tests as well as consultation with experts on appraisal. When tracking down specific people the investigators will engage in archival research using such resources as biographies, histories, newspapers, and city directories. In attempting to establish the history of the item, the investigators will meet with experts, particularly historians, to gain historical context. When needed other experts such as park rangers, appraisers, and experts in relevant skills will be consulted. Often, experts will be asked to provide their opinion on the plausibility of a story which is attached to the item, or to explain why a specific historical event happened in a particular way. When dealing with more recent history, the investigators will often try and contact people involved in certain events both in order to gain context and to verify the truth of an item's folk history. Generally the last interview will be abruptly ended before the audience can learn the final revelation. The investigator then returns to the person who brought them the case and informs them of what he has learned, including rolling clips of revealing statements from the final expert consulted. Occasionally the end of the segment will involve a "reward" of sorts. Sometimes this involves presenting the people who brought them the case with an item somehow related to the history of their item. Other times this will involve a meeting with a person who had produced or previously owned their item or, if that person is deceased, their relatives. For example, in a case where they were trying to track down the artist who had drawn a WWII POW's picture they found that the artist was deceased but they "reunited" the POW with the artist's son.

Between segments there will be interstitial material
Interstitial program
In television programming, an interstitial program refers to a short program which is often shown between movies or other events, e.g. a cast interview after movies on premium channels...

 involving stock footage
Stock footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...

 and one of the investigators giving narration that relates to the general topic which had been covered in the preceding segment. For example, a segment which dealt with desegregation in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

, the interstitial material discussed the WWII service of several black ballplayers.

The show only airs original episodes in the summer months. Reruns air in some areas of the country the rest of the year as well as on PBS World
PBS World
PBS World is a 24-hour United States over-the-air digital subchannel showing public TV non-fiction, science, nature, news, public affairs and documentaries...

. The sixth season in 2008 brought some changes including a new opening sequence. In the seventh season in 2009, Eduardo Pagan
Eduardo Obregón Pagán
Eduardo Obregón Pagán is the Bob Stump Endowed Professor of History at Arizona State University, and one of the hosts of the PBS popular series History Detectives since 2008.-Biography:...

, a noted historian and author joined the detectives. The ninth season premieres on Tuesday, June 21, 2011, and marks the change from regularing airing on Mondays to Tuesdays.

Production

Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...

's "Watching the Detectives
Watching the Detectives (song)
"Watching the Detectives" is a 1977 single by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello. It was his first single that credited his backing band, the Attractions, and gave him his first UK hit single...

" is the show's theme song. Its unique drum sequences also serve as segues between each segment of an episode.

During an online chat with the Washington Post in 2005, Elyse Luray
Elyse Luray
Elyse Luray is an American art historian and appraiser of historical objects who has become a television personality as a result of her appearances on a number of shows, most particularly as a member, since its premiere in 2003, of PBS's investigation-of-the-past series History Detectives...

stated that each segment took approximately six weeks to complete. While on the show it appears that each filmed segment is happening spontaneously, the research is generally completed prior to filming, and the investigator will then later return to certain research points for filming so the investigation will appear as a coherent story for the viewer.

External links

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