Colonial House

Long to return to the good ol' days? Waxing nostalgic during the election season? Well, look no further. Harken back to the days where you actually had to kill what you put on the dinner table. Where a woman's identity is entirely dependent on her husband. Where life becomes more real as the modern convieniences that allow us to hide ourselves are taken away, and we are forced to deal with things head on. PBS maginificent "Colonial House" offers a quick taste of those days, in their horrible reality.Last year, a band of brave people were selected to live in a small colony in Maine during the summer of 2003 to see what life was like in the 1620's. Picked from a wide variety of people, they are forced to deal with the rules and restrictions such people had to endure. Spicing up this mix is a twenty first century mentality that often rubs against their own attempt at life, producing an intriguing mix of television not often seen.The people picked to be on the show are very real, and adapt into their roles easily. From the governor who struggles with the leadership of the colony, to the indentured servants, who operate under their masters whims, each plays their parts perfectly, allowing glimpses into the reality of 17th century lives. While I really enjoyed all of the people, my favorites had to be servant Jonathan Allen, Julia Friese, and the rebellious Voorhees'. They added the most spice to this spicy adventure!So a reality show where people don't get voted off, or a phone number where you call to vote for your favorite singer. But this is an intelligent attempt to model life back then. Is it perfect? No. But the lessons learned by the colonists, about themselves and life in early America, resonate loud and clear. That's intelligent television at its best.Bravo to PBS for taking this risk, and I highly recommend anyone and everyone to view this wonderful work.

Wish they would make more of these. Some of my favorite type of things to watch

I've seen both this as well as Frontier House, and I have to say, I enjoyed this series much more than Frontier House.Comparing with Frontier House, this group seemed to try and fit better into their roles, rather than just outright try and play by their own rules as did the Frontier cast. Of course there was the expected Atheist vs Zealot families that kept butting heads. I didn't really care for the attempt to turn the colony into Puritanism (as they were in fact a small minority). But I also didn't really care for the militant atheism that brought on a divergence to the laws of the 17th century. Of course within reason some laws had to be ignored (I mean, would PBS really let someone get their lips sewn shut, or tongue cut off for Blasphemy?)While both series were entertaining, it was nice to see this cast not try and smuggle in 21st century comforts like Make-up and whatnot, and actually at least attempt a half-assed go at trying to fully experience the what the project was about.Some of the cast will get on your nerves, some for bringing too much of the 21st century as far as attitudes go, while others introduce their own interpenetration on how things should be done. There are lots of self-righteous moments that will make you wish they never brought the specific cast member onto the project.Still, overall, it was enjoyable, I just wish there was more as far as bonus features, or maybe even commentaries from the cast/crew, as they reflect back on the project. That would have been interesting.

Played well. Content entertaining.

I got Colonial House after watching Frontier House and posting a review of the DVD set on Amazon. I wanted to see the rest of the House series and bought up both Colonial House and Texas Ranch House. Colonial House seems to have many people, as you can see from the reviews, who hate it. But there are some good points and some bad points. First, let us talk about the set up.17 people are sent, after some training, to live on a 1000 acres of wild country in Maine. They have to go by boat, they don't know what parts they will play before they get there - governor, freeman, servant - and, luckily for them, most of the town has already been built, the land cleared, and even the animals already transported to the spot. They just have to unload the boat that held their supplies and belongings. So they didn't have to spend two months building the houses. In the end they had four months to prepare to be judged - would they survive or be forced to return to England? Could they survive 1628? Or is it 1682? The DVD set box says 1682 but everybody else says 1628. Mistake or warning of things to come? Dun-dun-DUN!The Good: They do seem to be able to adapt to the methods, equipment and ways of 17th Century colonists. They plant and grow corn, they built a new house when 8 more people are sent to help the colony, they collect material and foods and use the resources available to them. Some of the people, like Jeff Wyers, his daughter Bethany Wyers, Julia Friese and Don Wood all show a lot of backbone. They show inner strength to do what is right, a willingness to work hard and, sometimes, a sense of humor that is refreshing. They even, sometimes, try to think like a person of the 17th Century. The Wyers family kept to the rules EVEN after all the real life problems they had.I also liked Jack Lecza, Cape Merchant, who was sent to help them prepare for the winter and the final judgment. He knew his history but he also knew about the resources, how to use them, and how to work with people.The fact that they are so FAR from modern society is a plus - but did not stop one person from taking a break - see The Bad.The Bad: Sometimes the Americans forgot about the fact that some of the people in the project were English. So when they talked about our nation this and Americans that I wondered if they remembered that they were 17th Century English colonists. I felt sorry for the English, frankly.While many people adjusted to no bathrooms, no modern devices, no forks, yet few seemed to adjust to the 17th mindset. They could not stay within the 17th Century. Many kept pulling 21th Century values and ideas into the project and it made for some moments where you wanted to shake them and ask, why are you here? If you didn't want to do this, why did you come? Many people started to drink too much, they played baseball, they can be seen just laying about. Skinny-dipping? Infighting? Tons of meeting and why did they come all the way to the New World without corn seeds?One Freeman went walk about - in fact he went to a nearby town, went to a bar and got free food and drink. Not only was he breaking the rules but he even promised that while away from the village he was NOT going to leave the 1000 acres. Which he did anyway.Another Freeman just left after wondering if he was helping bring about slavery. Maybe he adapted to the 17th Century mindset too easily?Also, with over 20 people in the project near the end I wanted more input from the other members of the village. But we barely see anybody outside the three main families. That sucks. I think they wanted to focus on two types of people - the ones who were major players and the trouble makers. Oh, the drama!The Ugly: First one up to bat is, of course, Michelle Rossi-Voorhees. Funny enough the rest of her family did pretty good and, I think, outside of her everybody else in her family, and in the colony, came away from the project having learned something. She did not. She got drunk. She got high off the pipe. She complained, shouted at people, refused to go to church. And the thing that really made me feel sad for her was her stating that she felt sorry for Bethany because the girl BELIVED in God. I think I respected Bethany Wyers the most and if she could find comfort and strength in God that is no business of Michelle's. The drunk, pipe smoking, skinny-dipping witch.Most of the time I found the Heinz family interesting. One day they said one thing and the next they switched over to say something else. Carolyn complained about the rules and how things were run at first. But all that changed when her husband was put in power and then she complained about how nobody was following the rules. And they treated every camera as if it was their own private camera.The project, in the end was interesting, but also seemed to get twisted into knots. Issues of church, slavery, work, food got mixed in with the rights of women, the rights of servants, debates of freedom, and the need for some private time. In other words 17th Century issues got muddled by 21st Century whining.Final note - it is not as bad as some reviews seem to say - I think many people got emotional if not outright mad at a few of the people in the project and that carries over into the reviews. It is good but I don't think it was as interesting as Frontier House. I think if properly done it could have been MUCH better then Frontier House. The DVD set also came with extras in the form of a making of, auditions and more diaries.