Colonial/Frontier House

If you've never seen PBS's absolutely insane experiments in historical resurrection reality TV -- the programs Colonial House and Frontier House (I think there's another one, 1940s House, but I haven't found it online) -- now would be an amazing time to start. They combine the worst instincts towards romanticizing history, reality TV characters chosen for particular reasons, somewhat educational content, and beautiful scenery.

The basics are these: a group of people -- some couples, some families, some loners -- are chosen to live together in rural coastal Maine (Colonial House) or in rural, rugged Montana (Frontier House), simulating an early European colony and an early attempt at homesteading, respectively.

This is quite obviously a fucked-up idea, one that can only explore very shallow versions of the racism and violence of the original settlements, not to mention the class and gender stratifications. But the show actually really attempts such an exploration, despite being doomed to fail at it. Particularly in Colonial House, which includes long and pretty surprisingly thoughtful encounters with descendants of local Native Americans who original colonists might have encountered, race, class, and gender are topics inherent to the enterprise.

This is also, though, the closest I've seen PBS come to straight-up trash reality TV. Inherently, it's pathetic, and I like to think the entire idea of romantic historical resurrection is revealed to be pathetic, selective, and messed-up. You can now watch Frontier House and Colonial House both on YouTube, I think in their near entirety. I would say I somewhat prefer Colonial House -- the participants, some beyond zany, take the task of recreating an early settlement FAR TOO SERIOUSLY. The people in charge are total blowhards, just like the original people in charge. Their actions lead to real strife, furious anger, and absolutely laughably absurd situations, such as:

-The oldest male in the group being made defacto Governor. A Baptist preacher from Waco, Texas, he and his family immediately institute mandatory daily prayer in the colony, insisting this is historically accurate, and no one can complain. Also off-limits: profanities such as "sucks" and "crap," which result in docked food/being held in the stocks. Women must be modest and are barred from important town meetings. The Governor reallllllly loves being Governor.

-The next-oldest male is defacto made the Governor's assistant. An anemic aetheist professor from California there with his wife -- honestly, if you've seen Sacha Baron Cohen's professor character in Who Is America, it's that guy -- with whom he claims an equal partnership in all things, he fairly quickly takes to the thrill of power and enforces the Governor's decree with something like handwringing glee. This means that his wife, also a professor, and all the other women, must work in subservience to the men, and sit on the opposite side of the makeshift church during the mandatory prayer service. The wife is not happy about this, but content that at least they have indentured servants over which she exerts dominion. She really enjoys this role.

-If people do not come to the mandatory prayer service, they are tied to a stake at the edge of the colony for the entire day.


I remember less about Frontier House, but I do remember the Clune family. They are forever burned into my brain, and I'll leave it at that. Here's a bizarre video of the family getting really into a period-appropriate song while making biscuits -- these shows are full of such moments.