History Detectives

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History Detectives is a television program on PBS. A group of researchers (listed below) 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. Each investigation is presented as a "mystery" to be solved through consultation with other professionals knowledgeable about the subject and through research in historical archives and libraries.

This program presents situations as though they are being filmed as they spontaneously occur, but these are clearly staged.

Each episode features three segments; a different "mystery" is solved in each segment. Between segments, one of the detectives gives additional information, usually about the time period relating to the investigation or about good research techniques.

The show only airs in the summer months. The fourth season began in June 2006.

Wes Cowan (Auctioneer, appraiser)
Elyse Luray (Appraiser, art historian)
Gwen Wright (Professor of Architecture, author, architectural advisor)
Tukufu Zuberi (Professor of Sociology, author)

[edit] Trivia

Elvis Costello's "Watching the Detectives" (from his 1977 album My Aim Is True) is the show's theme song. Its unique drum sequences also serve as segues between each segment of an episode.