Vale dos Reis: Tesouros do Egito

I really enjoyed this series. There is a lot of information about things I hadn't seen or heard of before. The photography is very well done and so is the narration; he just gives the information with no fake drama and no repetition. Most of the archeologists and egyptologists are very informative and obviously know their stuff. I have to agree with all of the other reviewers however on the Darnells; they are absolutely ridiculous. Her voice alone is enough to make your ears bleed, and the way she talks, emphasizing every other word, she talks like she's announcing a sporting event. There is no way she in her vintage dresses and heels with her little straw hat and umbrella, 20's hair bob and enough makeup to sink the Titanic, and him in his linen suits and bow ties, have ever been on any kind of actual archeological dig in their lives. I honestly can't take anything either one of them says seriously.

This National Geographic show presents archaeologists as they excavate dig sites and make big discoveries. They present the latest understanding of these past Egyptian civilizations. What I love most is finding new discoveries. It's great finding a new opening and going down a new tunnel. It's amazing to uncover that cartouche still with its original paint. It's great to see that discoveries continue. On the other hand, I can do without the lady in 20's outfit. Someone is too in love with Merchant and Ivory movies. It's too much of a gimmick. The show does threaten to overload the information. Overall, it's nice to see these places and things. It's even better to know that more are being discovered.

This is a good series. Among other things, it stands out from the pack by not being stuffed with endless repetitive filler of the same graphics over and over. As noted by others, the inclusion of a pair of college professors who dress like 19th century tourists (and who are in fact only scholarly tourists themselves) is more than a little annoying. It's like visitors to Kenya dressing up in their little safari suits before they pile into their parade of Toyota vans.

As for episode two, if you ever get a job in Egyptian archeology, don't work for Dr. Mohie. Way too much of an obnoxious jerk. After the aged-out-into-retirement Dr. Hawas, it feels like Mohie is feeling the wind in his sails.

But those are the only two issues. The content is very good and there are even a couple of revelations. Considering how Egypt has been done to death in documentaries, it is nice to have a series that provides something new.

While there is some very interesting history presented in this series, the big downside was the incessant moving from one excavation location to another every few minutes. It would have been much better if they just stuck with one story for a longer period. I suppose this style was chosen in a weird attempt to hold the interest of those that have a short attention span, but I found it to be extremely annoying.

Most of the historical experts do a pretty good job of hosting their segments. There is one notable exception, that being Colleen Darnell. Her obsession with 1920s period clothing comes across as unprofessional while she parades along as though she's on a fashion show catwalk. Along with her mousy voice, it just makes her segments cringe-worthy.

All said, I feel the production method really downgraded the effort and left me disappointed with what could have been a much better series from National Geographic.

Ancient Egypt junkie and what I like about this series is a focus on the archeological digs and analysis, the discovery and attempt to better understand this civilization. It blows your mind when you realize how long the Egyptians held onto their culture and way of life.

This series explores some previously well covered topics (Tutankhamun, Rameses II, Hatshepsut) but in a novel way. Without rehashing the same angles, their active research projects are adding new questions to explore on future expeditions.

The Darnells. They're Translation Tourists. They don't appear to have active research projects. They don't have an active dig site. The 1920's gear feels in bad taste and makes me think about the troubled relationship that western archeologists have had with Egypt such as Howard Carter's proposal that he and Carnarvon split the "treasure" 50/50 if he funded one last season.

This is human history but more importantly, Egyptian history. Which is why I love that this series shows how the Egyptian government has imposed strict regulations to protect their workers in these digs, artifacts recovered on site, and the repatriation of stolen goods from the black market. Archeology in Egypt still seems predominantly western funded but there are now more Egyptians featured in more prominent positions discovering their own history and it's so much better to see.

Overall, a well done series.