History will put viewers in the middle of some of the most influential moments in history as part of its new original series I Was There, debuting President’s Day weekend. 

The 12-episode series – the first two of which premiere Feb. 20 and Feb. 21 – recounts some of the most high-profile historical events, disasters, triumphs and true stories to uncover unexpected facts in an unpredictable way, according to the network. Through re-creations using SGI technology, series host Theo Wilson is visually placed at the scene of each event to help discern what really happened during some of the most pivotal moments in history. 

History vice president of development and programming Mike Stiller says I Was There  -- which is executive produced by George Stephanopoulos (Good Morning America) --offers viewers a different perspective on such events as Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, the Hindenburg disaster, the 1965 Blood Sunday march from Selma to Montgomery and the 1889 catastrophic Johnstown flood in Pennsylvania. 

In an edited Multichannel News interview with Stiller, here's what he and History want you to know about I Was There:

The series unearths little-known facts about well-known historical events: "What’s interesting about I Was There is that it puts Theo Wilson and the viewer into history itself to see the details that might have been missed. We’ve talked to the best historians to really try to understand history in a different way and maybe show viewers something about these events that they didn’t know. For example we have an episode that looks at the Johnstown flood, which was the deadliest flood in American history. One of the reasons that it happened had to do with a club on the Conemaugh Lake owned by some of America’s richest men. They owned the man made lake and had the responsibility of taking care of the dam, but they really didn’t do the necessary upkeep. In fact, they would lower the height of the dam so that  they could get carriages over it to have more parties at the club, but fish traps would end up getting stuck in the dam itself and cause it to malfunction. So when they got hit with a once in a century storm, you have these people who helped cause a disaster that killed a lot of people. So it’s about putting the viewer in the greatest moments of history, triumph and tragedy through modern day special effects."

I Was There host Theo Wilson brings a unique historical perspective to the episodes: "We looked for someone to host the show that had a connection to history who could be a great storyteller. With Theo, the thing that jumped out about him is that he’s an engaging storyteller, and his grandfather was a Tuskegee airman. Sometimes you have to be a part of history to understand it, and Theo grew up hearing these stories about history from his  grandfather, and it gave him an interesting appreciation and perspective."

The series features events that still have intrigue surrounding them: "It was a long process that we went through with the producers to identify the events we profiled. We basically started with, ‘what are the events that you would most want to see? What were the events that were visual and maybe had a ticking clock associated with them?’ Also, we looked at events that featured some interesting new perspective that we wanted to explore. The series is only 12 episodes, but we're already thinking about what we could do if we have to do 100 episodes. We could look at everything that happened from ancient times to just 20 years ago. It’s about going through the greatest events that ever happened – the good ones and the bad ones, as well as those that you want to relive and those that you don’t – where we could offer up an interesting new perspective."

Also: TCA: History Sets "Theodore Roosevelt' Docuseries Debuting on Memorial Day

History will look at the life and legacy of President Theodore Roosevelt as part of a two-part documentary series debuting Memorial Day, the network announced during its Television Critics Association Winter Tour session Wednesday.

The five-hour series, executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Doris Kearns Goodwin, will air across two consecutive nights beginning May 30, said the network. Based on Goodwin’s bestseller Leadership: In Turbulent Times, the miniseries will explore the breadth and depth of one of history’s most interesting men—a cowboy, soldier, statesman, conservationist, adventurer, reformer and author who suffered profound personal loss and became at age 42 the youngest president of the United States, said History.

“History has cemented itself as the premier destination for presidential documentary content that tells the definitive yet complex stories of our most influential leaders – Washington, Grant, Lincoln and now our fourth instalment – Theodore Roosevelt,” said Eli Lehrer, Executive Vice President and Head of Programming for The History Channel as a statement. “Teddy was a fascinating man of many contradictions and we are proud to partner again with modern-day leaders in their own right -- Doris and Leo -- to bring this President’s larger-than-life story to our audience.”

The announcement comes on the heels of the network’s upcoming three-night documentary series Abraham Lincoln debuting Feb. 20. ■ 

An internet meme "quoting" Abraham Lincoln about internet truth has been a favorite for the past few years. The only thing better is a version of Lincoln's "advice" about not believing "everything you read on the internet" accompanied by an illustration of Benjamin Franklin. (I have been unable to confirm if the designer of the Franklin version was being ironic or ignorant - a fitting factor for this discussion.)

These admonitions came to mind as I reviewed an NBC report last week about "Headline Stress Disorder." Although NBC's focus was on the negative effect of non-stop downbeat news coverage, a larger issue emerges: How will media deal with the public's trust - or disdain - for media?

Does the bubbling desire to "kill the messenger" apply only to news channels (which are actually thriving), or could it ripple over to other conventional media content? Several analyses of the popularity of feel-good programming, such as Hallmark Channel's Christmas movie spree (for example: this Forbes story) characterized it as a way to escape the stresses of the season and of these times.

In the American Psychological Association study, which was the basis for the NBC report, and in a newer APA "Stress in America" study conducted by Harris Poll, 72 percent of Americans said they believe the media "blows things out of proportion." Most adults (95 percent) say they follow the news regularly, but 56 percent say that doing so causes them stress, according to the survey.

The new APA survey found that 59 percent of Americans "consider this the lowest point in U.S. history that they can remember"; APA pointed out that this negative mindset came from people who lived through World War II, Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“With 24-hour news networks and conversations with friends, family and other connections on social media, it’s hard to avoid the constant stream of stress around issues of national concern,” according to Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, APA’s CEO. “Understanding that we all still need to be informed about the news, it’s time to make it a priority to be thoughtful about how often and what type of media we consume.”

Trust in Media (?)

Although media itself is not in the top rank of personal stress factors, it is obviously the vehicle via which people learn about the problems that do unsettle them. "The medium is the message," as Marshall McLuhan intoned five decades ago.

APA said that the major stress inducers are health care, the economy, trust in government, hate crimes and general crime plus global war and terrorism. The recent APA report is loaded with other, fascinating demographic differences - e.g. women have significantly higher stress levels than men (5.1 vs 4.4 on a 10-point scale). The study did not explore whether such differences are affected by the amount of media consumption - a topic for further scholarly exploration, no doubt.

Amid all the analyses of Americans' stress situation is the more serious and expansive issue (which is being examined elsewhere): What are the political and societal implications of a devalued news industry? Is it a prelude to disbelieving everything? Beyond today's behaviors, such as only tuning in to the news sources that match your opinions, will future consumers choose to ignore it all?

If you're in or around the telecom/media biz, there's an extra stressor - depending on how close you are to the deals afoot. Friends and neighbors - "civilians" (or mere consumers) in the digital era - think you must know something about net neutrality, Disney-Fox, AT&T/Time Warner or any of the other landscape changers that have become part of the stressful media environment. Do you want to give them the right answer, presuming you KNOW the right answer? Or are you too consumed with the uncertainty of how these changes will affect your life. That is: more stress.

The NBC report included an APA checklist of things to do to reduce the media stress. It's a familiar roster ranging from avoiding social media, "no news before bedtime," and cold turkey (cut off completely). Although some viewers may adopt some of the recommendations, for people in the media/telecom industries, the options may take on a more ominous impact.

Stress will, in some yet-unknown ways, change the ways in which audiences actually consume what the industry wants to deliver. You can believe that - even if you see it on the "Interwebs."