Last year, Fox Business Network anchor Jamie Colby lived what she calls the adventure of a lifetime, trekking across the heartland of America in search of stories about the rare and sometimes bizarre - but always valuable (in one way or another) - inheritances that get handed down from one generation to the next.
After eight months of "roughing it" on the road, she returned to Fox Business Network's headquarters in New York City with 26 amazing and very heartwarming stories for the new series "Strange Inheritance." She promises - quite convincingly - that these stories offer a unique glimpse into the lives of some of the amazing families that make up these United States. In fact, she goes so far as to add that the show may even "restore faith in our nation, in our people."
Colby left her co-anchor position on Fox Business Network's "America's News Headquarters" last April to host the first non-news program on Fox Business. It was not an easy decision, but Colby wanted to see America and try something new in her career.
"I had done a lot of travel internationally for the news - papal conclaves, tsunamis in Asia, hurricanes - all death and destruction mostly," Colby says. "But here was a time to not only help people figure out what to do during a hard time in their lives but also to learn about them and watch them learn about themselves."
A business news channel may seem a strange fit for a reality program, but the show features people who have prospered in all kinds of businesses beyond Wall Street.
"There's more to business than markets," the show's executive producer Brian Gaffney says. "'Strange Inheritance' will have an appeal beyond the typical business news viewer, but nobody will find it out of place on a business network."
The show offers a more personal touch to the business of antiques and collectors' items on TV than similar shows such as PBS's "Antiques Roadshow" or History Channel's "American Pickers."
"I think this is Ancestory.com meets 'Antiques Roadshow' meets 'Dateline' because [the participants] don't just walk in and say, 'I want to sell you this,' " says Colby. "We teach them what it is that they've inherited. We help them make an informed decision and help the family enjoy a legacy."
For the show's first season, families across 25 states shared not only what their relatives had passed down to them, but also the deeply personal and often sentimental stories that are a part of each inheritance. Hosting the show allowed Colby to tackle tasks such as helping solve family disputes and explore financial decisions - like whether to sell or hold onto an inheritance which included everything from dinosaur bones to coin collections to Nakashima furniture.
For much of the season's taping, Colby functioned more like a counselor and lawyer - two of her previous professions -- than a TV host. It's a good thing she's all three, but even those skills didn't prepare her for having to learn the difference between a crocodile and an alligator for one particular episode.
For her part, Colby doesn't expect to inherit anything as strange as she witnessed while shooting the show, but she does believe her late father may have given her an inheritance of a more spiritual nature.
"I lost my dad right before this opportunity had happened and when Mr. [Roger] Ailes, our Chairman [and CEO of FOX News ] and a mentor of mine, said, 'Get Colby,' which is two words that you really relish hearing. I felt a little bit [points to the sky] that this was an inheritance," she says. "Putting something this big in my hands was something my dad would have wanted to see."
Fox Business Network will air episodes of "Strange Inheritance" each week Monday through Thursday, with two new episodes debuting back-to-back each Monday and Tuesday. Colby and Gaffney both promise to feature "real people with genuine issues" and that nothing is scripted or staged.
"It will bring 'heartland' and 'heartfelt' back to TV," Colby says proudly. "I can't wait for viewers to see these stories. They will see themselves in them, and they'll just enjoy these people."
"Strange Inheritance" premieres Monday, Jan. 26 at 9 p.m. EST on Fox Business Network.
