With the positive reviews here and the very interesting topic, I was really looking forward to this series. Having schlogged through the entire course of 36 lectures, I can't imagine how Dr. Lehrer got so many stars.
He restates and belabors every point, focuses on the dull and skims over the interesting. After making my way through the first lectures on Indoeuropean, I thought that perhaps I had gotten past the tedious-though-necessary bits. Boy, was I wrong! The first lectures on the origins of language turned out to be some of the most interesting.
I hope that Great Courses finds another, more succinct lecturer to teach about the English language. The topic is so interesting and full of possibilities, but this lecturer failed to bring them out.