Television: A Super Sequel to Haley's Comet

(5 of 5)

The creators of Roots 11 have only one remaining wish, and it cannot be granted by the tooth fairy. The wish, of course, is for high ratings. ABC research predicts an audience within six share points of Roots 1, but other network observers feel that Haley's comet could sputter slightly this time out. While the original Roots aired during a tame ratings period, Roots 11 appears at the peak of a Nielsen "sweeps" month, the all important period that determines advertising rates charged by network affiliate stations. NBC and CBS are spending $2 million each to combat Roots 11's premiere with first-run showings of, respectively, American Graffiti and Marathon Man. Later in the week, NBC'S Fred Silverman will combat Roots with the final episodes of his own miniseries, Backstairs at the White House and a remake for TV of From Here to Eternity. Says one TV producer, noting the options: "Freddie literally risks ripping families apart when he programs the way he does against Roots."

If there is any night when Roots 11 sets a new audience record, it is likely to be Sunday, Feb. 25, when the final episode goes up against a re-run of The Sound of Music (NBC) and Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes (CBS). The victory would be just, for the last two hours of Roots: The Next Generations are about as good as television gets. Besides containing the 8½-minute Brando-Jones confrontation, this segment recounts Haley's collaboration with Malcolm X on the Black Muslim's classic autobiography. As played by Al Freeman Jr. and written (in nine drafts) by Kinoy, Malcolm is the first black radical ever to be portrayed as an intelligent, three-dimensional character on television.

It is Malcolm's obsession with his African roots—the "X" stands for his unknown African name—that drives Haley forward on his search for his forefather Kunta Kinte. What happened when Haley finally went to Africa has already passed into American legend, but the reenactment of the scene at the end of Roots 11 still has strong impact. When a tribal oral historian, a griot, confirms the Haley family account of Kinte's capture by white 18th century slave traders, Alex's joy is overwhelming. "You old African! I found you! I found you! I found you! I found you!" shouts out James Earl Jones, his voice bursting with sobs. The TV audience may well sob along with him. Now as before, Roots occupies a special place in the history of our mass culture: it has the singular power to reunite all Americans, black and white, with their separate and collective pasts.