Critic Reviews
| 100 |
The New York Times Virginia Heffernan
It's the most exciting and stirring documentary on any subject to appear on television in a long time. |
| 90 |
Baltimore Sun David Zurawik
It is all done so skillfully, thanks to the self-deprecating grace of Gates, that the series never loses its sense of adventure. |
| 75 |
Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman
What makes the awful past easy to handle here is that it's delivered with graceful and quiet storytelling by its directors, by scholarly host Henry Louis Gates Jr. and by nine subjects. |
| 70 |
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
[An] intriguing, if occasionally abrupt, series. |
| 70 |
Boston Globe Joanna Weiss
If nothing else, this is a stunning historical undertaking, a massive and detailed project tracing genealogical records and analyzing DNA, swiped from celebrity cheeks. But the program's greater power comes from the past itself. With minimal use of talking-head experts, it tells the small stories that make history feel more true. |
| 70 |
Washington Post Chip Crews
Mostly absorbing. |
| 70 |
Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd
If a little repetitious and scattered, and a tad too insistent on Moments of Surprise, it is plenty interesting and often moving. |
| 70 |
San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum
Although a bit repetitive at times, this is a fascinating few hours that says a lot about how our country came to be. |
| 60 |
Philadelphia Inquirer Ellen Gray
There's a surprising amount of fun in Gates' sometimes meandering journey toward his and his subjects' roots. |
| 60 |
Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron
The first hour plays more like something on the Biography Channel, but the longer you watch, the higher up the family trees Gates climbs and the more incredible the view. |
|
