Will Alex Haley's ancestors reconquer American television? After seeing three of [the 14 hours of Roots: The Next Generations], I'd have to give a provisional no. With all its whippings and thrashings and swoony palpitations, [Roots I] had a pulpy-moralistic excitement reminiscent of that other world-shaking race melodrama, Uncle Tom's Cabin…. [Roots II is] an expensive show-and-tell lecture about Black History and Black Pride, forlornly parading forth good intentions….
[As] drama, it's pulverisingly dull. Unlike the first series, the white characters here aren't all foaming-at-the-mouth racists, but you find yourself wishing that somebody would work up a frothy high….
[The later] episodes of Roots: The Next Generations … celebrate Alex Haley as the great soul-embattled moral explorer of our time…. [Despite] dents in Haley's scholarly reputation, he's still a heroic figure for millions of Americans—millions who will loyally handcuff themselves to the TV for all 14 ponderous hours of Roots II.
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