Best TV Show of the Week

Who Do You Think You Are? on NBC

By Ally Matteodo

NBC’s illuminating series Who Do You Think You Are? aired Friday, March 4th at 8:00 Eastern and represents a thoughtful, interesting Best of the Week that the entire family can enjoy.  This program focuses on celebrities seeking out their family roots.  As they search for clues into their past, sometimes the uncovered photographs and documents can lead them across the country, or even across the world.  This particular episode focused on Oscar and Grammy award winning singer Lionel Richie and his quest to uncover his ancestry.  Richie fondly remembers his childhood in Tuskegee, Alabama—his parents kept him sheltered from any unpleasant racial tensions in the Deep South, and not until he joined “The Commodores,” did Richie understand that, in his words, he grew up “standing on the shoulders of giants.”  Setting out for Tuskegee, Richie meets with his sister Deborah Richie, the keeper of the family photographs.  They rendezvous at their Grandma Fosters house, who lived until the ripe old age of 103.  Foster spoke of her mother, Volenderver, often, but never mentioned her father.  From a social security document of hers, Richie uncovers his great-grandfather’s name, J. Louis Brown.  From there, it’s uncovered that J. Louis Brown was one of the founders of the African American fraternity, “The Knights of the Wise Men.”  This national organization represented a precursor to insurance companies for African Americans, and assisted members with medical and funeral bills.  Unfortunately, after the smallpox epidemic the backbone of the order lost significant funds, but it’s clear that Richie’s great-grandfather played an important part in empowering and assisting his people.  Richie returns to his home in Los Angeles and enthusiastically relays his new-found knowledge to his children and sister, beaming with pride over his freshly discovered family tree connections.      

This show holds the viewers interest by framing the stories of the celebrities in the form of a mystery.  They’re out to uncover relics and clues that will lead them on a journey of discovery.  Military documents, house deeds, and census records all contribute to fleshing out a clearer image of who their ancestors were, and what they went through.  History gains a more personal relevance as dates develop new meaning—when people can place periods of time within the context of their own life, the world becomes a richer, more inter-connected space.  This program makes one appreciate the sacrifices all of our ancestors made in order to secure rights we take for granted today, including freedom from oppressors and equal opportunity.  Who Do You Think You Are? aptly demonstrates that to know where you’re going, sometimes it helps to know where you’ve been. 

Best TV Show of the Week

The Parents Television Council - www.parentstv.org