Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 15, 1995                   TAG: 9503160013
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: HAL BOEDEKER ORLANDO SENTINEL
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`UNDER ONE ROOF' IS A FAMILY DRAMA FOR THE FAMILY

Frankly, you need ``Under One Roof'' to succeed.

If the fine CBS series, which debuted Tuesday night, can attract a wide audience, then we can put aside some presumptions about American viewers.

Presumption 1: There's not an audience for family drama in the family hour.

You remember the family hour, don't you? It has all but vanished this season, as ``Melrose Place,'' ``Mad About You'' and ``Wings'' flourish there. Where ``The Waltons'' and ``Little House on the Prairie'' once stood tall, we have Heather Locklear and her pals cavorting between the sheets. Let the kiddies tune in? I think not.

The idea that a family sits down together and watches a drama, featuring characters of all ages, is just about kaput. First-rate series like ``I'll Fly Away'' and ``My So-Called Life'' bombed in early evening, ``Life Goes On'' never pulled huge ratings, and ``Beverly Hills, 90210'' matured and became a different series.

Nevertheless, CBS has thrust ``Under One Roof'' into the family hour, and that's where the show belongs. It presents three generations of a Seattle clan struggling, most convincingly, with relevant issues. This series, more than just about any other right now in prime time, opens the way for family discussion. No small accomplishment.

Presumption 2: Hour series starring black actors can't succeed.

TV usually sticks African-American actors in sitcoms that look like modern minstrel shows. While blacks have won prominent roles in drama series from ``I Spy'' to ``ER,'' the industry thinking seems to be that blacks cannot carry hour shows. James Earl Jones sank in the acclaimed ``Gabriel's Fire,'' and the supposedly invincible Bill Cosby muddles along with ``The Cosby Mysteries.''

``Under One Roof,'' however, puts blacks in all the major roles. Police Officer Neb Langston (Jones again) lost his wife a year ago. Daughter Ayisha (Monique Ridge) has moved home, as has son Ron (Joe Morton), a former Marine.

Ron lives upstairs with wife Maggie (Vanessa Bell Calloway) and their two children, Derrick (Ronald Joshua Scott), a 10-year-old diabetic, and Charlie (Essence Atkins), a 15-year-old determined to have things her way. Supplying a lot of the tension is Neb's foster son, Marcus (Merlin Santana), a 16-year-old still haunted by his mother's death from a drug overdose.

Emmy-winning director Thomas Carter, an African-American, stands firmly behind the show as executive producer. The care is evident in every frame.

In a letter to TV writers, Carter notes that blacks' role on TV ``in many ways has been expressed only in terms of their relationship to white people.'' Here, the emphasis is on blacks' relations with other blacks.

That said, the show should appeal to anyone with a family. In other words, everyone.

Presumption 3: Slower-paced series, which emphasize character, cannot appeal to zap-happy viewers.

It's an excellent era for TV drama. But most of the big hits are police and medical dramas that boast flashy photography, quick editing or once-taboo nudity. ``Under One Roof'' strives for a rare realism about family life. The pace doesn't drag, but it is leisurely, and the situations veer to the conventional. Still, the riveting show has a lot to say about families and responsibility.

Only six episodes of ``Under One Roof'' have been shot, so the series will have to succeed quickly. Scheduled against ``Full House,'' ``Wings'' and Fox movies, the show won't have an easy time.

Hopeful CBS commercials draw connections to ``The Cosby Show,'' and trumpet the idea that ``Under One Roof'' will do for drama what the NBC show did for sitcoms.

Perhaps, if given time, it will. And yes, there's definitely a lot more riding on this show than just ratings.

But in strictly entertainment terms, the well-written and superbly acted ``Under One Roof'' makes a powerful addition to prime time. It has what parents say they want in television: substance, intelligence, family themes.

If enough of you listen, perhaps you can shatter the presumptions that limit creativity on TV. There should be enough room under TV's big top for ``Under One Roof.''