Entertainment

Former Dallas Cowboys star Emmitt Smith digs into the mysteries of his family roots on Friday in NBC's new series, Who Do You Think You Are?

The show on the genealogical searches of our "most beloved stars" takes Smith on a trip to discover ancestors in rural Alabama and colonial Virginia, delving into a family rumor that his paternal grandmother, Erma Lee Watson, had white ancestry.

The series draws from a series of Henry Louis Gates Jr. specials on PBS and has some real meat on its bones, despite a hokey, overblown soundtrack and headache-inducing, up-way-too-close-and-personal tight shots of its stars.

Tapping into TV America's fascination with ancestry (Roots is still the among the highest-rated TV shows ever), it brings history alive in a way rarely seen on television, as celebrities, assisted by historical resources that might be unavailable to the typical genealogy buff, discover secrets hidden in their past.

"This has changed the lens that I see these times through completely," declares Sarah Jessica Parker, after tracing two of her ancestors to key events in American history in the series premiere last week.

More than anything else, Who Do You Think You Are? demonstrates that real people, not arcane dates and facts, are at the heart of history, where so much edification lies.

Parker, who thought she descended exclusively from relatively recent garden-variety immigrants, found deep roots in the American past.

No immigrants are truly mundane, having sacrificed so much in comparison to their stay-at-home neighbors to follow their dream. Who Do You Think You Are? shows that, too.

The lineup for the eight-episode limited series includes Lisa Kudrow (who's also an executive producer) on March 19, followed by Parker's husband, Matthew Broderick, on March 26, Brooke Shields on April 2, Susan Sarandon on April 9 and Spike Lee in the season finale April 23.

They put faces on slavery and find ancestors they never knew who helped shape history. They find royal and peasant connections in Europe. Frequently, they meet surprising living relatives in scenes as emotional as those in any drama.

Parker was assisted by more than a dozen libraries and historical societies, in addition to a couple of genealogy companies that get nice plugs. They turned up astonishing original documents that pinpoint exactly what some of her relatives were doing on specific dates, in one case more than 400 years ago. Like all the participants, she also travels to the scenes of the action, visiting fascinating landmarks not easily spotted by the ordinary naked eye.

Kudrow's trip to Belarus is the longest, but all these stars share satisfying emotional journeys.

Staff writer Leslie Snyder in Dallas and Jonathan Storm of the Philadelphia Inquirer contributed to this story.

Who Do You Think You Are?

7 p.m. Friday, NBC (Channel 5). 1 hr.