TNT's "American Race" Has Charles Barkley Discussing Social Issues Around The U.S.

TNT's "American Race" premieres tonight, and all four of the hour-long episodes "move quickly and evoke compelling, at times provocative exchanges," primarily because Charles Barkley is an "ideally imperfect host," according to Ailene Voisin of the SACRAMENTO BEE. Barkley's "genius is as a conversationalist, not as a journalist, which is why the format works." The series is a "quick bus tour around America," which follows Barkley as he "moderates heated town hall sessions, observes prayers and shares meals with Muslims, dines with an undocumented Mexican family, meets with an extremely conservative white couple, participates in a police shooting simulation, and hears a Korean actor speak of Asians as feeling 'invisible.'" Barkley said that one of the more "difficult scenes" was his interview with white supremacist Richard Spencer. Though "visibly star-struck when Barkley enters his house, Spencer unapologetically embraces 'white power,' expresses dismay about the nation’s changing demographics and mocks gays." Barkley: "I was so mad at him, that I couldn’t think straight. I had to calm myself down." Those who "recognize the series for what it is -- a four-hour chat with our neighbors -- will applaud the effort" (SACBEE.com, 5/9). In N.Y., Hannah Withiam wrote Barkley "appears to get knocked down at every turn and learns from it." In a "poignant scene from the first episode," the mother of Tyrone West, a black man who was killed during a violent encounter with police in '13, "accosts Barkley in Baltimore." She tells Barkley, "I don't know you, I don't like you." Barkley said, "It was really uncomfortable getting your ass kicked like that -- I will admit that" (NYPOST.com, 5/10).

ROLLING WITH THE PUNCHES: Barkley: "It's a hard show. None of the conversations were pleasant. They all had to do with some form of discrimination, exclusion. None of the conversations were happy-go-lucky." SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote some will "criticize Barkley being at the center of a discussion on race" given his primary job as an NBA analyst. But he said that he "expects to be criticized." Barkley: "When I get on TV, I’m going to be talking about a silly basketball game and I’m going to be having a lot of fun doing it. But I’m very aware of all the social stuff going on. ... There will be some backlash but I’m a big boy. I can take it" (SI.com, 5/9). On Long Island, Verne Gay wrote an hour-long episode "can’t begin to fathom the many issues covered here -- Baltimore alone requires four -- and so with intentions pure and heart in the right place, 'American Race' falters." There is "not enough time, and what’s here is occasionally squandered" -- the interview with Spencer in the fourth episode "glaringly so -- or devoted to equally complex subjects (immigration)." Gay: "But Barkley is right about the talking part. That needs to be done. He deserves credit for at least trying" (NEWSDAY.com, 5/9).