"Roots" (1977) TV mini-series

Directors:

Marvin J. Chomsky
John Erman

Writers:

William Blinn (adaptation)
William Blinn (screenplay)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

23 January 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

A dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendents' liberation.

Plot Keywords:

Family History | Slave | African American | Escape Attempt | America

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 14 wins & 35 nominations

Cast

Olivia Cole	...	Mathilda (5 episodes, 1977)
LeVar Burton	...	Kunta Kinte / ... (4 episodes, 1977)
Ben Vereen	...	'Chicken' George Moore (4 episodes, 1977)
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Fiddler (4 episodes, 1977)
Vic Morrow	...	Ames (4 episodes, 1977)
Ji-Tu Cumbuka	...	Wrestler (3 episodes, 1977)
Edward Asner	...	Capt. Thomas Davies (3 episodes, 1977)
Ralph Waite	...	Slater (3 episodes, 1977)
Robert Reed	...	Dr. William Reynolds (3 episodes, 1977)
Lynda Day George	...	Mrs. Reynolds (3 episodes, 1977)
John Amos	...	Toby (3 episodes, 1977)
Madge Sinclair	...	Bell Reynolds (3 episodes, 1977)
Leslie Uggams	...	Kizzy Reynolds (3 episodes, 1977)
Carolyn Jones	...	Mrs. Moore (3 episodes, 1977)
Lloyd Bridges	...	Evan Brent (3 episodes, 1977)
Georg Stanford Brown	...	Tom Harvey (3 episodes, 1977)
Brad Davis	...	Ol' George Johnson (3 episodes, 1977)
Hilly Hicks	...	Lewis (3 episodes, 1977)
Lynne Moody	...	Irene Harvey (3 episodes, 1977)
Lane Binkley	...	Martha Johnson (3 episodes, 1977)
Austin Stoker	...	Virgil (3 episodes, 1977)
Sandy Duncan	...	Missy Anne Reynolds (3 episodes, 1977)
Chuck Connors	...	Tom Moore (3 episodes, 1977)
Tracey Gold	...	Young missy reynolds (3 episodes, 1977)
Moses Gunn	...	Kintango (2 episodes, 1977)
Thalmus Rasulala	...	Omoro (2 episodes, 1977)
Hari Rhodes	...	Brima Cesay (2 episodes, 1977)
William Watson	...	Gardner (2 episodes, 1977)
Ren Woods	...	Fanta (2 episodes, 1977)
Lorne Greene	...	John Reynolds (2 episodes, 1977)
Thayer David	...	Harlan (2 episodes, 1977)
Scatman Crothers	...	Mingo (2 episodes, 1977)
George Hamilton	...	Stephen Bennett (2 episodes, 1977)
Lillian Randolph	...	Sister Sara (2 episodes, 1977)
Richard Roundtree	...	Sam Bennett (2 episodes, 1977)
Davis Roberts	...	Leonard (2 episodes, 1977)
Richard McKenzie	...	Sam Harvey (2 episodes, 1977)
John Quade	...	Sheriff Biggs (2 episodes, 1977)
Cicely Tyson	...	Binta (2 episodes, 1977)
Tina Andrews	...	Aurelia (2 episodes, 1977)
Henry Butts	...	Sitafa (2 episodes, 1977)
Joe Dorsey	...	Calvert (2 episodes, 1977)
Kermit Echols	...	Vilars (2 episodes, 1977)
Richard Farnsworth	...	Slave catcher (2 episodes, 1977)
Ronnie Leggett	...	Kalila (2 episodes, 1977)
Rachel Longaker	...	Caroline (2 episodes, 1977)
Ernest Thomas	...	Kailuba (2 episodes, 1977)

Also Known As:

Alex Haley's Roots (Australia)

Runtime:

573 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG (cut) | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Administration Building, Malibu Creek State Park - 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

David L. Wolper Productions

Trivia:

Originally broadcast on ABC as eight one-hour and two-hour episodes as follows: Episodes 1,2,6, and 8 were two hours; Episodes 3,4,5, and 7 were one hour. Presented on VHS, DVD, and rebroadcast as six two-hour episodes.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Right after Kunta Kente is bought by Mr.Reynolds in Episode 2 and Fiddler is about to take Kunta, before the next scene is cutaway, there is a white vehicle passing in front of the gray building in the background, in the back left corner. Automobiles weren't in existence back in the 1700.

Quotes:

Tom Harvey: Listen to me, Jimmy Brent! Listen to me! And take this message with you to Hell! The last hands to touch you in this Earth... was my BLACK hands!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Roots Remembered (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Oluwa

A long, ambitious tapestry of slavery - cartoonish at times, but ultimately fulfilling

Roots is great television: entertaining, gripping at times, and both brave and sweeping in the time and the characters that it spans. But does it summarise or encapsulate the misery and experience of 200+ years of slavery, bondage, rape and torture? I think not. And you can attribute that to the time of its production and airing, and the staid and conservative white-dominated market it hoped to win over - it was produced as entertainment first and history second, and a lot of concessions were made to the former. If you want a truer, more profound picture of just how bad slavery was, read Haley's book, one of the many other excellent histories, or fictional works like Fred D'Aguiar's "The Longest Memory". Watch Roots by all means, but consider the perspective and the audience, and the consequently euphemistic representation of what it was like to be a slave.

That said, it was ground-breaking in that it put the historical blight of American slavery into the public domain, and made it a talking point. And while the horrific aspects of it are often sanitized, they are never evaded: kidnapping, torturous sea voyages, humiliating auctions, brutal indoctrinations and 'taming', the harsh punishment of runaways, the back-breaking work, the condescending treatment, whippings, beatings, rape and mental torment - they're all represented across the broad vista of the narrative. Given the enormous scope of the programme it's not surprising that the series lurches into stereotype and simplistic characterisation from time to time, but it's not overly detrimental to its appeal.

My main issue with Roots is it suggests that despite the constant and intense maltreatment of slaves, they retained some fundamental dignity and self-respect. There are few, if any, black characters in Roots who become utterly compliant and subservient: most retain some level of self-esteem and defiance, even if they have to express it behind closed doors. History suggests different, that it was utterly psychologically degrading, that defiance and self-worth were quite limited by the institutions and processes of chattel slavery. In Roots the whites are seen as menacing intrusions into the lives of fairly happy and content working folk - there is little sense of the omnipresence that whites had, or the fear that they both cultivated and wielded.