Roots remains one of television's landmark programs. The twelve-hour mini-series aired on ABC from 23-30 January 1977. For eight consecutive nights it riveted the country. ABC executives initially feared that the historical saga about slavery would be a ratings disaster. Instead, Roots scored higher ratings than any previous entertainment program in history. It averaged a 44.9 rating and a 66 audience share for the length of its run. The seven episodes that followed the opener earned the top seven spots in the ratings for their week. The final night held the single-episode ratings record until 1983, when the finale of M*A*S*H aired on CBS.
The success of Roots had lasting impact on the television industry. The show defied industry conventions about black-oriented programming: executives simply had not expected that a show with black heroes and white villains could attract such huge audiences. In the process, Roots almost single-handedly spawned a new television format -- the consecutive-night mini-series. (Previous mini-series, like the 1976 hit, Rich Man, Poor Man, had run in weekly installments.) Roots also validated the docudrama approach of its Executive Producer, David Wolper. The Wolper style, blending fact and fiction in a soap-opera package, influenced many subsequent mini-series. Finally, Roots was credited with having a positive impact on race relations, expanding the nation's sense of history.
Based on Alex Haley's best-selling novel about his African ancestors, Roots followed several generations in the lives of a slave family. The saga began with Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton), a West African youth captured by slave raiders and shipped to America in the 1700s. Kunta received brutal treatment from his white masters and rebelled continually. An older Kunta (John Amos) married and his descendants carried the story after his death. Daughter Kizzy (Leslie Uggams) was raped by her master and bore a son, later named Chicken George (Ben Vereen). In the final episode, Kunta Kinte's great-grandson Tom (Georg Stanford Brown) joined the Union Army and gained emancipation. Over the course of the saga, viewers saw brutal whippings and many agonizing moments, rapes, the forced separations of families, slave auctions. Through it all, however, Roots depicted its slave characters as well-rounded human beings, not merely as victims or symbols of oppression.
Apprehensions that Roots would flop shaped the way that ABC presented the show. Familiar television actors like Lorne Greene were chosen for the white, secondary roles, to reassure audiences. The white actors were featured disproportionately in network previews. For the first episode, the writers created a conscience-stricken slave captain (Ed Asner), a figure who did not appear in Haley's novel but was intended to make white audiences feel better about their historical role in the slave trade. Even the show's consecutive-night format allegedly resulted from network apprehensions. ABC programming chief Fred Silverman hoped that the unusual schedule would cut his network's imminent losses--and get Roots off the air before sweeps week.
Silverman, of course, need not have worried. Roots garnered phenomenal audiences. On average, 80 million people watched each of the last seven episodes. 100 million viewers, almost half the country, saw the final episode, which still claims one of the highest Nielsen ratings ever recorded, a 51.1 with a 71 share. A stunning 85% of all television homes saw all or part of the mini-series. Roots also enjoyed unusual social acclaim for a television show. Vernon Jordan, former president of the Urban League, called it "the single most spectacular educational experience in race relations in America." Today, the show's social effects may appear more ephemeral, but at the time they seemed widespread. Over 250 colleges and universities planned courses on the saga, and during the broadcast, over 30 cities declared "Roots" weeks.
The program drew generally rave reviews. Black and white critics alike praised Roots for presenting African-American characters who were not tailored to suit white audiences. The soap-opera format drew some criticism for its emphasis on sex, violence, and romantic intrigue. A few critics also complained that the opening segment in Africa was too Americanized--it was hard to accept television regulars like O.J. Simpson as West African natives. On the whole, however, critical acclaim echoed the show's resounding popular success. Roots earned over 30 Emmy Awards and numerous other distinctions.
The program spawned a 1979 sequel, Roots: The Next Generations. The sequel did not match the original's ratings, but still performed extremely well, with a total audience of 110 million. Overall, Roots had a powerful and diverse impact--as a cultural phenomenon, an exploration of black history, and the crown jewel of historical mini-series.
-J.B. Bird
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
David L. Wolper
PRODUCER
Stan Margulies
ADAPTED FOR TELEVISION BY
William Blinn
CAST
Kunta Kinte (as a boy)............................... LeVar Burton
Kunta Kinte (Toby: adult).............................. John Amos
Binta ........................................................Cicely Tyson
Omoro .................................................Thalmus Rasula
Nya Boto ................................................Maya Angelou
Kadi Touray ............................................O. J. Simpson
The Wrestler.......................................... Ji-Tu Cumbuka
Kintango................................................... Moses Gunn
Brimo Cesay ..............................................Hari Rhodes
Fanta .........................................................Ren Woods
Fanta (later).............................................. Beverly Todd
Capt. Davies ............................................Edward Asner
Third Mate Slater ........................................Ralph Waite
Gardner................................................ William Watson
Fiddler................................................. Louis Gosett, Jr.
John Reynolds.......................................... Lorne Greene
Mrs. Reynolds.............................................. Lynda Day
George Ames.............................................. Vic Morrow
Carrington.................................................. Paul Shenar
Dr. William Reynolds ..................................Robert Reed
Bell....................................................... Madge Sinclair
Grill........................................................... Gary Collins
The Drummer ...............................Raymond St. Jacques
Tom Moore ............................................Chuck Connors
Missy Anne............................................ Sandy Duncan
Noah .........................................Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs
Ordell....................................................... John Schuck
Kizzy..................................................... Leslie Uggams
Squire James..................................... Macdonald Carey
Mathilda....................................................... Olivia Cole
Mingo ................................................Scatman Crothers
Stephen Bennett.................................. George Hamilton
Mrs. Moore ..............................................Carolyn Jones
Sir Eric Russell......................................... Ian McShane
Sister Sara........................................... Lillian Randolph
Sam Bennett..................................... Richard Roundtree
Chicken George ..........................................Ben Vereen
Evan Brent ...............................................Lloyd Bridges
Tom............................................ Georg Stanford Brown
Ol' George Johnson ......................................Brad Davis
Lewis........................................................... Hilly Hicks
Jemmy Brent........................................... Doug MaClure
Irene........................................................ Lynne Moodu
Martha...................................................... Lane Binkley
Justin............................................................. Burl Ives
PROGRAMMING HISTORY
ABC
January 1977
Eight Consecutive Nights at 9:00-11:00, or 10:00-11:00
September 1978
Five Consecutive Nights at 8:00-11:00 or 9:00-11:00
FURTHER READING
Adams, Russell L. "An Analysis of the Roots Phenomenon in the Context of American Racial Conservatism." Presence Africaine: Revue Culturelle du Monde Noir/Cultural Review of the Negro World (Paris) 1980.
Blayney, Michael Steward. "Roots and the Noble Savage." North Dakota Quarterly (Grand Forks, North Dakota), Winter 1986.
Bogle, Donald. "Roots and Roots: The Next Generations." Blacks in American Film and Television: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland, 1988.
Brooks, Tim and Earle Marsh. The Complete Directory To Prime-Time Network TV Shows: 1946-Present. New York: Ballantine, 1979; 5th edition, 1992.
Gray, John. Blacks in Film and Television, A Pan-African Bibliography of Films, Filmmakers, and Performers. New York: Greenwood, 1990.
Gray, Herman. Watching Race: Television and the Struggle for "Blackness." Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1995.
Haley, Alex. Roots. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1976. Journal of Broadcasting (Washington, D.C.) Special issue on Roots. 1978.
Kern-Foxworth, Marilyn. "Alex Haley." Dictionary of Literary Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1985.
Tucker, Lauren R., and Hemant Shah. "Race and the Transformation of Culture: The Making of the Television Miniseries Roots." Critical Studies in Mass Communication (Annandale, Virginia), December 1992.
"Why Roots Hit Home." Time (New York) 14 February 1977.
Winship, Michael. Television. New York: Random House, 1988.
Woll, David. Ethnic and Racial Images in American Film and Television. New York: Garland, 1987.
