Forty years after the original television series aired, the new four-part, eight-hour Roots will debut Monday, May 30 (Memorial Day in the US) on History, Lifetime and A&E in the United States and on A&E in Canada.
Some say the book by Alex Haley and the series caused many people to start exploring their family history, and both generated a powerful awareness about the brutal history of slavery.
A Hollywood Reporter article reveals the original production was not expected to have the impact it did.
“In early 1977, as ABC was preparing to broadcast Roots, based on Alex Haley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel from the previous year, network chief Fred Silverman was so sure it would flop that he jammed it onto the schedule over eight consecutive nights at the end of January. That way, it would be safely off the air before the critical February sweeps period began.
“Silverman, obviously, was wrong. More than half of the U.S. population watched at least some part of the miniseries.”
And I remember a lot of Canadians watched the program too.
Lynn and I were riveted to our set every night during this outstanding series. The Amherstburg Freedom Museum in our hometown has made many others aware of the plight of slaves and the role of the Underground Railway.