I did a post a couple months ago about how much I enjoyed the historical epic miniseries "Roots" based on the writings of Alex Haley not realizing the anniversary was forthcoming.On January 23,1977,millions tuned in to ABC for the first of eight record breaking nights.To this day,the final episode of the "Roots" miniseries is the third-highest Nielsen rated TV program in history right behind the "MASH" finale episode and the "Dallas" episode that revealed "who shot J.R."!While alot of the screenplay was different from the actual novels,the tale remained the same and America for the first time took a journey into a time where humans were trafficked from another continent and brought here to be enslaved in America,as well as other countries.The story begins with the young Kunta Kinte being whisked away from the African woods by slave traders and by the eighth night,after following the story of Kunte and his descendants we see Alex Haley meet his distant African family members.In 2002,a 25th Anniversary DVD set of the series was released and TV One Channel shows it occasionally in its uninterrupted entirity,albeit with commercials.It spawned "Roots:The Gift",a much panned TV Christmas special and in 1979 another miniseries,"Roots:The Next Generations" which picked up where the original "Roots" left off.It's a great story,as well as Alex Haleys "Queen",which focused more on Haleys fathers mother and her side of the family.I recommend all of them if you have never seen any,but the original is a must-see!Tv Guide once called it a groundbreaking miniseries and I agree!
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