Remembering 'Roots': 25 years after it first aired, the miniseries still evokes strong emotions
Merely mentioning the 1977 miniseries "Roots" is enough to stoke emotional fires long gone cold.
"You want me to tell the truth?" The voice of Patrinell Wright, a local pastor better known as the director of the joyous Total Experience Gospel Choir, suddenly takes on a darker tone when asked to share her memories of the series. She sighs for a moment, then admits, "It made me angry."
Twenty-five years ago, this 12-hour ABC miniseries had Americans raptly following the story of an African-American family through slavery. Starting with the capture of a young warrior named Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton), it took the nation through the horrors he and his family endured as plantation chattel, ending with the eventual emancipation of his descendants. The telecast was based on Alex Haley's best-selling novel, a mixture of fact and fiction derived from his own 12-year quest to trace his family's lineage to West Africa.
Its airing was a television event like none before or since; millions of Americans were glued to their sets for eight consecutive nights. We were alternately outraged, elated, proud, chastened and captivated. "Roots" became a galvanizing, communal moment for the country.
"I was prepared for what I would see, but I was not prepared for the anger I felt," Wright explained. "I've been raised as a Christian, I know about forgiveness and I know you're supposed to treat those who mistreat you well. With all of that in my head, I became very angry at the inhumanity of man to man, woman to woman. It became so real that it became very much a part of my attitude at the end of the series. I didn't want to be around any white people."
We can only guess NBC's airing of "Roots — Celebrating 25 Years," an hourlong special at 8 p.m. tonight on KING-TV, won't dredge up such dark emotions. In the course of the series' original airing, viewers were catapulted into American history's most nightmarish chapter nightly, bombarded with images of lashings, slave rape, families being torn apart and the show's iconic moment, a brutal hobbling of the hero.
"It affected black people tremendously — they watched it, their families talked about it, and they were searching for their own roots," said David L. Wolper, "Roots' " executive producer. "And white people, they finally saw what slavery was about."
A record-setting event
No television event since "Roots" has surpassed the series' gut-wrenching power. Nor, for that matter, has any miniseries matched "Roots' " formidable draw. The "Roots" finale held the record for the most-watched single episode of television, with about 100 million people tuning in, until the last episode of "M*A*S*H" surpassed it in 1983.
The series is still the third-highest-rated telecast in American history; 130 million Americans watched it at some point, and "Roots" averaged a whopping 66 share during its entire run. (A share equals 1 percent of all television-watching households.) It went on to win five Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe.
The drama may have shocked us, but it also brought about understanding and sparked dialogue. Watching tapes of "Roots" became part of grade- and high-school history classes. Relationships between blacks and whites experienced a paradigm shift on both sides.
NBC can only dream of such success for tonight's special, even with the promise of names such as Will Smith, Larry King and series stars LeVar Burton, Leslie Uggams (Kunta's daughter Kizzy) and Maya Angelou (Nya Boto) commenting on "Roots' " powerful impact. They're joined by a number of regular people — Asian and Hispanic, black and white — sharing their recollections on the series.
"For some reason, during that week in our lives, the timing was right. People wanted to see that show," Wolper explained. "If I had it today, first of all I don't think I could sell it to a network. Secondly, you can't get those kind of shares because the audience is broken up by cable companies."
It was a difficult story to pitch back then, even with stars such as Cicely Tyson, Lorne Green, Ed Asner and O.J. Simpson on board. Think of the times — at the end of the '70s, with the turbulent images of our civil-rights struggle still fresh in the nation's psyche, imagine walking into a network studio and proposing a show that portrays the bloody truth of slavery. Characters the audience would grow to know and love — Kizzy, Chicken George (Ben Vereen), Fiddler (Louis Gossett, Jr.) — would suffer the most unbelievable atrocities.
Wolper admits it was not he but Haley who pitched the series.
"At first blush, it didn't sound like a good idea. It's a story where the whites are villains and the blacks are heroes in a country that's 90 percent white and 10 percent black," Wolper said. "And why did people react to this show? Because it was a family story. People forget that. It was an American story."
A 'roots' revival
"Roots" also spurred a widespread interest in genealogy. "It gave the impetus for Americans to go in search of their roots, and that cuts across racial lines," said Esther Mumford, a local historian and author. "I really think that was one of the major contributions of that series. People started searching out their roots, regardless of their race."
Considering "Roots' " irrefutable cultural resonance, many have noticed that the show's 25th-anniversary special is airing on the Peacock instead of its original home on ABC. This seems particularly strange after CBS won tremendous ratings with its nostalgic celebrations of the historic contributions Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett made to television.
ABC executives defended their decision in Pasadena at the Television Critics Association's press tour, saying the pitch for the anniversary special wasn't strong enough. Wolper said he was confused at being turned down, but added, "I'm too old to be angry."
If memory serves him, ABC's rejection can't have been much of a surprise. One of the reasons "Roots" aired for eight nights straight was that the network didn't think anyone would watch; previous miniseries, notably the successful "Rich Man, Poor Man" in 1976, ran in weekly installments. By airing "Roots" over one week, ABC counted on getting it out of the way and moving on. Instead, ABC's decision unintentionally gave birth to the consecutive-nights mini-series event that would power networks through sweeps in the '80s. (Wolper would go on to great success producing miniseries, including "Roots: The Next Generations" in 1979, as well as "The Thornbirds" and "North and South.")
The length of "Roots" is one of the reasons you won't see a 25th-anniversary rerun on a major network. Instead, basic cable's Hallmark Channel is taking the charge, airing "Roots" nightly 9-11 p.m. from Sunday through Friday. Arriving at the same time is a three-disc, digitally remastered DVD collection that includes a behind-the-scenes documentary and commentary.
And though "Roots" struck viewers such as Wright with the prickling sting of a salted wound, "then, I was in my 30s. I'm 20 years older now; I'll probably look at it with a different perspective," she said.
"Thankful that it happened, and even more thankful that we survived it."
Pam Sitt contributed to this report. Melanie McFarland can be reached at mmcfarland@seattletimes.com..