50 Fun Facts About Roots Miniseries

On which network did Roots first air in January 1977?

The network ran it over eight consecutive nights, partly to limit the damage if it flopped.

Over how many consecutive nights was Roots originally broadcast?

The BBC later screened it in six parts, the version used on home video until 2016.

How many Primetime Emmy nominations did Roots receive?

It won nine, plus a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award.

Roughly how many viewers watched the final episode of Roots?

An average of 80 million watched each of the last seven episodes.

In which year was Alex Haley's novel Roots published?

The miniseries followed just a year later, in January 1977.

In which country is Kunta Kinte born at the start of Roots?

He is born in 1750 to Omoro, a Mandinka warrior, and his wife Binta.

What is the name of Kunta Kinte's home village?

The real Gambian town became a tourist destination after the book; a mosque and school named for Haley opened there in 1999.

To which ethnic group does Kunta Kinte belong?

He bonds with a Yoruba wrestler on the slave ship and clings to his Mandinka and Islamic heritage in Virginia.

What is Kunta doing when he is captured by slave hunters?

He wanted to make a drum for his younger brother Lamin.

What Christian name does plantation owner John Reynolds force on Kunta?

Kunta is whipped until he says the name; Fiddler then uses his real name for the first time.

In which Virginia county is the Reynolds plantation?

Haley's research turned up a 1768 Spotsylvania deed transferring a slave named Toby between the Waller brothers.

What does Fiddler tell Kunta after the whipping, using his real name for the first time?

The older slave had been assigned to teach Kunta English and the ways of servitude.

What does the name Kizzy mean in Kunta's native language?

Kunta chose it hoping his daughter would never be sold away, which is exactly what later happens.

Who secretly teaches Kizzy to read and write?

The skill leads to her downfall when she forges a travel pass for Noah.

Why is Kizzy sold away from the Reynolds plantation?

Dr. Reynolds sells both her and Noah separately, despite his reputation for compassion.

What does Kizzy do at her father's grave?

She promises him that his descendants will one day be free.

How does Kizzy's son George earn his nickname?

An older slave named Mingo teaches him the trade starting in 1824.

Where is Chicken George sent to train birds for a British owner?

He leaves behind Kizzy, his wife Tildy and sons Tom and Lewis, returning in 1861.

Where does the family finally settle at the end of the miniseries?

Haley himself lived in Henning as a child, and the sequel picks up there in 1882.

Which Emmy category was LeVar Burton nominated in for playing young Kunta?

The 19-year-old USC student had never acted professionally before.

How old was LeVar Burton when he was cast in Roots?

He was an undergraduate at the University of Southern California, having earlier trained for the priesthood.

Who played the older Kunta Kinte?

He was best known as James Evans Sr. on Good Times.

Which poet played Kunta's grandmother Nyo Boto?

Cicely Tyson played Kunta's mother Binta in the same opening episode.

Who played Chicken George?

The Tony winner for Pippin appeared in three episodes.

Who played the adult Kizzy?

Madge Sinclair played her mother Bell; Olivia Cole played Matilda.

Which Bonanza star played plantation owner John Reynolds?

Familiar white TV actors were cast as slaveholders to reassure nervous audiences.

Which Brady Bunch actor played Dr. William Reynolds?

The Waltons' Ralph Waite played the slave ship's third mate and The Rifleman's Chuck Connors played Tom Moore.

Which character was invented for the series to ease white viewers' discomfort?

Ed Asner played Captain Davies, who does not appear in Haley's novel.

Who was the executive producer of Roots?

Stan Margulies produced; four directors shared the eight episodes.

Which composer scored only the first episode of Roots?

Gerald Fried wrote the rest, and both men won Emmys for that opening instalment.

Why did ABC decide to air all of Roots in a single week?

Programming chief Fred Silverman wanted it off the air before sweeps week.

Which ABC programming chief scheduled Roots to end before sweeps week?

The gamble backfired in the best way: it became the most-watched programme in TV history at the time.

Which Emmy did Louis Gossett Jr. win for playing Fiddler?

Five years later he became the first Black actor to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, for An Officer and a Gentleman.

In which year did the sequel Roots: The Next Generations air?

It followed Kunta Kinte's descendants in Henning from 1882 to 1967, ending with Haley himself.

How did the budget of Roots: The Next Generations compare with the original?

The sequel cost $16.6 million.

Who played Alex Haley in Roots: The Next Generations?

He was chosen partly for his physical resemblance to the author.

Which screen legend phoned producers asking for a small role in the sequel and won an Emmy?

He played American Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell opposite Haley.

How was Roots: The Gift, aired in December 1988, crafted?

LeVar Burton and Louis Gossett Jr. returned as Kunta and Fiddler, with AT&T as sole sponsor.

Which channel commissioned the 2016 remake of Roots?

The four-night event premiered on Memorial Day with Malachi Kirby as Kunta Kinte.

Who played Fiddler in the 2016 remake?

Fishburne played Alex Haley and Regé-Jean Page played Chicken George.

Who played Kunta Kinte in the 2016 remake?

The British actor took the role LeVar Burton had made famous 39 years earlier.

How many weeks did the novel Roots spend at number one on the New York Times list?

It stayed on the list for 46 weeks in total and won Haley a special Pulitzer Prize in 1977.

What honour did Alex Haley receive for Roots in 1977?

The book and series together sparked a boom in genealogy research.

Whose 1967 novel did Harold Courlander claim Roots had copied?

The suit was settled for $650,000 and an acknowledgment that some passages had been copied.

What was Alex Haley's first book, published in 1965?

It was built from lengthy interviews with Malcolm X.

In which service did Alex Haley spend a 20-year career?

He enlisted as a mess attendant in 1939 and later became a senior editor at Reader's Digest.

Where was Alex Haley born?

His father was a professor of agriculture; the family lived in Henning before returning to Ithaca when Alex was five.

The real ancestor behind Kunta Kinte was born around which year?

The novel moves his birth to 1750; family tradition held that he died in America around 1822.

What was the real name of the Virginia family that the series renamed Reynolds?

A 1768 deed shows John Waller transferring a slave named Toby to his brother William.

Which PBS series did LeVar Burton host for 23 years after Roots?

He won 12 Daytime Emmys for it, then played Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation.