ABC’s 1977 historical drama Roots not only became a record-breaking hit but also left a lasting mark on American television, eventually being considered one of the “100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.”
Celebrating the most acclaimed, influential and culturally significant small-screen hits, Variety ranked the best TV shows that have changed the television landscape.
At No. 10 was Roots, a miniseries based on Alex Haley’s novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family.
Variety highlighted how only a few TV productions have matched the show for its cultural significance.
A scene from ABC’s 1977 miniseries ‘Roots’ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
“While it’s been the source of sequels and a remake, the original series had an impact that can’t be matched — by pretty much anything — though it did kick-start a trend of massive miniseries that included Shogun, The Thorn Birds and Lonesome Dove.”
Moreover, the publication also emphasized the popularity of the TV show, which attracted an enormous audience of more than “100 million Americans” who “stayed home on consecutive January nights to discover the story of Kunta and his descendants.”
Officially aired from January 23 to January 30, 1977, the eight-episode miniseries follows the multigenerational saga of a young Mandinka warrior, Kunta Kinte, played at different ages by LeVar Burton and John Amos, who was captured in what is now Gambia, West Africa, and sold to slave traders before being transported to America aboard a slave ship.
During the horrific “Middle Passage” across the Atlantic Ocean, Kunta endured brutal conditions before being sold upon his arrival in America to John Waller, a Virginia plantation owner.
Given the new name Toby by his owners, Kunta repeatedly resists enslavement and refuses to surrender his identity.
Along the way, he finds an unlikely ally in Fiddler (Louis Gossett Jr.), an enslaved musician who becomes his friend and mentor and helps him survive his new reality.
During the premiere, 29 million households tuned in, and the viewership grew as the show progressed, according to the BBC.
As for the finale, Roots drew an audience of 36 million households, or about 100 million people, making it the most-watched single TV episode in U.S. television history at the time.
Decades later, the legacy of ABC’s Roots continues, with the acclaimed miniseries still recognized among the most-watched television programs in history, including Deadline ranking Roots Part VIII at No. 19.
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