Roots Summary
Director: Marvin J. Chomsky, David Greene, Gilbert Moses, John Erman
Genres: Drama, Epic
Rating:
This award-winning six-part historical epic was one of the first examples of the miniseries format and one of the highest-rated television programs in broadcasting history. Based on the best-selling novel by author Alex_Haley, Roots chronicles the progress of Haley's own family across many generations, from the kidnapping of an African warrior by American slave traders to eventual post-Civil War freedom. Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton) is a young tribesman of coastal Africa who has passed the rituals marking his transition into manhood. Searching for wood to build a drum, he is set upon by slavers who sell him in the United States after a nightmarish Atlantic crossing. Defiant, Kunta refuses to consider himself a slave, despite some sage advice from his mentor, the more mature Fiddler (Louis_Gossett_Jr.). As the years pass, the aging Kunta (John_Amos) is hobbled for his repeated escape attempts. Realizing he'll never return to Africa, Kunta settles down, becoming husband to Bell (Madge_Sinclair) and father to Kizzy (Leslie_Uggams), a girl infused with her father's independent spirit. Sold and then raped by her new master, Kizzy has a son, Chicken George (Ben_Vereen), a happy go lucky cockfighting expert who uses his skills to buy his freedom. George paves the way for his children, the great-grandchildren of Kunta Kinte, who finally become free in the aftermath of the Civil War. Roots (1977) was followed by a sequel miniseries, Roots:_The_Next_Generations (1979), and a made-for-television feature, Roots:_The_Gift (1988), as well as another telefilm based on the family history of the Haley clan, Queen (1993). Karl Williams, Rovi
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