In celebration of Black History Month, and to honor one of the greatest miniseries of all time, SundanceTV will present “Roots: 40th Anniversary Special Event” starting Saturday, February 25.
To launch this special programming event, the network will air the remastered version of the iconic miniseries, “Roots” on Saturday, February 25 and Sunday, February 26, starting at 11am ET / 10am C each day. It will be followed by its sequel, “Roots: The Next Generations,” which will air in two-parts on Monday, February 27 and Tuesday, February 28. Part One will air on Monday starting at 5pm ET / 4pm C, and Part Two will air on Tuesday starting at 5pm ET / 4pm C.
“We are proud to present this landmark miniseries on our air, and celebrate its contribution to television history,” said Jan Diedrichsen, General Manager of SundanceTV, “From an award-winning piece of literature to an Emmy and Peabody-award winning miniseries, ‘Root’s and ‘Roots: The Next Generations’ share stories that are important, human and relevant.”
“Roots” is based on “Roots: The Saga of an American Family,” the 1976 Pulitzer-prize winning and New York Times bestselling novel by Alex Haley. The twelve-hour miniseries follows the epic tale of Alex Haley’s ancestors, from Kunta Kinte’s enslavement to his descendants’ liberation. The miniseries first aired on ABC in January 1977 and covers a period of history that begins in mid-1700s Gambia, West Africa and concludes during post-Civil War United States, over 100 years later.
Frequently named as one of the most important works in scripted television in history, “Roots,” won 9 Emmy awards, a Golden Globe award, a Peabody award, and still stands as the most watched miniseries in the U.S.
“Roots” stars Todd Bridges as Bud Harvey, Robert Reed as Dr. William Reynolds, John Amos as Toby, Madge Sinclair as Bell Reynolds, Louis Gossett Jr. as Fiddler, Vic Morrow as Ames, Brad Davis as Ol’ George Johnson and LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte. The miniseries, produced by David L. Wolper with Stan Marguiles, William Beaudine Jr., Malcom Alper and Donald A. Ramsey. Writers of the miniseries include Alex Haley, William Blinn, Charles Cohen, Ernest Kinoy and James Lee. Directors include Marvin J. Chomsky, John Erman, David Greene and Gilbert Moses.
The sequel “Roots: The Next Generations,” which originally aired in 1979, picks up where “Roots” ends and continues the story of Alex Haley’s family line from the Post American Civil War era to Alex Haley’s genealogical search to discover his roots. The sequel stars Dorian Harewood as Simon Haley, Debbi Morgan as Elizabeth Harvey, Paul Koslo as Ear Crowther, Stan Shaw as Will Palmer Marc Singer as Andy Warner, Fay Hauser as Carrie Warner and Lynn Hamilton as Georgia Anderson. Writers of the miniseries include Alex Haley, Ernest Kinoy, Sydney A. Glass, John McGreevey, Thad Mumford and Dan Wilcox. Directors include John Erman, Charles S. Dubin, Georg Stanford Brown, and Lloyd Richards.
