Roots: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The epic tale of celebrated Pulitzer-prize winning author Alex Haley's ancestors as portrayed in the acclaimed twelve hour mini-series Roots, was first told in his 1976 bestseller Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The docu-drama 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. This 1977 miniseries eventually won 9 Emmy awards, a Golden Globe award, and a Peabody award, and still stands as the most watched miniseries in U.S. history.

Series details

• Title: Roots
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, History
• Premiere date: 1977-01-23
• Final broadcast date listed: 1977-01-30
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: ABC
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 120 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 8/10
• TVMaze ID: 5515
• IMDb ID: tt0075572
• TVDB ID: 80280

Cast and credited roles

• Robert Reed — Dr. William Reynolds
• Olivia Cole — Mathilda
• John Amos — Toby
• Madge Sinclair — Bell Reynolds
• Ben Vereen — 'Chicken' George Moore
• Leslie Uggams — Kizzy Reynolds
• Sandy Duncan — Missy Anne Reynolds
• Chuck Connors — Tom Moore
• LeVar Burton — Kunta Kinte
• Louis Gossett, Jr. — Fiddler
• Vic Morrow — Ames
• Lynda Day George — Mrs. Reynolds

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1977-01-23; final listed air date 1977-01-30; episode order: 8.

Source and licence

Adapted from Roots on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.