Roots

• When was Roots released?

  1977
• When was Roots remastered?

  2016
• Who was the author of Roots?

  Alex Haley
• What does Roots follow?

  Haley's fictionalised account of the enslavement of his ancestors
• What was the contraversy initially surrounding Roots?

  Haley had claimed it to be autobiographical rather than fiction
• What was the plot of Roots?

  Kunta Kinte was born as a warrior in the 1700 in W. Africa, he is then captured and sold as a slave to a plantation
• Where is the story set?

  Maryland
• How is Kunta treated in slavery?

  .He is whipped in order to accept his slave name

  .After he attempts to escape, his foot is cut off
• How are black women treated in slavery?

  They're routinely raped
• How are black characters represented?

  Presented as dignified and educated
• How are white characters portrayed within Roots?

  Mostly as villains
• How were black Americans presented in Tv shows prior to Roots?

  In Servile roles, showed as poorly educated or 'comic relief'
• What are examples of earlier TV shows with servile representations of black Americans?

  'Good Times' and 'The Jeffersons'
• What typical beliefs did Roots challenge?

  Black Americans were violent, and men were absentee fathers
• What may have appealed to the 1970s audiences?


  The Christian, loving family depicted may have appealed to the 1970s nostalgic white audience
• How was the representation of slavery in Roots different?

  It portrayed black Americans in a sympathetic lens through the harsh representation of slavery
• How could it be said there was no real social change because of Roots?

  Racial prejudices and perceptions didn't actually change as a result of the miniseries
• Where was Roots broadcast?

  ABC
• When was the Miniseries broadcast?

  Over three consecutive nights instead of weekly installments
• Why was the decision to broadcast Roots in the way it was made?

  Due to the broadcaster not having confidence in the series' reception
• What did the broadcaster hope to do by scheduling it in this way?

  Reduce the financial risk in case audiences tuned out or Southern states refused to show it
• How many viewers watched the first episode?

  28 million
• How many people watched the finale?

  More than 100 million viewers
• What percentage of the country tuned in for the final episode?

  More than half
• What percentage of Television households watched the final episode?

  85%
• What did Roots achieve as a result of its viewership?

  It broke all previous rating records
• What does the finale remain as to this day?

  The 3rd most watched single episode of all time
• What did Roots allow to be feature prominently for the first time?

  The story and lives of black Americans and the talent of black actors
• What did Roots possess which may allow it to have a greater impact?

  It had longevity with a follow-up series in 1979 and then being remade in 2016
• Which black American figures played small roles?

  O.J Simpson and Maya Angelou
• What did Roots do immediately?

  Resulted in conversations between black and white Americans about a previously, 'taboo' subject. Started dialogues
• Which Civil Rights leader commented on the show?

  Roger Wilkins
• What did Roger Wilkins say?

  He wrote in the New York Times that the programme was comparable to the Montgomery Bus Boycotts and the Selma to Montgomery March
• What did Roger Wilkins credit the show with?

  He credited it with upending centuries of racial stereotypes
• When was first founded in 1968?

  The Nation's first collegiate African American studies programme at San Francisco State University
• What did some colleges begin offering after Roots?

  Courses on Roots and the history of slavery
• How many colleges and universities began to offer new courses after Roots?

  250
• What did the TV show mean for the nation's views of slavery?

  It was the first TV series to show that the entire nation was complicit with the horror of the business of slavery
• What is held in Maryland due to the show?

  An annual festival honouring the memory of Kunta Kinte
• What may have contributed to the immense viewing of Roots?

  The familiar and popular white actors who played in starring roles