Making Roots, and Making TV History

The miniseries Roots, which aired in 1977, was one of the most influential and highest rated television events of all time; the final episode had an audience of more than 100 million. Thirty-five years later, Roots still resonates within popular culture, having changed forever the way that African-Americans were depicted on television, and having a strong impact on the nation’s collective guilt about slavery, an issue that is strongly present in popular culture today, with the heated discussion around the films Lincoln and Django Unchained. Stars of the series, Ben Vereen, Lou Gossett, Jr., LeVar Burton, and Leslie Uggams, will participate in a discussion about the show’s production and its long-lasting legacy. The moderator is Donald Thoms, Vice President of Programming, PBS. This program is being presented in collaboration with the PBS series Pioneers of Television; excerpts about Roots, from the episode focusing on mini-series that airs on February 5, will be shown.