Roots: Chicken George (Regé-Jean Page) and Kizzy (Anika Noni Rose). Photo by Michele Short. Copyright 2016.
Below, watch the new teaser for History‘s Roots TV series remake. Roots premieres Memorial Day. The mini-series is set to air over four consecutive nights at 9:00pm ET/PT, beginning Monday, May 30, 2016. Roots will be simulcast on A&E, History, and Lifetime.
The cast of Roots includes Forest Whitaker, Anna Paquin, Laurence Fishburne, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anika Noni Rose, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Matthew Goode, Mekhi Phifer, James Purefoy, Regé-Jean Page, and Malachi Kirby.
Watch the Roots “You’ll Be Free” teaser, from History.
Check out this photo of the new Kunta Kinte, Malachi Kirby, with LeVar Burton, who played the character in the 1977 original Roots mini-series on ABC.
Roots: Kunta Kinte (Malachi Kirby) and LeVar Burton. Photo by Casey Crafford. Copyright 2016.
The original TV adaption of Alex Haley’s Roots: The Saga of an American Family, aired on ABC in 1977. It follows an African American Family from captivity, through slavery, to freedom.
The 1977 Roots cast includes: Burton, John Amos, Olivia Cole, Robert Reed, Madge Sinclair, Ben Vereen, Louis Gossett Jr., Vic Morrow, Lynda Day George, Leslie Uggams, Carolyn Jones, Sandy Duncan, and Chuck Connors.
There have been two sequels to the 1977 Roots mini-series: Roots: The Next Generations, in 1979, and Roots: The Gift, in 1988.
What do you think? Did you watch the original Roots mini-series? Do you plan to watch the remake?
I still have the original video box set, I love roots and have watched it so many times I’ve lost count. Not sure if I could watch a remake to erase the original version from my memory
I watched the original with my family when I was just in high school. I don’t know if I want to see a different Kunta Kinte, I “know” the man.