January 23, 1977: "Roots" Premieres

January 23, 1977: Episode 1 of the miniseries Roots premieres on ABC, based on the book by Alex Haley. It runs over 8 consecutive nights, reminds America of how brutal its legacy of slavery truly was, and forms a jarring juxtaposition to the Bicentennial celebrations of the preceding two years.

The miniseries included, among others, these performers, listed in alphabetical order, without regard to race, age, level of the performer's fame at the time, level of their characters' morality, or time period depicted: John Amos, Maya Angelou, Edward Asner, Lloyd Bridges, Todd Bridges, Georg Stanford Brown, LeVar Burton, Macdonald Carey, Olivia Cole, Gary Collins, Chuck Connors, Scatman Crothers, Brad Davis, Sandy Duncan, Richard Farnsworth, Lynda Day George, Tracey Gold, Louis Gossett Jr., Lorne Greene, Moses Gunn, George Hamilton, Hilly Hicks, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Burl Ives, Carolyn Jones, Doug McClure, Ian McShane, Lynne Moody, Vic Morrow, Thalmus Rasulala, Robert Reed, Roxie Roker, Richard Roundtree, John Schuck, O.J. Simpson, Madge Sinclair, Ernest Thomas, Cicely Tyson, Leslie Uggams, Ben Vereen and Ralph Waite.

The story begins in 1750, in West Africa, where Kunta Kinte is born. At the age of 15, played by Burton, he is captured by a white European slave-trader and black collaborators. He is sold to a plantation owner (Greene) outside Fredericksburg, Virginia. An older slave (Gossett) is assigned to Americanize and Christianize the Muslim teenager. Captured after an escape attempt, he is whipped, and "broken" into accepting his forced new name, Toby.

As an adult (played by Amos), he is sold to the plantation owner's brother (Reed), a considerably more humane doctor. He is permitted to marry another slave, and becomes the father of a daughter he names Kizzy. Her life is no easier, and she is separated from her parents. In 1824, now grown (and played by Uggams), she is taken to her former home to see her parents, but learns her mother has been sold, and her father died 2 years earlier. Seeing his wooden grave marker with the name "TOBY" on it, she scratches it out, writes, "KUNTA KINTE," and promises him that, one day, his descendants will be free.

The story then moves to Kizzy's son (Vereen), who becomes an expert trainer of fighting roosters, or "gamecocks," and becomes known as "Chicken George." As part of a bet lost by his owner, George is sent to England to train gamecocks, with the promise of being freed upon his return. He returns in 1861, just before the start of the American Civil War, only to find out that his mother, Kizzy, has died, and that his wife and children have been sold. After the war, George buys some land and reunites his family.

It takes 115 years from Kunta's enslavement to the end of slavery in America. As Roots: The Next Generations shows, Alex Haley was a great-great-great-great-grandson of Kunta Kinte, 6 generations after him.

As the week went on, word of mouth spread the word of the miniseries, in a way that social media would have been able to do instantly today. The finale, on January 30, became the most-watched episode for any type of television series in American history, breaking the record set 2 months earlier -- appropriately, held by CBS making the 1st-ever TV broadcast of the other side of the story, the 1939 film epic Gone with the Wind. It has since been topped only by the 1980 episode of Dallas that revealed who shot J.R. Ewing, and the 1983 series finale of M*A*S*H.

The miniseries received 37 nominations for Primetime Emmy Awards, winning 9, including Outstanding Limited Series; the music for Quincy Jones and Gerald Fried; and acting awards for Asner in Part I, Gossett in Part IV, and Cole in Part VIII.

A sequel, Roots: The Next Generations, aired in 1979, bringing the story up to Haley, played by James Earl Jones, finding his "roots." In 1988, a Christmas special, Roots: The Gift, aired, with Burton and Gossett reprising their roles. In 1993, Alex Haley's Queen explored the other side of Haley's family, starring Halle Berry. All of these aired on ABC as well.

In 2016, the History Channel aired a remake of the original series, with Malachi Kirby as Kunta Kinte (at all ages), Forest Whitaker as Fiddler, Anika Noni Rose as Kizzy, and Regé-Jean Page as Chicken George.

UPDATE: It took me until 2024 to think of this, but the 1970s were Schrödinger's Decade. There was too much influence of television, and, at the same time, not enough of good television using its influence to make the world a better place, or at least a more aware place.

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January 23, 1977 was a Sunday. Baseball and football were out of season. There were 9 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the New Orleans Jazz 111-102 at the Superdome in New Orleans. "Pistol" Pete Maravich scored 38 points.

* The New York Nets beat the Chicago Bulls, 95-86 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 91-83 at the Boston Garden.

* The Washington Bullets beat the Detroit Pistons, 119-108 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Atlanta Hawks, 104-97 at The Omni in Atlanta. John Drew scored 42 points.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 123-118 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. George Gervin scored 41 points.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Kansas City Kings, 119-111 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 98-88 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers, 121-104 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

There were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 6-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

* The New York Islanders beat the Colorado Rockies, 7-1 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* The Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings played to a tie, 2-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Atlanta Flames, 3-0 at the Boston Garden.

* The Cleveland Barons beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-0 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Chicago Black Hawks and the Philadelphia Flyers played to a tie, 2-2 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Pittsburgh Penguins, the St. Louis Blues, the Los Angeles Kings and the Washington Capitals were not scheduled.

And there were 5 games in the World Hockey Associaton:

* The New England Whalers beat the Cincinnati Stingers, 4-3 in overtime at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Birmingham Bulls beat the Indianapolis Racers, 6-2 at the Jefferson County Civic Center in Birmingham, Alabama.

* The Houston Aeros beat the San Diego Mariners, 5-3 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Calgary Cowboys, 10-5 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Phoenix Roadrunners, 9-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.