‘Roots’ miniseries remake set to air on A&E, Lifetime and History
“Roots,” the landmark 1977 miniseries, is going to be remade as a limited event series that will air on three cable channels -- A&E, History and Lifetime -- in 2016.
LeVar Burton, who played the African slave Kunta Kinte in the original miniseries, will co-executive produce the remake, alongside Will Packer.
The new miniseries will once again tell the life story of Kinte, who was the ancestor of “Roots” author Alex Haley. The new series will be written by Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal, Alison McDonald and Charles Murray.
The new series promises to incorporate more material from Haley’s 1976 book, as well as new research conducted since the book was published.
The original miniseries was a phenomenon when it originally aired, winning nine Emmys, a Golden Globe, a Peabody Award and giant ratings, even in a time when shows got big ratings all the time.
The finale episode drew an audience of 36.38 million households. It remains the second-most-watched finale episode of all time, behind the last episode of “M*A*S*H.”
Airing across three cable channels, the new series has the potential to be another ratings smash.
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