The Roots of Change

On Jan. 23, 1977, the Sunday evening that the landmark miniseries “Roots” premiered on ABC, Alex Haley had dinner and watched the first episode with Warren Beatty in the actor’s hotel suite in New York.

“We just sat there and the whole time neither one of us spoke,” Haley recalled recently over the phone from his home in Henning, Tenn. “Then when it stopped, Warren stood up and said, ‘Your life will never be the same again.’ I remember it seemed kind of odd to me. The fact was he was right.”

Television also was never the same after the 12-hour “Roots” aired over six consecutive nights that week in 1977.

Based on Haley’s best-selling account of his search for his African ancestors, “Roots” became the highest-rated miniseries of all time; the final episode was watched by 98.2 million Americans. The series received the Emmy for outstanding limited series and spawned the 1979 miniseries “Roots: The Next Generation” and the 1988 movie “Roots: The Gift.”

This week, the Family Channel will rerun the original episodes nightly. The Family Channel’s “The Alex Haley Special,” premiering Saturday, retraces the author’s own journey to find his roots.

Haley, 70, who is now writing a nonfiction book about his hometown, said he can’t believe 15 years have passed since the nation followed his family’s story, which begins with Kunta Kinte’s (LeVar Burton) capture by slave traders in West Africa and ends a century-and-a half later in Tennessee.

Originally, Haley said, ABC planned to air “Roots,” which was produced by David L. Wolper and Stan Margulies, in two-hour weekly installments.

“But by the time it was in post-production, the gossip was that it was crazy to think that much black material will make it on prime time and not bomb out,” he said. Executives in “high places” at the network “couldn’t dump it,” he said. “They had too much invested, but they could get rid of it quickly. That was how the decision was arrived to show it on consecutive nights. That was the thing that really grabbed the audiences.”

Haley, who spent 12 years researching and writing “Roots,” immediately felt the impact of the series. The day after the first episode aired, he arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to catch a plane for California. “I remember it was American Airlines,” he said. “I got out of the taxi and ordered a Sky Cap. He (Sky Cap man) did a double take and said, Alex Haley. “

Within minutes, Haley was surrounded by throngs of people who had seen the show. “It was like being in a mob scene,” he said.

Haley said that before “Roots” he was “leading an ordinary life like you lead all of your life and then things would happen like this.”

“It was awesome,” he said. “If people would recognize you they would rush up and physically grab you. I never saw so many teeth in my life. It was incredible.”

After the miniseries aired, Haley came to Los Angeles to do television and personal appearances as part of a book tour. One of his duties was a book-signing appearance at the Fox Hills Mall.

“The lady who was squiring me about said you may have to sign 300 books,” Haley said. That night in the hotel room, he practiced signing his name so he could figure out how many autographs he could sign in 90 minutes. “I wanted to fulfill what was expected of me,” he said. “I am a country boy. What the hell did I know about all this?”

Haley never forgot his visit to the bookstore. “There were lines three or four abreast,” he said. “The helicopters were flying over taking pictures of it. It was estimated that 7,000 people were in line. I stayed there maybe three hours and then somebody came over and said, ‘You got to do some television.’ ”

The store manager, Haley said, informed everyone in line the session was over, but if they left their copies Haley would sign them later. “I had been sitting there for hours,” Haley said. “I started up and all of a sudden I heard behind me this voice. This lady had a dark brown voice. I knew she was irate. She said, ‘He ain’t going nowhere.’ This lady had five books in her arms. I sat right back down.”

“Roots” airs Monday-Saturday at 11:30 p.m. “The Alex Haley Special” airs Saturday at 10 p.m. on the Family Channel.