Trivia for
"Roots" (1977) More at IMDbPro »

• The installment which aired in 30 January 1977 in the USA was the most-watched TV show in US history (since surpassed by the "M*A*S*H" (1972) finale and "Who Shot J.R.?" episode of "Dallas" (1978)). In the US 36.38 million households or 51.1% watched it giving it a Neilsen share of 71%.
  
  
• This was originally to be a four hour presentation airing on two nights, this turned into a twelve hour presentation airing during six nights.
  
  
• The show was programmed by ABC to air on several consecutive nights in prime time. It was considered a revolutionary approach to programming a mini-series, since most minis were aired once or twice a week over several weeks' time. It was revealed years later that the reason the network did this was so that they get the show "out of the way" in a hurry because they felt, nobody would watch the story if it aired over a longer period of time.
  
  
• Originally broadcast on ABC as eight one-hour and two-hour episodes as follows: Episodes 1,2,6, and 8 were two hours; Episodes 3,4,5, and 7 were one hour. Presented on VHS, DVD, and rebroadcast as six two-hour episodes.
  
  
• The people playing Kizzy, George, and Tom Harvey were born within three years of each other. Leslie Uggams and Georg Stanford Brown who played Kizzy and Tom were both born in 1943 and Ben Vereen who played George was born in 1946. This means that "Tom" was actually three years older than his "father" and "Kizzy" was three years older than her "son."
  
  

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