History YMMV / Roots1977

* MandelaEffect: [[SignatureScene The famous scene]] where Kunta Kinte gets whipped until he accepts his name as Toby, though often referenced and/or parodied for BlackComedy, is often misremembered. For one, the Overseer doesn't whip Kunta himself, he has a Black slave doing the dirty work. In addition, the Overseer is often remembered as being quite bloodthirsty, screaming at Kunta to accept the name Toby. But in actuality, the Overseer (though definitely cold-hearted), is much calmer when punishing Kunta.

* MandelaEffect: [[SignatureScene The famous scene]] where Kunta Kinte gets whipped until he accepts his name as Toby, though often referenced and/or parodied for BlackComedy (no pun intended), is often misremembered. For one, the Overseer doesn't whip Kunta himself, he has a Black slave doing the dirty work. In addition, the Overseer is often remembered as being quite bloodthirsty, screaming at Kunta to accept the name Toby. But in actuality, the Overseer (though definitely cold-hearted), is much calmer when punishing Kunta.

** SignatureScene: The whipping scene where Kunta (forcefully) accepts the name Toby. Out of all the scenes, this one is most referenced and parodied. Even those who have never seen this series know about this scene.

%%* SignatureScene: The whipping scene.

* MandelaEffect: [[SignatureScene The famous scene]] where Kunta Kinte gets whipped until he accepts his name as Toby, though often referenced and/or parodied for BlackComedy (no pun intended), is often misremembered. For one, the Overseer doesn't whip Kunta himself, he has a fellow Black slave doing the dirty work. In addition, the Overseer is often remembered as being quite bloodthirsty, screaming at Kunta to accept the name Toby. But in actuality, the Overseer (though definitely cold-hearted), is much calmer when punishing Kunta.

* MandelaEffect: [[SignatureScene The famous scene]]where Kunta Kinte gets whipped until he accepts his name as Toby, though often referenced and/or parodied for BlackComedy (no pun intended), is often misremembered. For one, the Overseer doesn't whip Kunta himself, he has a fellow Black slave doing the dirty work. In addition, the Overseer is often remembered as being quite bloodthirsty, screaming at Kunta to accept the name Toby. But in actuality, the Overseer (though definitely cold-hearted), is much calmer when punishing Kunta.

* MandelaEffect: [[SignatureSceneThe famous scene]]where Kunta Kinte gets whipped until he accepts his name as Toby, though often referenced and/or parodied for BlackComedy (no pun intended), is often misremembered. For one, the Overseer doesn't whip Kunta himself, he has a fellow Black slave doing the dirty work. In addition, the Overseer is often remembered as being quite bloodthirsty, screaming at Kunta to accept the name Toby. But in actuality, the Overseer (though definitely cold-hearted), is much calmer when punishing Kunta.

** Fiddler's death. While Fiddler "finally knows how it feels to be free," to paraphrase the way that Kunta puts it, Kunta still loses the closest thing to a father figure that he had since leaving the Gambia, and unlike in the novel, he dies very shortly after Kizzy's birth, meaning he cannot become a grandfatherly mentor to her as well.

** Fiddler's death. While Fiddler "finally knows how it feels to be free," to paraphrase the way that Kunta puts it, Kunta still loses the closest thing to a father figure that he had since leaving Africa, and unlike in the novel, he dies very shortly after Kizzy's birth, meaning he cannot become a grandfatherly mentor to her as well.

** Fiddler's death. While Fiddler is "finally free," to paraphrase the way that Kunta puts it, Kunta still loses the closest thing to a father figure that he had since leaving Africa, and unlike in the novel, he dies very shortly after Kizzy's birth, meaning he cannot become a grandfatherly mentor to her as well.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The horrors of slavery go without saying. But that aside, Chicken George gets his name and makes his way as a gamecock trainer--as in cockfighting. He winds up being so highly valued by his master, Tom Moore, that he is cheated out of his occasional chances at freedom because of it. Cockfighting is viewed as a sleazy, cruel pastime in this era and only takes place at underground illegal dives.

* ValuesDissonance: The horrors of slavery go without saying. But that aside, Chicken George gets his name and makes his way as a gamecock trainer--as in cockfighting. He winds up being so highly valued by his master, Tom Moore, that he is cheated out of his occasional chances at freedom because of it. Cockfighting is viewed as a sleazy, cruel pastime in this era and only takes place at underground illegal dives.

** The sequel series being titled "The Next Generations" after the original introduced us to Creator/LevarBurton of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''.
** Four actors who appeared in ''Roots: The Gift'' starred in ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series: Creator/LevarBurton in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Creator/AveryBrooks in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' and Creator/KateMulgrew and Tim Russ in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''.

* AngstAversion: The horrors of slavery are shown so blatantly that the series can be a hard watch, especially when [[spoiler:it takes until Chicken George is an old man for anyone in the Kinte family to get free from slavery]]. Mind, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools this isn't the show's fault]]; it's only being honest. It's just that the series works mostly as an educational tool than any kind of entertainment.

** Irene Cara played Bertha Palmer Haley in Parts III, IV and V of ''The Next Generations''.

* MemeticMutation: "Your name is TOBY!"

* SignatureScene: The whipping scene.
* SpecialEffectFailure: The "old" makeup.

* AngstAversion: The horrors of slavery are shown so blatantly that the series can be a hard watch, especially when [[spoiler: it takes until Chicken George is an old man for anyone in the Kinte family to get free from slavery]]. Mind, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools this isn't the show's fault]]; it's only being honest. It's just that the series works mostly as an educational tool than any kind of entertainment.

** In the Japanese dub, Kunta is voiced by Creator/TakahiroSakurai, who previously voiced [[Anime/CodeGeass a guy who fights for the ones who are enslaving his people]].

* FirstInstallmentWins: The nearly unanimous opinion of critics and viewers regarding the two miniseries. While the second one is excellent in its own right, it's generally regarded as lesser than the first. The {{Interquel}} ''Roots: The Gift'' and the parallel MiniSeries ''Series/{{Queen}}'' don't fare as well with critics.

** In the Japanese dub, Kunta is voiced by Creator/TakahiroSakurai, who previously voiced [[Anime/CodeGeass a guy who fights for the ones who are slaving his people]].

* CriticalResearchFailure: Captain Davies proclaims himself a devout Christian because he works during the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of rest, and traditionally Christians are ''forbidden'' to work on that day.
** {{Hypocrite}}: Captain Davies proves himself to be a hypocrite. For if he was a true Christian, he could not behave in the manner of his actions: working on the Sabbath, kidnapping and selling slaves, rape.

* WhatAnIdiot: In the penultimate episode, Tom discovers a thief in a food storage shed who messed the place up and runs off when discovered.\\
'''You'd expect''': Tom to go to Evan and Jimmy Brent and tell them about the thief to minimize the risk of being beaten when the thief runs off.\\
'''Instead''': Tom nonchalantly tries to clean up the mess whereupon the Brents come across the scene seconds later. They don't believe him when he tells them about the thief and he is promptly used as a punching bag by them.

** Four actors who appeared in ''Roots: The Gift'' starred in ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series: Creator/LevarBurton in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Avery Brooks in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' and Kate Mulgrew and Tim Russ in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: This was the first time the slave trade was dramaticized onscreen in all its horrors.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The horrors of slavery are shown so blatantly that the series can be a hard watch, especially when [[spoiler: it takes until Chicken George is an old man for anyone in the Kinte family to get free from slavery]]. Mind, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools this isn't the show's fault]]; it's only being honest. It's just that the series works mostly as an educational tool than any kind of entertainment.

** Hypocrite: Captain Davies proves himself to be a hypocrite. For if he was a true Christian, he could not behave in the manner of his actions: working on the Sabbath, kidnapping and selling slaves, rape.

** Todd Bridges played Bud Harvey in Part VIII of the original miniseries.