Line #2 Trivia/Roots1977


1	* AccentsArentHereditary: Both Kunte and his grandmother inexplicably have American accents in the first episode, despite neither having been to America, nor the equivalent accents actually existing at this point in time. It's made all the stranger that when Kunte's actor changes, he plays him with an African accent, in spite of the fact it should logically sound more American.
2	* AllStarCast:
3	** The original miniseries featured many famous black and white celebrities of the time: Creator/JohnAmos, Creator/MayaAngelou, Creator/EdAsner, Creator/LloydBridges, Creator/GeorgStanfordBrown, Creator/MacdonaldCarey, Creator/ChuckConnors, Creator/ScatmanCrothers, Creator/SandyDuncan, Creator/LyndaDayGeorge, Creator/LouisGossettJr, Creator/LorneGreene, Creator/GeorgeHamilton, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Music/BurlIves, Creator/CarolynJones, Doug [=McClure=], Creator/IanMcShane, Creator/VicMorrow, Creator/RobertReedActor, Creator/RichardRoundtree, Creator/JohnSchuck, Creator/CicelyTyson, Creator/LeslieUggams, Creator/BenVereen and Creator/RalphWaite.
4	** The cast of the second miniseries was equally impressive: Creator/MarlonBrando, Creator/JamesBroderick, Georg Stanford Brown, Creator/DiahannCarroll, Creator/MichaelConstantine, Creator/RobertCulp, James Daly, Creator/OssieDavis, Creator/RubyDee, Creator/OliviaDeHavilland, Creator/NormanFell, Creator/HenryFonda, Al Freeman, Jr., Creator/PamGrier, Creator/AndyGriffith, Creator/JamesEarlJones, Dina Merrill, Creator/HarryMorgan, Creator/GregMorris, Creator/BrockPeters, Creator/RichardThomas, George Voskovec and Creator/PaulWinfield.
5	* BabyNameTrendKiller: Kunta being forced into accepting Toby as his slave name resulted in "Toby" falling out of popularity as a name starting in the late 70s.
6	* BabyNameTrendStarter: On the other hand, lots of parents named their sons "Kunta" after him, as well as "Levar" after the actor who played him, Creator/LeVarBurton.
7	* CaliforniaDoubling: In ''The Next Generations'', the Los Angeles Arboretum doubles for Gambia in Africa. Most of the scenes used are acceptable to the untrained eye until the Queen Anne Cottage starts showing up in the background of a village made up of grass huts.
8	* CastTheRunnerUp:
9	** John Amos was considered for the roles of the wrestler and Fiddler before he was cast as Kunta Kinte.
10	** Marc Singer auditioned for Jim Warner in ''The Next Generations'' before being cast as his brother Andy.
11	* CreatorCouple: Creator/RubyDee (Queen Haley) and Creator/OssieDavis (Dad Jones) were married in real life.
12	* TheDanza: Cynthia Sye as Cynthia Harvey.
13	* DirectedByCastMember: Georg Stanford Brown (Tom Harvey) directed Part V of ''The Next Generations''.
14	* IronyAsSheIsCast:
15	** Kunta Kinte was supposed to be chased down in a sprint by Fanta's father Kadi Touray, who was played by football Hall-of-Famer UsefulNotes/OJSimpson. It was expected that Simpson would have absolutely no problem catching Creator/LevarBurton. However, Burton had been a medal-winning track star in high school and could leave running back Simpson in the dirt when running flat out. After six ruined takes, the director finally took Burton aside and instructed him to not run flat out.
16	** In ''The Next Generations'', the very liberal Creator/MarlonBrando makes a cameo as George Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American Nazi Party.
17	* TheOtherDarrin:
18	** Chicken George was played by Ben Vereen in the original miniseries and Avon Long in ''The Next Generations''.
19	** Dr. William Reynolds was played by Robert Reed in the original miniseries and Jerry Hardin in ''The Gift''.
20	* PlayingAgainstType: The mini-series cast several well-known and beloved TV figures as evil slavers, including Robert Reed, Ralph Waite, Creator/LorneGreene, Burl Ives, Creator/SandyDuncan, and Chuck Connors. It also went the other way by casting Creator/EdwardAsner as a slave ship captain who is conflicted and tortured about his trade.
21	* PosthumousCredit: James Daly died on July 3, 1978, seven months before ''The Next Generations'' was broadcast.
22	* RealityIsUnrealistic: You would expect the African villagers to practice a local religion rather than Islam. But indeed, The Gambia was colonised by Muslims hundreds of years before the series takes place.
23	* RealLifeRelative:
24	** James Daly (R.S.M. Boyce) was the then father-in-law of Georg Stanford Brown (Tom Harvey).
25	** Creator/PamGrier (Francey) and Rosey Grier (Big Slew Johnson) are cousins. Of the three pairs of real life relatives, they are the only one to share a scene.
26	* StarMakingRole: The original miniseries was this for Creator/LevarBurton. It was his first on screen role.
27	* UnderageCasting:
28	** Creator/MayaAngelou (Nyo Boto) was more than three years younger than her on screen daughter Cicely Tyson (Binta).
29	** Creator/LeslieUggams (Kizzy) was three years older than Ben Vereen, who played her son Chicken George. It's necessary though, since she also played a younger version of Kizzy.
30	** Leslie Uggams was only five years younger than Creator/MadgeSinclair (who played her mother) and three years younger than Creator/JohnAmos (who played her father).
31	** Dorian Harewood (Simon Haley) is ten months younger than Damon Evans and 19 years younger than Creator/JamesEarlJones, who both played his character's son Alex Haley. As with Leslie Uggams, he played a younger version of Simon as well.
32	* YouLookFamiliar: Creator/FranBennett played Trixie in Part VI of ''The Next Generations'' and Mammy May in ''The Gift''.

Context Trivia / Roots1977