FIRST LOOK: OPRAH AND THE LEGENDARY CAST OF ROOTS 35 YEARS LATER (TV)
Summary
A special featuring a cast reunion of the landmark television miniseries “Roots,” hosted by Oprah Winfrey.
Highlights include: Oprah sitting down with “Roots” cast members Louis Gossett Jr., LeVar Burton, Leslie Uggams, Ben Vereen, Cicely Tyson, and John Amos; a retrospective on the conception and reactions to “Roots”; Tyson’s feelings about the significance of “Roots” and its viewpoint; how the death of her mother affected her feelings towards her role and her feelings about the benefits of negative experiences; the story of Alex Haley, the author of the book that the “Roots” miniseries was based off of; Burton’s recollection of his early acting career, beginning with “Roots,” and his relation to his role, Kunta Kinte; his reactions to being featured on the cover of Time magazine; the use of strong racially-charged language both in “Roots” and in the real lives of the cast members; the infamous “whipping scene” featuring Burton and the strong reactions to it; Amos’s feelings about Roots as a “tremendous vindication” owing to his upbringing in a then-recently-integrated neighborhood; Gossett’s improvised line and emotional reaction to the script; the “reverence” and sense of significance the cast felt while filming “Roots”; actress Sandy Duncan discussing her discomfort with “Roots” after appearing in it and becoming “hated” for portraying a villainous role; the cast’s role as “messengers” of another time and of acceptance between races; Oprah and the cast sitting down for dinner, where they pay their respects to civil rights leaders and the sacrifices of generations of African-Americans before them. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: OWN
- DATE: November 30, 1999 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:42:34
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 122058
- GENRE: Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - News/Talk; TV - Talk/Interviews
- SERIES RUN: OWN - TV, 2012
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Tara Montgomery … Executive Producer
- Andrea Wishom … Executive Producer
- Brian Piotrowicz … Co-Executive Producer
- Julie Simpson … Co-Executive Producer
- Kristian Crummie … Supervising Producer
- A. Chris Gajilan … Producer
- Eric Peltier … Producer
- David Rivera … Producer
- Veronica Votypka … Producer
- Katie Berenbom … Producer
- Dax Monta … Producer
- Jason Bellue … Co-Producer
- Shantel Klinger … Co-Producer
- Kayla McCormick … Co-Producer
- Erinn McNeill … Co-Producer
- Julie Mirlicourtois … Co-Producer
- Brad Opperman … Co-Producer
- Elianna Bodner … Associate Producer
- Collin del Cuore … Associate Producer
- Allyson Kearns … Associate Producer
- Lindsey Meglio … Associate Producer
- Megan Fulton … Line Producer
- Harpo Sounds … Music by
- Oprah Winfrey … Host
- Louis Gossett Jr. … Guest
- LeVar Burton … Guest
- Leslie Uggams … Guest
- Ben Vereen … Guest
- Cicely Tyson … Guest
- John Amos … Guest
- Brandon Stoddard … Interviewee
- William Haley … Interviewee
- Vanessa Williams … Interviewee
- Sandy Duncan … Interviewee
- Art Smith … Interviewee
- Alex Haley