The History Channel is getting ready to ride the wave of their miniseries success, and remake a classic miniseries, “Roots”, according to AP. History has found enormous success with it’s two most recent ventures, “The Bible” and “Hatfields and McCoys”, and will hopefully continue that success in “Roots”.
The network said Tuesday that it had wrapped up talks and had made a deal with Mark Wolper, the son of the man behind the original, David Wolper. History will aquire the rights to remake the 1977 classic, and the project is now in development. The project could still fall through, but if it doesn’t, it should be on TV sometime in 2015.
The original miniseries, which was produced on a budget of $6.6 million, was based on the 1976 novel “Roots: The Saga of an American Family” by famed author Alex Haley. “Roots” received an astounding 37 Emmy Award nominations. The miniseries won nine Emmys along with a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. The show still holds a Nielsen ratings record as the third highest rated television program of all time.
The show starred LeVar Burton in his breakout role as Kunta Kinte, from which he went on to play roles such as Geordi La Forge on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and to have his own children’s show on PBS, “Reading Rainbow”.
When asked about the social impact of the incredibly successful miniseries, Burton is quoted as saying, “It expanded the consciousness of people. Blacks and whites began to see each other as human beings, not as stereotypes. And if you throw a pebble into the pond, you’re going to get ripples. I think the only constant is change, and it’s always slow. Anything that happens overnight is lacking in foundation. Roots is part of a changing trend, and it’s still being played out.”
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