Posted on 05/30/2016 11:03:36 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
I vividly recall the original iteration of the TV miniseries Roots. It was January 1977, and I was 17. Like most young people that age, my life was rapidly growing independent of my parents, who were increasingly consumed by the vagaries of their workplaces.
Yet, when the series debuted, it was must-see TV in the Johnson household. We stopped what we were doing and watched it together and enthusiastically each night. We even cheered during the show, notable since we were often too darned middle class to cheer while watching football games on TV.
The miniseries cleaned up during awards season: 37 Grammy nominations (nine wins) and a Golden Globe. The Alex Haley historical novel, upon which the TV series was based, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
It was also an unprecedented ratings success; all eight episodes rank among the 100 most-watched TV shows of all time. Four rank in the top 30 and the finale, almost 40 years later, still ranks as the third most-watched TV show ever. There were sequels and spinoffs, but for the last quarter century the phenomenon has been dormant.
That will end Monday when a remake of the classic series premieres on the History Channel (with simulcasts on sister networks Lifetime and A&E). It will run for four nights and, like the original, it features a star-studded cast including Laurence Fishburne, Forest Whitaker, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anika Noni Rose and Anna Paquin
(Excerpt) Read more at theroot.com ...
“All Hollywood is capable of doing nowadays is remakes and comic books, that’s it. “
And it’s going to be crap.
Sure, it will have better production values.
But re-making Roots is ludicrous.
I agree. Can't beat the original! There are a million other stories in History Hollywood has yet to cover. I would love to see a mini-series on Charles Martel.
So, why isn’t matt damon playng in the lead role?
There are movies that help to bring a nation together. And then there are movies that help to tear a nation part.
I don’t want to see a movie that shows white people whipping black people. I don’t want to see a movie that shows Indians scalping white people.
Yep, they have a right to make such movies. And they might be entertaining. But they are not helpful.
Hollywood has always been about remakes. And technically nothing NEEDS to be made. But they wanted to, and they just might find an audience. Or they won’t. Whatever. People wring their hands too much over too little.
The reason why you rarely saw Roots repeated on TV all these decades is because a significant part of it was about “Chicken George” and how he gained his freedom by becoming a world class Cock Fighting trainer.
In the Liberal useful idiot hierarchy, animals trump race, so Roots has been essentially censored all these years.
I wonder if they will still include the Chicken George story or alter it in some PC way.
It would be nice if this perpetual "white guilt" crap would stop. I never owned a slave, and don't know anyone who did. I also don't know of any Negroes who were slaves.
But here we go again. Crappy history, lots of white guilt, and we get to go over it all again.
Ben Affleck as the slave holder?
Never watched it..
It's part of History. No need to censor that part. That said, Roots had already been made 40 years ago. No need to do it again. Unless there's a new story to tell.
this is tailor made to stir up the democrat black base to ensure they get off their asses and vote.
Hillary will have one hell of a tough time getting the percentage of and total number of blacks to get off their asses to vote for her.
I suspect the DNC has bought up plenty of ad time during the series.
Chicken George will do internet videos for Trump.
Gotta “Keep Hate Alive” as Jesse Jackson so often reminds us.
Did you know Kunte Kinte had a sister who was a prostitute?
That's true enough. What bothers me is the explicitness of the abuse. So I guess it's a balancing act. Go too far with showing the abuse, and you'll be sowing seeds of hatred.
Even Snoop Dog is bored by this repetitive crap. See DRUDGE
I don’t want to see a movie that shows white people whipping black people. I don’t want to see a movie that shows Indians scalping white people.
Yep, they have a right to make such movies. And they might be entertaining. But they are not helpful.
The objective of any business enterprise is to make a profit and a remake of Roots is simply a business enterprise with the objective to make a profit.
It is not and should not be an objective of the producers to bring the country together or tear it apart, the goal is to be profitable.
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