Dopey Member
Post by doctork on Feb 6, 2013 12:17:04 GMT -5
Last night on PBS I watched a show about television history featuring "the mini series" as a successful format originating in the 1970's. It featured "Roots" - the series made from Alex Haley's book of the same name about his own family history.
I'd watched "Roots" back in 1977, so last night's PBS show was quite thought-provoking. "Roots" was the first time many white people saw our US history of slavery and segregation. People all talked about the show the next day "around the water cooler" - discussions about topics that previously were more likely to be avoided.
Lasy night's show featured interviews with actors form "Roots," recounting their own experiences with racism, and how appearing in the acclaimed mini-series had changed their lives. Levar Burton, Lou Gossett, Ben Vereen, Leslie Uggams all were interviewed.
Leslie Uggams, who had previously appeared on Mitch Miller's show (I remembered her quite well from that show long before "Roots") commented that the Mitch Miller show had been "blacked out" in several TV markets because she was on the show and she is black. The stations had refused to air a show with a black person in it.
Do you remember the show? Mitch Miller and his band and singers were (usually) all white, and it was a sing-along show, with the words appearing on the screen so that you could join in. I loved that show, watched it every week, and always sang along; it's the reason that I know the song "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" on last Saturday's PHC show. I loved Leslie Uggams too, as she was pretty and so talented. I never knew that some stations did not air the show because to do so was "controversial."
That PBS series on television history, and last night's episode concerning mini-series, made a good point. The broadcast of "Roots" did make a difference in attitudes and knowledge about race in America.
I'd watched "Roots" back in 1977, so last night's PBS show was quite thought-provoking. "Roots" was the first time many white people saw our US history of slavery and segregation. People all talked about the show the next day "around the water cooler" - discussions about topics that previously were more likely to be avoided.
Lasy night's show featured interviews with actors form "Roots," recounting their own experiences with racism, and how appearing in the acclaimed mini-series had changed their lives. Levar Burton, Lou Gossett, Ben Vereen, Leslie Uggams all were interviewed.
Leslie Uggams, who had previously appeared on Mitch Miller's show (I remembered her quite well from that show long before "Roots") commented that the Mitch Miller show had been "blacked out" in several TV markets because she was on the show and she is black. The stations had refused to air a show with a black person in it.
Do you remember the show? Mitch Miller and his band and singers were (usually) all white, and it was a sing-along show, with the words appearing on the screen so that you could join in. I loved that show, watched it every week, and always sang along; it's the reason that I know the song "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" on last Saturday's PHC show. I loved Leslie Uggams too, as she was pretty and so talented. I never knew that some stations did not air the show because to do so was "controversial."
That PBS series on television history, and last night's episode concerning mini-series, made a good point. The broadcast of "Roots" did make a difference in attitudes and knowledge about race in America.
