Roots (Season 1)

Roots (1977) is the landmark American miniseries you can watch online on iFILM, based on Alex Haley's bestselling family history. The twelve-episode saga traces six generations — beginning with Kunta Kinte, a young Mandinka man seized from Gambia and shipped to Virginia, and ending with his descendants navigating the wreckage of the Civil War.

LeVar Burton plays the young Kunta with an intensity that made him a household name overnight. Ben Vereen, Louis Gossett Jr., Leslie Uggams, and John Amos carry the story through slavery, war, and its aftermath, each generation adding a new layer of resistance and survival. The narrative spans over a century, directed across episodes by Marvin J. Chomsky, David Greene, Gilbert Moses, and John Erman.

When the finale aired in January 1977, roughly 100 million viewers watched — still one of the largest audiences in the history of American television. The series took home nine Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe, and a Peabody Award. It's the kind of television that functions as both drama and historical reckoning. Stream all episodes of Roots (1977) online on iFILM.