| Genre | Historical drama |
|---|---|
| Based on |
Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley |
| Written by | Alex Haley |
| Screenplay by | Alex Haley James Lee |
| Directed by | Marvin J. Chomsky John Erman David Greene Gilbert Moses |
| Starring | John Amos Ben Vereen LeVar Burton Louis Gossett Jr. Leslie Uggams Georg Stanford Brown |
| Theme music composer | Gerald Fried Quincy Jones (episode 1) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 8 (re-edited to 6 for video) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | David L. Wolper |
| Producer | Stan Margulies |
| Cinematography | Stevan Larner, ASC |
| Running time | 45/90 minutes per episode |
| Production company | Wolper Productions |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television |
| Budget | US$6.6 million |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Picture format | SDTV 480p (original broadcast) HDTV 1080i (remastered version) |
| Original release | January 23 – January 30, 1977 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Roots: The Next Generations |