Roots remake
Roots premieres on 30 May History/ A&E

The 1977 groundbreaking miniseries Roots is returning to TV screens as a remake on Memorial Day 2016. The eight-episode miniseries, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1976 novel, Roots: The Saga Of An American Family, will air over four nights, beginning 30 May at 9pm EST.

The show will be simultaneously telecast on A&E, Lifetime and History channels. The series is an earnest portrayal of American's history of slavery recounting the journey of one family and their will to survive and ultimately carry on their legacy despite the hardships they face.

Click here to watch the series via live stream on History Channel. Click here to watch it online on History's official website. You can also click here to stream episodes of Roots live on A&E network (only in US).

The official plot description released by History channel reads as follows:

Roots is a historical journey of one family and their will to survive, endure and ultimately carry on their legacy despite enormous hardship and inhumanity. Spanning multiple generations, the lineage begins with young Kunta Kinte, who is captured in his homeland of The Gambia and transported in brutal conditions to colonial America, where he's sold into slavery. Throughout the series, the family continues to face adversity while bearing witness and contributing to notable events in U.S. history, including the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, slave uprisings and eventual emancipation. The story of Kunta Kinte and the women and men who came after him echoes through the history of millions of Americans of African descent, and reveals powerful truths about the universal resilience of the human spirit.

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The remake is an A+E Studios production in association with Marc Toberoff and The Wolper Organization, the company that produced the original Roots. Will Packer, Marc Toberoff, Mark Wolper, Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal and Barry Jossen serve as executive producers. LeVar Burton and Korin D Huggins are co-executive producers.

Burton said in statement, "Nearly 40 years ago I had the privilege to be a part of an epic television event that started an important conversation in America. I am incredibly proud to be a part of this new retelling and start the dialogue again, at a time when it is needed more than ever."

The cast includes Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker (Fiddler) and Anna Paquin (Nancy Holt); Laurence Fishburne (Alex Haley); Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Tom Lea); Anika Noni Rose (Kizzy); Grammy winner Tip "TI" Harris (Cyrus); Chad L. Coleman (Mingo); Emayatzy Corinealdi (Belle); Matthew Goode (Dr William Waller); Derek Luke (Silla Ba Dibba); Mekhi Phifer (Jerusalem); James Purefoy (John Waller); Erica Tazel (Matilda) and introduces Regé-Jean Page (Chicken George) and Malachi Kirby (Kunta Kinte).