Alex Haley's Roots was a landmark and compelling drama that looked at the author's ancestry from his mothers side.
When Queen was published and made into a television series, Haley had died and his reputation had suffered for some alleged embellishment of his Roots story.
Queen is based on the story of his father's ancestry. Queen was Alex Haley's grandmother, the product of a white slave owner of Irish ancestry.
Easter is a black slave in the Jackson plantation in Alabama who is lusted by James Jackson Jr. He is married to Lizzie (Patricia Clarkson) not for love but because it is a good match.
Jackson does not acknowledge his mulatto daughter Queen but when Lizzie is pregnant, he takes in the young Queen in his household, to be a servant and playmate for his own child with Lizzie.
When the civil war breaks out, Jackson goes to fight. The older Queen (Halle Berry) is left in a vulnerable position.
Although having some of the same producers as Roots. Television had moved on by 1993 and the story of Queen was derivative and had nothing new to say.
All I saw was people in bad wigs, there was bad facial hair and the acting was on the hammy side. The less said about the script the better.
There is a good cast in this series but going by just the first episode, there is nothing compelling here.