Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a documentary television series hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that premiered on March 25, 2012, on PBS. Nine seasons have been broadcast. Its tenth season is scheduled to premiere on January 2, 2024.
Series overview edit
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 10 | March 25, 2012 | May 20, 2012 | |
| 2 | 10 | September 23, 2014 | November 25, 2014 | |
| 3 | 10 | January 5, 2016 | March 8, 2016 | |
| 4 | 10 | October 3, 2017 | December 19, 2017 | |
| 5 | 10 | January 8, 2019 | April 9, 2019 | |
| 6 | 16 | October 8, 2019 | February 25, 2020 | |
| 7 | 10 | October 13, 2020 | May 4, 2021 | |
| 8 | 10 | January 4, 2022 | April 19, 2022 | |
| 9 | 10 | January 3, 2023 | April 4, 2023 | |
| 10 | 10 | January 2, 2024 | April 9, 2024 | |
Episodes edit
Season 1 (2012) edit
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr." | March 25, 2012 | |
| 2 | 2 | "John Lewis and Cory Booker" | March 25, 2012 | |
|
Georgia Congressman John Lewis and then Newark Mayor Cory Booker meet each other before they explore their family heritages. | ||||
| 3 | 3 | "Barbara Walters and Geoffrey Canada" | April 1, 2012 | |
| 4 | 4 | "Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon" | April 8, 2012 | |
|
Married couple Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon discover that they share distant ancestry. | ||||
| 5 | 5 | "Rick Warren, Angela Buchdahl and Yasir Qadhi" | April 15, 2012 | |
|
All three guests, Rick Warren, Angela Warnick Buchdahl and Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi, are religious leaders in their respective faiths. | ||||
| 6 | 6 | "Robert Downey Jr. and Maggie Gyllenhaal" | April 22, 2012 | |
|
Robert Downey Jr. and Maggie Gyllenhaal both descend from European-American immigrants. Robert's father, Robert Downey Sr., acts as the episode's unofficial third guest, sitting with Professor Gates as he reads his son's book of life. | ||||
| 7 | 7 | "Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice and Ruth Simmons" | April 29, 2012 | |
|
Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice and Ruth Simmons trace their genealogical backgrounds into slavery and, with the help of DNA analysis, back to Africa. | ||||
| 8 | 8 | "Martha Stewart, Margaret Cho and Sanjay Gupta" | May 6, 2012 | |
|
Martha Stewart, Margaret Cho and Sanjay Gupta are all the offspring of first or second generation immigrants. | ||||
| 9 | 9 | "John Legend and Wanda Sykes" | May 13, 2012 | |
|
John Legend and Wanda Sykes[1] explore their rich and extensive free negro heritages. Margarett Cooper also makes an appearance in this episode, appearing only a year before her death in 2013.[2] In keeping with the theme of the episode, Cooper seeks help from Gates to answer long-held questions about her free heritage. | ||||
| 10 | 10 | "Michelle Rodriguez, Adrian Grenier and Linda Chavez" | May 20, 2012 | |
Season 2 (2014) edit
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "In Search of our Fathers" | September 23, 2014 | |
| 12 | 2 | "Born Champions" | September 30, 2014 | |
| 13 | 3 | "Our American Storytellers" | October 7, 2014 | |
| 14 | 4 | "Roots of Freedom" | October 14, 2014 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Ben Affleck, Khandi Alexander and Ben Jealous. This episode has been withdrawn from all forms of distribution by PBS (see Ben Affleck controversy). | ||||
| 15 | 5 | "The Melting Pot" | October 21, 2014 | |
| 16 | 6 | "We Come From People" | October 28, 2014 | |
| 17 | 7 | "Our People, Our Traditions" | November 4, 2014 | |
| 18 | 8 | "The British Invasion" | November 11, 2014 | |
| 19 | 9 | "Ancient Roots" | November 18, 2014 | |
| 20 | 10 | "Decoding Our Past Through DNA" | November 25, 2014 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Jessica Alba and Governor Deval Patrick (also appearing are Anderson Cooper, Valerie Jarrett and more). Gates' relationship to Wilmore Mail is described. | ||||
Season 3 (2016) edit
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | "The Stories We Tell" | January 5, 2016 | |
| 22 | 2 | "The Irish Factor" | January 12, 2016 | |
| 23 | 3 | "In Search of Freedom" | January 19, 2016 | |
| 24 | 4 | "Tragedy + Time = Comedy" | January 26, 2016 | |
| 25 | 5 | "Visionaries" | February 2, 2016 | |
| 26 | 6 | "War Stories" | February 9, 2016 | |
| 27 | 7 | "Family Reunions" | February 16, 2016 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Sean Combs and LL Cool J | ||||
| 28 | 8 | "The Pioneers" | February 23, 2016 | |
| 29 | 9 | "The Long Way Home" | March 1, 2016 | |
| 30 | 10 | "Maps of Stars" | March 8, 2016 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Mia Farrow and Dustin Hoffman | ||||
Season 4 (2017) edit
Garrison Keillor was scheduled to appear in the season finale, "Funny Business". His segment was edited out of the episode after reports of inappropriate workplace behavior by him were made public.[3]
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1 | "The Impression" | October 3, 2017 | |
|
Comedy writer Larry David and Senator Bernie Sanders discover their Jewish-American heritage and find that they have more in common than they think. Celebrity guests: Larry David and Bernie Sanders | ||||
| 32 | 2 | "Unfamiliar Kin" | October 10, 2017 | |
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Actor Christopher Walken discovers that he had relatives back in Germany who stayed when Adolf Hitler rose to power; singer Carly Simon discovers that she has ancestry that her grandmother kept hidden; and former Saturday Night Live cast member Fred Armisen finds out that his paternal grandfather was not all that he seemed. Celebrity guests: Christopher Walken, Carly Simon and Fred Armisen | ||||
| 33 | 3 | "Puritans and Pioneers" | October 17, 2017 | |
| 34 | 4 | "The Vanguard" | October 24, 2017 | |
| 35 | 5 | "Immigrant Nation" | October 31, 2017 | |
| 36 | 6 | "Black Like Me" | November 7, 2017 | |
| 37 | 7 | "Children of the Revolution" | November 14, 2017 | |
| 38 | 8 | "Relatives We Never Knew We Had" | November 21, 2017 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Téa Leoni and Gaby Hoffmann | ||||
| 39 | 9 | "Southern Roots" | December 12, 2017 | |
| 40 | 10 | "Funny Business" | December 19, 2017 | |
- ^ Episode originally featured Garrison Keillor. His segment was replaced by Maya Rudolph's from season 3.
Season 5 (2019) edit
The series was renewed for a fifth season which premiered on January 8, 2019.[4][5]
| No. overall | No. in season | Title [6] | Original air date [6] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | 1 | "Grandparents and Other Strangers" | January 8, 2019 | |
|
Former Saturday Night Live cast member (and star of Brooklyn Nine-Nine) Andy Samberg searches for his mother's long-lost parents; Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin stumbles upon a family secret about the man he called "Grandpa Louis". Celebrity guests: Andy Samberg and George R. R. Martin | ||||
| 42 | 2 | "Mystery Men" | January 15, 2019 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Felicity Huffman and Michael K. Williams | ||||
| 43 | 3 | "Reporting on the Reporters" | January 22, 2019 | |
| 44 | 4 | "Dreaming of a New Land" | January 29, 2019 | |
| 45 | 5 | "Freedom Tales" | February 5, 2019 | |
|
Celebrity guests: S. Epatha Merkerson and Michael Strahan | ||||
| 46 | 6 | "Roots in Politics" | February 12, 2019 | |
| 47 | 7 | "No Laughing Matter" | February 19, 2019 | |
| 48 | 8 | "Hard Times" | February 26, 2019 | |
| 49 | 9 | "The Eye of the Beholder" | April 2, 2019 | |
| 50 | 10 | "All in the Family" | April 9, 2019 | |
Season 6 (2019–2020) edit
On July 29, 2019, it was announced that the sixth season would premiere on October 8, 2019.[8] The season, which spanned from October 2019 to January 2021, explored the ancestry stories of Jon Batiste, Sterling K. Brown, RuPaul, Jeff Goldblum, Terry Gross, Anjelica Huston, Gayle King, Justina Machado, Marc Maron, Melissa McCarthy, Queen Latifah, Jordan Peele, Nancy Pelosi, Zac Posen, Issa Rae, Isabella Rossellini, Amy Ryan, Eric Stonestreet, Diane von Fürstenberg, Sigourney Weaver, Jeffrey Wright and Sasheer Zamata.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title [6] | Original air date [6][8] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | 1 | "Hollywood Royalty" | October 8, 2019 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Anjelica Huston, Mia Farrow and Isabella Rossellini (the segments with Mia Farrow originally aired in season 3) | ||||
| 52 | 2 | "Off The Farm" | October 15, 2019 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Melissa McCarthy and Eric Stonestreet | ||||
| 53 | 3 | "Homecomings" | January 7, 2020 | |
| 54 | 4 | "This Land is My Land" | January 14, 2020 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Queen Latifah and Jeffrey Wright | ||||
| 55 | 5 | "Beyond The Pale" | January 21, 2020 | |
| 56 | 6 | "Secrets and Lies" | January 28, 2020 | |
| 57 | 7 | "Science Pioneers" | February 4, 2020 | |
| 58 | 8 | "Slave Trade" | February 11, 2020 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Ava DuVernay, S. Epatha Merkerson and Questlove (these profiles originally aired in seasons 4 and 5) | ||||
| 59 | 9 | "Italian Roots" | February 18, 2020 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Jimmy Kimmel, Marisa Tomei and John Turturro (these profiles originally aired in seasons 3, 4 and 5) | ||||
| 60 | 10 | "Criminal Kind" | February 25, 2020 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Laura Linney, Lisa Ling and Soledad O'Brien (these profiles originally aired in seasons 3 and 5) | ||||
| 61 | 11 | "Fashion's Roots" | October 13, 2020 | |
| 62 | 12 | "DNA Mysteries" | October 20, 2020 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Téa Leoni and Joe Madison (these profiles originally aired in seasons 4 and 5) | ||||
| 63 | 13 | "War Stories" | November 10, 2020 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Kehinde Wiley, Julianne Moore and Bill Hader (these profiles originally aired in seasons 3 and 5) | ||||
| 64 | 14 | "Flight" | November 17, 2020 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Lupita Nyong'o, Lidia Bastianich and Scarlett Johansson (these profiles originally aired in seasons 3 and 4) | ||||
| 65 | 15 | "Breaking Silences" | January 5, 2021 | |
| 66 | 16 | "Coming to America" | January 12, 2021 | |
Season 7 (2020-21) edit
| No. overall | No. in season | Title [6][9] | Original air date [6][9] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 67 | 1 | "To the Manor Born" | January 19, 2021 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Glenn Close and John Waters | ||||
| 68 | 2 | "Against All Odds" | January 26, 2021 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Andy Cohen and Nina Totenberg | ||||
| 69 | 3 | "No Irish Need Apply" | February 2, 2021 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Jim Gaffigan and Jane Lynch | ||||
| 70 | 4 | "The Shirts on their Backs" | February 9, 2021 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Tony Shalhoub and Christopher Meloni | ||||
| 71 | 5 | "Write My Name in the Book of Life" | February 16, 2021 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Kasi Lemmons and Pharrell Williams | ||||
| 72 | 6 | "Country Roots" | February 23, 2021 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Clint Black and Rosanne Cash | ||||
| 73 | 7 | "The New World" | April 13, 2021 | |
|
Celebrity guests: John Lithgow and Maria Hinojosa | ||||
| 74 | 8 | "Anchored to the Past" | April 20, 2021 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Gretchen Carlson and Don Lemon | ||||
| 75 | 9 | "On Broadway" | April 27, 2021 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Audra McDonald and Mandy Patinkin | ||||
| 76 | 10 | "Laughing on the Inside" | May 4, 2021 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Lewis Black and Roy Wood Jr. | ||||
Season 8 (2022) edit
| No. overall | No. in season | Title [6][10] | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77 | 1 | "Hidden in the Genes" | January 4, 2022 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Rebecca Hall and Lee Daniels | ||||
| 78 | 2 | "Activist Roots" | January 11, 2022 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Brittany Packnett Cunningham and Anita Hill | ||||
| 79 | 3 | "Children of Exile" | January 4, 2022 | |
|
Celebrity guests: David Chang and Raúl Esparza | ||||
| 80 | 4 | "Things We Don't Discuss" | January 25, 2022 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Pamela Adlon and Kathryn Hahn | ||||
| 81 | 5 | "Mexican Roots" | February 1, 2022 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Melissa Villaseñor and Mario Lopez | ||||
| 82 | 6 | "Fighters" | February 8, 2022 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Terry Crews and Tony Danza | ||||
| 83 | 7 | "Incredible Journeys" | February 15, 2022 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Lena Waithe and John Leguizamo | ||||
| 84 | 8 | "Songs of the Past" | February 22, 2022 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Leslie Odom Jr. and Nathan Lane | ||||
| 85 | 9 | "Watchmen" | April 12, 2022 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Regina King and Damon Lindelof | ||||
| 86 | 10 | "Where Did We Come From?" | April 19, 2022 | |
Season 9 (2023) edit
| No. overall | No. in season | Title [6][11][12] | Original air date [6][11] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87 | 1 | "Hidden Kin" | January 3, 2023 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Edward Norton and Julia Roberts | ||||
| 88 | 2 | "Salem's Lot" | January 10, 2023 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Claire Danes and Jeff Daniels | ||||
| 89 | 3 | "Secret Lives" | January 17, 2023 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Carol Burnett and Niecy Nash | ||||
| 90 | 4 | "Far From Home" | January 24, 2023 | |
| 91 | 5 | "Rising from the Ashes" | January 31, 2023 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Brian Cox and Viola Davis | ||||
| 92 | 6 | "Lost and Found" | February 7, 2023 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Tony Gonzalez and Joe Manganiello | ||||
| 93 | 7 | "Chosen" | February 14, 2023 | |
|
Celebrity guests: David Duchovny and Richard Kind | ||||
| 94 | 8 | "And Still I Rise" | February 21, 2023 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Angela Davis and Jeh Johnson | ||||
| 95 | 9 | "Anchormen" | March 28, 2023 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Jim Acosta and Van Jones | ||||
| 96 | 10 | "Out of the Past[12]" | April 4, 2023 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Billy Crudup and Tamera Mowry-Housley | ||||
Season 10 (2024) edit
| No. overall | No. in season | Title [6][13][14] | Original air date [6][13] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97 | 1 | "Born to Sing" | January 2, 2024 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Ciara and Alanis Morissette | ||||
| 98 | 2 | "Forever Young" | January 9, 2024 | |
|
Celebrity guest: Valerie Bertinelli and Brendan Fraser | ||||
| 99 | 3 | "Fathers and Sons" | January 16, 2024 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Wes Studi and LeVar Burton | ||||
| 100 | 4 | "Buried Secrets" | January 23, 2024 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Sammy Hagar and Ed O'Neill | ||||
| 101 | 5 | "Hold the Laughter" | January 30, 2024 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Bob Odenkirk and Iliza Shlesinger | ||||
| 102 | 6 | "Far and Away" | February 6, 2024 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Sunny Hostin and Jesse Williams | ||||
| 103 | 7 | "The Brick Wall Falls" | February 13, 2024 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Danielle Brooks and Dionne Warwick | ||||
| 104 | 8 | "Mean Streets" | February 20, 2024 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Tracy Morgan and Anthony Ramos | ||||
| 105 | 9 | "In the Blood" | April 2, 2024 | |
|
Celebrity guests: Michael Douglas and Lena Dunham | ||||
| 106 | 10 | "Viewers Like You" | April 9, 2024 | |
|
After a nationwide search, Professor Gates solves deep mysteries for three everyday Americans. | ||||
References edit
- ^ Leemarch, Felicia R. (March 19, 2012). "Family Tree's Startling Roots". The New York Times. New York City.
- ^ "Margarett Cooper Obituary". Legacy.com. Boston. September 20, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
- ^ Sefton, Dru. "PBS removes Keillor segment from upcoming 'Finding Your Roots'". Current.org. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
- ^ de Moraes, Lisa (July 31, 2018). "House Speaker Paul Ryan Discovers Ashkenazi Jewish Heritage On 'Finding Your Roots' – TCA". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
- ^ Haddad, Diane (August 1, 2018). "Here's When You Can Watch Season 5 of "Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr."". Family Tree Magazine. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Finding Your Roots – Listings". The Futon Critic. January 24, 2021.
- ^ a b MacEntee, Thomas (January 30, 2019). "Finding Your Roots: Dreaming of a New Land Episode – Now Available For Online Viewing at PBS". Abundant Genealogy.
- ^ a b "Season Six of "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr." Premieres Fall 2019 and Airs Through Fall 2020 on PBS, Beginning October 8". The Futon Critic. July 29, 2019.
- ^ a b "Finding Your Roots TV Schedule". PBS. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
- ^ "Finding Your Roots TV Schedule". PBS. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
- ^ a b "Finding Your Roots TV Schedule". PBS. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ a b "Finding Your Roots Season 9". PBS. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ a b "Finding Your Roots TV Schedule". PBS. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
- ^ "Finding Your Roots Season 10". PBS. Retrieved December 27, 2023.