Finding Your Roots

2012

Finding Your Roots

8.7 | TV-PG | en | Documentary

Noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has been helping people discover long-lost relatives hidden for generations within the branches of their family trees. Professor Gates utilizes a team of genealogists to reconstruct the paper trail left behind by our ancestors and the world’s leading geneticists to decode our DNA and help us travel thousands of years into the past to discover the origins of our earliest forebears.

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Seasons & Episodes

EP10 "Viewers Like You"

Apr. 09,2024

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. solves mysteries for 3 everyday Americans chosen to be guests.

EP9 In the Blood

Apr. 02,2024

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of actor Michael Douglas & writer-director Lena Dunham. Both are the children of famous artists, but their family trees contain a cast of fascinating characters whose lives were forgotten—until now.

EP8 Mean Streets

Feb. 20,2024

Comic Tracy Morgan and actor Anthony Ramos, both native New Yorkers, map their family trees.

EP7 The Brick Wall Falls

Feb. 13,2024

HenryLouis Gates, Jr. helps musician Dionne Warwick and actor Danielle Brooks break down barriers imposed by the slave system to learn the names of their ancestors who endured unimaginable ordeals but emerged to forge families that thrived.

EP6 Far and Away

Feb. 06,2024

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the extraordinarily diverse roots of journalist Sunny Hostin and actor Jesse Williams—telling long-lost stories of African and European ancestry that compel his guests to rethink their own identities.

EP5 Hold the Laughter

Jan. 30,2024

Actor Bob Odenkirk and comic Iliza Shlesinger explore their family histories and learn about relatives who took great risks to overcome hardships.

EP4 Buried Secrets

Jan. 23,2024

Singer Sammy Hagar and actor Ed O'Neill uncover their roots and discover deep family secrets.

EP3 Fathers and Sons

Jan. 16,2024

Actors LeVar Burton and Wes Studi, two men who grew up without their fathers, explore their family histories.

EP2 Forever Young

Jan. 09,2024

Actors Valerie Bertinelli and Brendan Fraser explore their family histories

EP1 Born To Sing

Jan. 02,2024

Singers Ciara and Alanis Morissette examine their family histories.

8.7 | TV-PG | en | Documentary | More Info

Released: 2012-03-24 | Released Producted By: Kunhardt McGee Productions , Ark Media Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/

Synopsis

Stream Online

The tv show is currently not available onine

Cast

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Director

Producted By

Kunhardt McGee Productions , Ark Media

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Trailers

Cast

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

as Self - Host

Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song John Lewis: Good Trouble Reconstruction: America After the Civil War Africa's Great Civilizations 13th Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise Finding Your Roots

Reviews

anniesboy How can I get chosen for a research into my family roots ?

elisenicole-04189 I so wanted to like this show because I'm a lover of geanology and history wether it's good or bad. But it seems every episode has a breakaway segment about slavery or the plight of African Americans. I've tried to rewatch it and I can't swallow the misleading pill. The latest episode I watched dealt with the host going to a high school class to "teach" the class that our founding fathers owned slaves and were hypocritical to free our country but not the slaves, painting them out to be bias and hypocrites. But they fail to provide that the reasoning behind it was the fear of a fragile country falling apart if they were to do so. It was a hard line choice and a complex one and while I'm all for a clear and true picture no matter how tough this show does not give a well rounded look at our history. The bias and splitting of hairs is enough to make me boycott the show. I love the truth of history too much to give this falsified views of our country an ounce of life. Tell the whole story!

MacCarmel Genealogical research is often fascinating, illuminating and addictive. But here's the thing about televising something that involves a lot of library time and reading -- you have to make it engaging. Finding Your Roots means well but it is nowhere near as fun or interesting to watch as another genealogical show, Who Do You Think You Are, currently airing on TLC. Unfortunately, it is Gates himself that is a drag on the show. He is a scholar and a professor and his sit downs with his guests come across like a dry lecture. The guests show up like good students for the lecture but they have had little or no personal involvement in the quest up to that point. And frankly some of them don't look too interested in their own stories.I've been involved in genealogical research for many decades and I have learned some remarkable things at the hands of Professor Gates and his association with PBS. I don't want the show to disappear but I would encourage PBS to reformat it in favor of engaging both the guest and the viewer to a higher degree. They have the perfect opportunity to do that in the wake of the revelation that Gates and the show's producers covered up the facts of Ben Affleck's slave owning ancestry.