Episode 1
Born To Sing
Singers Ciara and Alanis Morissette examine their family histories.
Episode credits
Guest stars Ciara, Alanis Morissette
TV series
Finding Your Roots
2012TV-PG12 seasons6.5 / 10
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.
Availability
Not streaming in United States
Finding Your Roots premiered March 24, 2012. We don't have a confirmed streaming, rental or purchase option yet.
Synopsis
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.
Season 10 episodes
Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.
Where to watch Finding Your Roots
Episode 2
Forever Young
Actors Valerie Bertinelli and Brendan Fraser explore their family histories
Episode credits
Guest stars Brendan Fraser, Valerie Bertinelli
Episode 3
Fathers and Sons
Actors LeVar Burton and Wes Studi, two men who grew up without their fathers, explore their family histories.
Episode credits
Guest stars Wes Studi, LeVar Burton
Episode 4
Buried Secrets
Singer Sammy Hagar and actor Ed O'Neill uncover their roots and discover deep family secrets.
Episode credits
Guest stars Sammy Hagar, Ed O'Neill
Episode 5
Hold the Laughter
Actor Bob Odenkirk and comic Iliza Shlesinger explore their family histories and learn about relatives who took great risks to overcome hardships.
Episode credits
Guest stars Bob Odenkirk, Iliza Shlesinger
Episode 6
Far and Away
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.
Episode credits
Guest stars Sunny Hostin, Jesse Williams
Episode 7
The Brick Wall Falls
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.
Episode credits
Guest stars Danielle Brooks, Dionne Warwick
Episode 8
Mean Streets
Comic Tracy Morgan and actor Anthony Ramos, both native New Yorkers, map their family trees.
Episode credits
Guest stars Tracy Morgan, Anthony Ramos
Episode 9
In the Blood
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.
Episode credits
Guest stars Michael Douglas, Lena Dunham
Episode 10
"Viewers Like You"
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. solves mysteries for 3 everyday Americans chosen to be guests.
Where to watch Finding Your RootsEpisode information updated Jul 23, 2026
Available now in United States
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More about Finding Your Roots
Cast
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.Self - Host
Derek JeterSelf
Anderson CooperSelf
Tom ColicchioSelf
Angela BassettSelf
Valerie JarrettSelf
Alan DershowitzSelf
Tony KushnerSelfCredits
- Written by
- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Production details
- Status
- Returning Series
- Series type
- Documentary
- Episodes
- 126
- Original language
- English
Networks & production
PBSUnited States- Kunhardt McGee Productions
Ark MediaUnited States- Inkwell FilmsUnited States
Themes
ancestrycelebritydnagenealogy