Episode 1
The Impression
1h
Join Larry David and Bernie Sanders, who learn they have more in common than they thought.
Episode credits
Guest stars Larry David, Bernie Sanders
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 4 episodes
Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.
Where to watch Finding Your Roots
Episode 2
Unfamiliar Kin
1h
Guests: Carly Simon, Christopher Walken, and more. In this episode, three guests each learn about a grandparent whose real identity and background had been a mystery to them. Along the way, two of them also discover that their close relatives were on the wrong side of history.
Episode credits
Guest stars Fred Armisen, Carly Simon, Christopher Walken
Episode 3
Puritans and Pioneers
1h
Guests: Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen and William H. Macy. Three mainstays of modern-day Hollywood discover family legacies that predate the United States itself.
Episode credits
Guest stars Ted Danson, William H. Macy, Mary Steenburgen
Episode 4
The Vanguard
1h
Guests: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ava DuVernay and Janet Mock. Three guests who have helped to redefine Black America in the last decade find their identities challenged as they learn about their family origins.
Episode credits
Guest stars Ta-Nehisi Coates, Janet Mock, Ava DuVernay
Episode 5
Immigrant Nation
1h
Guests: Scarlett Johansson, Paul Rudd and John Turturro. In this episode, three guests explore the tremendous challenges faced by their immigrant forebears.
Episode credits
Directed by Hazel Gurland-PoolerGuest stars Oswald Mosley, Paul Rudd, John Turturro, Scarlett Johansson
Episode 6
Black Like Me
1h
Guests: Bryant Gumbel, Tonya Lewis-Lee and Suzanne Malveaux. Three African-American guests delve deep into their family trees, discovering unexpected stories that challenge our assumptions about black history.
Episode credits
Guest stars Bryant Gumbel, Tonya Lewis Lee, Suzanne Malveaux
Episode 7
Children of the Revolution
1h
Guests: Lupita Nyong’o, Carmelo Anthony and Ana Navarro. Three guests explore how their family trees were shaped by political turmoil and violence, discovering sometimes unexpected ancestry along the way.
Episode credits
Directed by Hazel Gurland-PoolerGuest stars Carmelo Anthony, Ana Navarro, Lupita Nyong'o
Episode 8
Relatives We Never Knew We Had
1h
Guests: Gaby Hoffmann and Téa Leoni. Two guests whose lives have been shaped by family mysteries are introduced to biological ancestors they never knew they had thanks to genetic detective work.
Episode credits
Guest stars Gaby Hoffmann, CeCe Moore, Téa Leoni
Episode 9
Southern Roots
1h
Guests: Questlove, Dr. Phil and Charlayne Hunter-Gault. Three guests of disparate backgrounds dig into their Southern roots, where slavery and its aftermath shaped families both black and white.
Episode credits
Guest stars Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Phil McGraw, Questlove
Episode 10
Funny Business
1hfinale
Guests: Amy Schumer and more. Guests who have found fame mining their family stories for comedy learn about ancestors who overcame immense suffering.
Episode credits
Directed by Hazel Gurland-PoolerGuest stars Aziz Ansari, Maya Rudolph, Amy Schumer
Episode 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