Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. is an American documentary style TV show. The host is historian Dr. Henry Louis Gate Jr. The first episode was shown Mar 25, 2012. So far, there have been four seasons of the program. A fifth season in 2019 is planned.
The show focuses on the genealogy and personal ancestry of celebrity guest stars. Their lives are explored through interviews, research done by professional genealogists, and with DNA testing.
Season | Episode | Celebrity Guests | First Air Date |
1 | 1 | Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr. | 25-Mar-2012 |
1 | 2 | John Lewis and Cory Booker | 25-Mar-2012 |
1 | 3 | Barbara Walters and Geoffrey Canada | 1-Apr-2012 |
1 | 4 | Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon | 8-Apr-2012 |
1 | 5 | Rick Warren, Angela Buchdahl, and Yasir Qadhi | 15-Apr-2012 |
1 | 6 | Robert Downey Jr. and Maggie Gyllenhaal | 22-Apr-2012 |
1 | 7 | Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice, and Ruth Simmons | 29-Apr-2012 |
1 | 8 | Martha Stewart, Margaret Cho, and Sanjay Gupta | 6-May-2012 |
1 | 9 | John Legend and Wanda Sykes | 13-May-2012 |
1 | 10 | Michelle Rodriguez, Adrian Grenier, and Linda Chavez | 20-May-2012 |
2 | 1 | Stephen King, Gloria Reuben, and Courtney B. Vance | 23-Sep-2014 |
2 | 2 | Derek Jeter, Billie Jean King, and Rebecca Lobo | 30-Sep-2014 |
2 | 3 | Ken Burns, Anderson Cooper, and Anna Deavere Smith | 7-Oct-2014 |
2 | 4 | Ben Affleck, Khandi Alexander, and Benjamin Jealous | 14-Oct-2014 |
2 | 5 | Tom Colicchio, Aarón Sánchez, and Ming Tsai | 21-Oct-2014 |
2 | 6 | Angela Bassett, Valerie Jarrett, and Nas | 28-Oct-2014 |
2 | 7 | Alan Dershowitz, Carole King, and Tony Kushner | 4-Nov-2014 |
2 | 8 | Deepak Chopra, Sally Field, and Sting | 11-Nov-2014 |
2 | 9 | Tina Fey, George Stephanopoulos, and David Sedaris | 18-Nov-2014 |
2 | 10 | Jessica Alba and Governor Deval Patrick; DNA Episode also includes Anderson Cooper, Valerie Jarrett, etc.; Gates’ relationship to Wilmore Mail is described. | 25-Nov-2014 |
3 | 1 | Donna Brazile, Kara Walker, and Ty Burrell | 5-Jan-2016 |
3 | 2 | Soledad O’Brien, Bill O’Reilly, and Bill Maher | 12-Jan-2016 |
3 | 3 | Maya Rudolph, Shonda Rhimes, and Keenen Ivory Wayans | 19-Jan-2016 |
3 | 4 | Jimmy Kimmel, Norman Lear, and Bill Hader | 26-Jan-2016 |
3 | 5 | Richard Branson, Maya Lin, and Frank Gehry | 2-Feb-2016 |
3 | 6 | Patricia Arquette, Julianne Moore, and John McCain | 9-Feb-2016 |
3 | 7 | Sean Combs and LL Cool J | 16-Feb-2016 |
3 | 8 | Neil Patrick Harris, Gloria Steinem, and Sandra Cisneros | 23-Feb-2016 |
3 | 9 | Azar Nafisi, Lidia Bastianich, and Julianna Margulies | 1-Mar-2016 |
3 | 10 | Mia Farrow and Dustin Hoffman | 8-Mar-2016 |
4 | 1 | Larry David and Bernie Sanders | 3-Oct-2017 |
4 | 2 | Christopher Walken, Carly Simon, and Fred Armisen | 10-Oct-2017 |
4 | 3 | Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, and William H. Macy | 17-Oct-2017 |
4 | 4 | Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ava DuVernay, and Janet Mock | 24-Oct-2017 |
4 | 5 | Scarlett Johansson, Paul Rudd, and John Turturro | 31-Oct-2017 |
4 | 6 | Bryant Gumbel, Tonya Lewis-Lee, and Suzanne Malveaux | 7-Nov-2017 |
4 | 7 | Lupita Nyong’o, Carmelo Anthony, and Ana Navarro | 14-Nov-2017 |
4 | 8 | Tea Leoni and Gaby Hoffmann | 21-Nov-2017 |
4 | 9 | Questlove, Dr. Phil, and Charlayne Hunter-Gault | 12-Dec-2017 |
4 | 10 | Amy Schumer and Aziz Ansari | 19-Dec-2017 |
Sources & Resources
Wikipedia contributors. (2018, August 6). Finding Your Roots. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:03, September 20, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Finding_Your_Roots&oldid=853738810