Finding Your Roots backdrop
Finding Your Roots poster
Documentary

The Best Episodes of Finding Your Roots

Every episode of Finding Your Roots ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Finding Your Roots!

The Best Episodes of Finding Your Roots

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....

Filter By Season11

  1. 8.4/10(60 votes)

    #1 - Secret Lives

    Loading...
    S9:E3

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps comedians Carol Burnett and Niecy Nash decode scandals hidden within their roots, exposing secrets that their ancestors concealed and celebrating the virtue of accepting one’s relatives—whoever they may be.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  2. 8.3/10(40 votes)

    #2 - Family Reunions

    Loading...
    S3:E7

    Uncover family mysteries about two legends of hip hop, Sean Combs and LL Cool J, through the use of DNA technology, which reveals information that shakes their very foundations.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  3. 8.3/10(48 votes)

    #3 - Fathers and Sons

    Loading...
    S10:E3

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

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  4. 8.2/10(59 votes)

    #4 - John Lewis and Cory Booker

    Loading...
    S1:E2

    In this episode, we feature two African American politicians from different generations and opposite backgrounds. John Lewis grew up in a sharecropping family in rural Georgia, while Cory Booker was raised in an affluent, all-white New Jersey suburb. Although both men have devoted their lives to the betterment of African-American people, neither of them knows much about their own ancestors. In this episode, we introduce Booker to his white great-grandfather, a man he never knew, and move Lewis to tears over the extraordinary ambitions and accomplishments of his slave ancestors..

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  5. 8.2/10(45 votes)

    #5 - Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice and Ruth Simmons

    Loading...
    S1:E7

    Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice and Brown University President Ruth Simmons have each climbed to the pinnacle of their profession, yet each started life as a second class citizen in the Jim Crow south. In this episode we will use DNA to investigate family mysteries: where do they come from in Africa, and who are the white men in their family trees?

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  6. 8.2/10(44 votes)

    #6 - Relatives We Never Knew We Had

    Loading...
    S4:E8

    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.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of Finding Your Roots

    READ
  8. 8.2/10(64 votes)

    #7 - Grandparents and Other Strangers

    Loading...
    S5:E1

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps actor Andy Samberg and author George R. R. Martin answer some family mysteries when DNA detective work uncovers new branches of their family trees. The DNA analysis upends family history and reveals new relatives.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  9. 8.2/10(44 votes)

    #8 - Reporting on the Reporters

    Loading...
    S5:E3

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. shows journalists Christiane Amanpour, Ann Curry and Lisa Ling that the stories within their own family trees are every bit as compelling as the news stories they have been covering for the world.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  10. 8.2/10(43 votes)

    #9 - Freedom Tales

    Loading...
    S5:E5

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. delves deep into the roots of two African-American guests, actor S. Epatha Merkerson and athlete and television personality Michael Strahan. Both discover unexpected stories that challenge assumptions about black history.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  11. 8.2/10(40 votes)

    #10 - All in the Family

    Loading...
    S5:E10

    The family stories of actor Ty Burrell, and radio host Joe Madison. Also a look at how a summer camp for children is using genetic genealogy to help young people better understand their burgeoning identities.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  12. 8.2/10(39 votes)

    #11 - War Stories

    Loading...
    S6:E13

    Guests: Kehinde Wiley, Julianne Moore, Bill Hader. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of actor Julianne Moore, comedian Bill Hader, and painter Kehinde Wiley, revealing how their ancestors’ military service left an indelible mark both on their families and on their country. (S03E06 was also titled "War Stories." Kehinde Wiley originally appeared in S05E09. Julianne Moore originally appeared in S03E06. Bill Hader originally appeared in S03E04.)

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  13. 8.1/10(45 votes)

    #12 - In Search Of Freedom

    Loading...
    S3:E3

    Learn how the ancestors of Maya Rudolph, Shonda Rhimes and Keenen Ivory Wayans struggled for freedom, and how each of these cultural trailblazers gain a new understanding of how they fit into this proud trajectory.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  14. 8.1/10(40 votes)

    #13 - Tragedy + Time = Comedy

    Loading...
    S3:E4

    Uncover a history of tragedies and triumphs in the families of three of America’s funniest men–Jimmy Kimmel, Norman Lear and Bill Hader—as they learn how comedy truly has its place in all aspects of life.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Writer:N/A
  15. 8.1/10(69 votes)

    #14 - The Impression

    Loading...
    S4:E1

    Join Larry David and Bernie Sanders, who learn they have more in common than they thought.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  16. 8.1/10(56 votes)

    #15 - Unfamiliar Kin

    Loading...
    S4:E2

    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.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  17. 8.1/10(49 votes)

    #16 - Black Like Me

    Loading...
    S4:E6

    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.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  18. 8.1/10(43 votes)

    #17 - Southern Roots

    Loading...
    S4:E9

    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.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  19. 8.1/10(28 votes)

    #18 - The Eye of the Beholder

    Loading...
    S5:E9

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. shares the family histories of director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, iconoclastic performance artist Marina Abramović and painter Kehinde Wiley. These visionary artists find their identities challenged—and affirmed.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  20. 8.1/10(38 votes)

    #19 - Flight

    Loading...
    S6:E14

    Guests: Lupita Nyong’o, Lidia Bastianich, Scarlett Johansson. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. meets actors Scarlett Johansson and Lupita Nyong’o, and chef Lidia Bastianich — three women whose families crisscrossed the globe to escape oppression and find opportunity, leaving them with questions about their relatives who stayed behind. (Lupita Nyong’o originally appeared in S04E07. Lidia Bastianich originally appeared is S03E09. Scarlett Johansson originally appeared in S04E05.)

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  21. 8.1/10(38 votes)

    #20 - Breaking Silences

    Loading...
    S6:E15

    Guests: Gayle King, Jordan Peele, Issa Rae. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the family secrets of journalist Gayle King, film director Jordan Peele, and comedian Issa Rae, introducing them to ancestors who raise profound questions about the shape and meaning of their family trees.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  22. 8.1/10(38 votes)

    #21 - Write My Name in the Book of Life

    Loading...
    S7:E5

    Guests: Pharrell Williams and Kasi Lemmons. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps musician Pharrell Williams and filmmaker Kasi Lemmons uncover extraordinarily rare first-person accounts of their enslaved ancestors.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  23. 8.1/10(42 votes)

    #22 - The New World

    Loading...
    S7:E7

    Guests: John Lithgow and Maria Hinojosa. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. traces ancestors of actor John Lithgow and journalist Maria Hinojosa who thrived in North America long before the birth of the United States.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  24. 8.1/10(43 votes)

    #23 - Rising From the Ashes

    Loading...
    S9:E5

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. traces the roots of actors Brian Cox and Viola Davis, uncovering records from workhouses in Scotland and slave plantations in South Carolina that reveal individuals who battled to build a better life for their families.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  25. 8.1/10(23 votes)

    #24 - Finding My Roots

    Loading...
    S11:E10

    A solution to a mystery that has haunted the Gates family for generations is revealed.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  26. 8.0/10(45 votes)

    #25 - Barbara Walters and Geoffrey Canada

    Loading...
    S1:E3

    What's in a name? Well, a lot, at least when it comes to piecing together your family history. For former slaves, choosing a last name was one of their first acts of freedom. For Jewish immigrants, it was a way to fit in their new country. Whatever the reason for a name change, it can make the process of learning about one's ancestors difficult, if not impossible. In this episode, we unearth missing links in the family histories of media legend Barbara Walters and educational superstar Geoffrey Canada. Walters did not know her father's real last name. Canada did not know the name of his grandfather. Both of them had been unable to access their history... until now.

    0 Comments
    View all
    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A

Best Episodes Summary

"Secret Lives" is the best rated episode of "Finding Your Roots". It scored 8.4/10 based on 60 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 1/17/2023. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Family Reunions".