6.8/1038 votesLoading...#1 - Rick Warren, Angela Buchdahl and Yasir Qadhi
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 4/14/2012
Pastor Rick Warren, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Sheik Yasir Qadhi are of three different faiths, all with complex family histories that profoundly shaped their religious beliefs. Our research of their roots unearthed a story about the spiritual foundations of this country, an unrelenting struggle to achieve our ideal of religious freedom and tolerance, but also the difficulties sometimes of holding onto one's faith and still feeling like an "authentic" American.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.0/1037 votesLoading...#2 - Roots of Freedom
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 10/14/2014
Actor Ben Affleck discovers his mother's past as a Freedom Rider in 1964, NAACP President Ben Jealous learns how far his great-grandfather would go to keep his family whole, and actress Khandi Alexander learns about her grandfather's death. This episode is not available from pbs because actor Ben Affleck had persuaded Gates to omit information about his slave-owning ancestors. In the investigation, PBS said that producers violated network standards by letting Mr. Affleck have “improper influence” and “by failing to inform PBS or WNET of Mr. Affleck’s efforts to affect program content.”
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.1/1035 votesLoading...#3 - Roots in Politics
Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 2/12/2019
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the diverse family histories of politicians Paul Ryan, Tulsi Gabbard and Marco Rubio. They each see a shared vision of the great American melting pot reflected in their ancestors’ stories.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.2/1035 votesLoading...#4 - Where Did We Come From?
Season 8 Episode 10 - Aired 4/19/2022
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. journeys with Erin Burnett, Amy Carlson and André Leon Talley, three guests from diverse backgrounds, as they meet the ancestors who laid the groundwork for their success.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1041 votesLoading...#5 - Our American Storytellers
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 10/7/2014
Ken Burns learns that his Southern ancestors include Confederate soldiers and a slave owner; Anderson Cooper learns that an ancestor on his father's side was killed by one of his slaves; and Anna Deavere Smith learns about her great-grandfather, who was a free black man and former conductor on the Underground Railroad.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1032 votesLoading...#6 - Far and Away
Season 10 Episode 6 - Aired 2/6/2024
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/1036 votesLoading...#7 - Born Champions
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 9/30/2014
Billie Jean King, Derek Jeter and Rebecca Lobo learn about their family histories. King discovers that her grandmother was an orphan; Derek Jeter investigates his ancestors' lives as slaves; and Lobo finds out that an ancestor was forced to flee Spain because of his democratic ideals.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/1033 votesLoading...#8 - The Melting Pot
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 10/21/2014
Chef Tom Colicchio learns the hardships his family endured in Northern Italy; chef Ming Tsai traces his roots back 2,000 years; chef Aarón Sánchez learns his Mexican roots include Spaniards, Africans and Native Americans.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/1028 votesLoading...#9 - Our People, Our Traditions
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 11/4/2014
Tony Kushner learns how the Holocaust impacted his ancestors; Carole King delves into the origins of her family name; and Alan Dershowitz discovers that an Hassidic synagogue started by his great-grandfather played a secret role in World War II.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/1042 votesLoading...#10 - The Irish Factor
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 1/12/2016
Explore the shared Irish ancestry of three powerful social commentators of our times, Bill Maher, Soledad O'Brien, and Bill O'Reilly.
Director: Josh Gleason
Writer: Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
7.5/1033 votesLoading...#11 - Funny Business
Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 12/19/2017
Guests: Amy Schumer and more. Guests who have found fame mining their family stories for comedy learn about ancestors who overcame immense suffering.
Director: Hazel Gurland-Pooler
Writer: N/A
7.5/1029 votesLoading...#12 - Laughing on the Inside
Season 7 Episode 10 - Aired 5/4/2021
Guests: Lewis Black and Roy Wood, Jr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. provides comedians Lewis Black and Roy Wood, Jr. with accounts of hardship in their family trees which may have led them to each find humor in adversity.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/1037 votesLoading...#13 - Activists Roots
Season 8 Episode 3 - Aired 1/11/2022
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. retraces the ancestral journeys of David Chang and Raúl Esparza, whose families fled their homelands, leading them to find lost parts of themselves along the way.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/1028 votesLoading...#14 - Watchmen
Season 8 Episode 9 - Aired 4/12/2022
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. guides Regina King and Damon Lindelof, the creative forces behind a visionary television series, as they discover that they have more in common than meets the eye.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/1049 votesLoading...
#15 - Born To Sing
Season 10 Episode 1 - Aired 1/2/2024
Singers Ciara and Alanis Morissette examine their family histories.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1042 votesLoading...#16 - In Search of our Fathers
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 9/23/2014
Three famous guests — Stephen King, Gloria Reuben and Courtney B. Vance — know almost nothing about their fathers’ histories.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1035 votesLoading...#17 - The British Invasion
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 11/11/2014
Deepak Chopra, Sally Field and Sting’s ancestry demonstrates the extraordinary influence of the British Empire during the 18th and early 19th century.
Director: Hazel Gurland-Pooler
Writer: N/A
7.6/1039 votesLoading...#18 - Decoding Our Past Through DNA
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 11/25/2014
Secrets encoded in their genomes challenge these guests’ ideas about their families’ histories and their identities today. This episode features Jessica Alba, Anderson Cooper, Valerie Jarrett, Governor Deval Patrick and more.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1049 votesLoading...#19 - Off the Farm
Season 6 Episode 2 - Aired 10/15/2019
Actors Melissa McCarthy and Eric Stonestreet retrace their ancestral journeys.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1043 votesLoading...#20 - No Irish Need Apply
Season 7 Episode 3 - Aired 2/2/2021
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of actor Jane Lynch and comedian Jim Gaffigan, revealing the Irish American experience through their families.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.6/1032 votesLoading...
#21 - Incredible Journeys
Season 8 Episode 7 - Aired 2/15/2022
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps John Leguizamo and Lena Waithe retrace the paths of their immigrant ancestors who crossed continents and countries under amazing circumstances.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.7/1029 votesLoading...
#22 - Visionaries
Season 3 Episode 5 - Aired 2/2/2016
Discover how the ancestors of business mogul Richard Branson and architects Maya Lin and Frank Gehry took audacious risks to create opportunities, and how their luck, ingenuity and chutzpah was passed on to these three visionaries.
Director: Hazel Gurland-Pooler
Writer: N/A
7.7/1042 votesLoading...#23 - Children of the Revolution
Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 11/14/2017
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.
Director: Hazel Gurland-Pooler
Writer: N/A
7.7/1042 votesLoading...#24 - No Laughing Matter
Season 5 Episode 7 - Aired 2/19/2019
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. shows comedians Seth Meyers, Tig Notaro and Sarah Silverman that their family trees are filled with people whose struggles laid the groundwork for their success. Gates also reveals to each one news of an unexpected DNA cousin.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/1040 votesLoading...#25 - Science Pioneers
Season 6 Episode 7 - Aired 2/4/2020
Tracing the family histories of scientists Harold Varmus, Francis Collins and Shirley Ann Jackson.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Worst Episodes of Finding Your Roots
Every episode of Finding Your Roots ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst 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....
Genre:Documentary
Network:PBS
Worst Episodes Summary
"Rick Warren, Angela Buchdahl and Yasir Qadhi" is the worst rated episode of "Finding Your Roots". It scored 6.8/10 based on 38 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 4/14/2012. This episode scored 0.2 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Roots of Freedom".