The WORST episodes of Finding Your Roots
Every episode of Finding Your Roots ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Finding Your Roots!
Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the 12th and latest series from the renowned cultural critic and Harvard scholar. In this 10-part series, Professor Gates continues the quest he begun in African American Lives 1 and 2 and Faces of America delving into the genealogy and genetics of an all new group of famous Americans. The series combines history and science in a fascinating exploration of race, family, and identity in today's America. Each hour features a different pair of celebrity guests, who are bound together by an intimate, sometimes hidden link, whether it be as old friends, through long-lost relatives, or even through a common ancestral past.
#1 - 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.
#3 - Anchored to the Past
Season 7 - Episode 8 - Aired 4/20/2021
Guests: Gretchen Carlson and Don Lemon. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. examines how journalists Gretchen Carlson and Don Lemon were able to overcome biases in their careers, drawing parallels to relatives who met profound challenges of their own.
#4 - Criminal Kind
Season 6 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/25/2020
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of actor Laura Linney and journalists Lisa Ling and Soledad O’Brien—telling them stories of tricksters, scoundrels, and outright criminals, who nevertheless laid the groundwork for their success.
#5 - Dreamers One and All
Season 11 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/28/2025
Exploring the ancestry of actress Sharon Stone and model Chrissy Teigen includes travelling across Europe and Thailand.
#6 - Larger Than Life
Season 11 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/7/2025
Research into the ancestry of singer Lea Salonga and actress Amanda Seyfried reveals relatives who survived heart-wrenching ordeals.
#7 - Science Pioneers
Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/4/2020
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. traces the family trees of Francis Collins, Shirley Ann Jackson, and Harold E. Varmus — three pioneering scientists who’ve made dramatic contributions to our understanding of the world, all the while knowing little about their own ancestry.
#8 - Ancient Roots
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/18/2014
Tina Fey, George Stephanopoulos and David Sedaris, three quintessential voices in American life, descend from ancestors that were part of the wave of Greek immigrants that flooded America’s shores in the early decades of the 20th century.
#9 - Secret Lives
Season 9 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/17/2023
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.
#11 - Funny Business
Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/19/2017
Garrison Keillor, Amy Schumer and Aziz Ansari, three guests who have found fame mining their family stories for comedy learn about ancestors who overcame immense suffering.
#12 - The Eye of the Beholder
Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired 4/2/2019
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.
#14 - Fashion's Roots
Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired 10/13/2020
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. steps into the world of fashion and meets three icons of style — Diane Von Furstenberg, Narciso Rodriguez, and RuPaul Charles — introducing ancestors who were just as audacious as they are.
#15 - War Stories
Season 6 - Episode 13 - Aired 11/10/2020
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.
#16 - La Famiglia
Season 11 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/14/2025
Exploring the Italian roots of television host Joy Behar and actor Michael Imperioli.
#17 - Stranger Than Fiction
Season 11 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/21/2025
Traveling across China and the American South to reveal the ancestry of novelist Amy Tan and poet Rita Dove.
#18 - Family Recipes
Season 11 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/4/2025
Exploring the ancestry of chefs José Andrés and Sean Sherman.
#19 - Moving on Up
Season 11 - Episode 9 - Aired 4/1/2025
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. maps the roots of actor Sheryl Lee Ralph & historian Lonnie Bunch.
#20 - Hard Times
Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/26/2019
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the family stories of filmmaker Michael Moore and actors Laura Linney and Chloë Sevigny—three people whose distant ancestors overcame great hardships in ways that resonate with their lives today.
#21 - The Ties That Bind
Season 11 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/18/2025
Actors Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard learn about their family histories, which includes stories of soldiers, settlers and criminals.
#22 - In the Blood
Season 10 - Episode 9 - Aired 4/2/2024
Guest: Michael Douglas, Lena Dunham. 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.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#23 - Breaking Silences
Season 6 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/5/2021
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.
#24 - Kevin Bacon - Kyra Sedgwick
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/8/2012
What do Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have in common? They are both famous actors and both descend from prominent American families that have been in this country since its inception. But they share something else, too: both had ancestors who were early opponents of slavery. Bacon's Quaker ancestors repudiated slavery long before the rest of the country, in 1780. And Sedgwick's ancestor Theodore Sedgwick argued the freedom case of Elizabeth Freeman, also known as "Mumbet," in 1781 -- which helped bring an end to slavery in Massachusetts. We reveal this fact - and many others - to Sedgwick and Bacon in this episode, and learn quite a bit about slavery in the North in the process.
Watch Now:Apple TV#25 - Viewers Like You
Season 10 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/9/2024
Guests: Selected "Finding Your Roots" viewers. After a nationwide search, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. meets 3 everyday Americans who are haunted by deep family mysteries. Gates unravels these mysteries, allowing his guests to understand themselves—and their families-—as never before.
Watch Now:Apple TV