Season 12 Finding Your Roots Starts Next Tuesday! January 6, 2026 at 8 p.m.

It is almost that time again ... Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. starts its 12th Season on January 6, 2026, on PBS at 8 p.m. Eastern. 

If you can't catch the show Tuesday night, don't worry it repeats on  Wednesday, at 3 p.m. and again Saturday at 5 p.m. It may even end up on your provider's InDemand or similar service.

We previously posted what we knew about the new season back in October.

See you at our favorite library!
LE 

Finding Your Roots Season 12 Announced for PBS at 8 p.m. -- The Wait Begins!

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. starts its 12th Season on January 6, 2026, on PBS at 8 p.m. Eastern. 

If you can't catch the show Tuesday night, don't worry it repeats on  Wednesday, at 3 p.m. and again Saturday at 5 p.m. It may even end up on your provider's InDemand or similar service.

You can find the trailer on the show's PBS website page, Face Book page or on its YouTube Channel.

It has been reported that the following is each show's setup for the 12th season.

January 6: “American Dreams” – actors Darren Criss (Glee) and America Ferrera (Barbie)

January 13: “Great Migrations” – musician Wiz Khalifa and actor Sanaa Lathan (Love & Basketball)

January 20: “Caribbean Roots” – actor Liza Colón-Zayas (The Bear) and Delroy Lindo (Sinners)

January 27: “The Road We Took” – actor Lizzy Caplan (Mean Girls) and comedian Hasan Minhaj

February 3: “Love & Basketball” – basketball superstars Brittney Griner and Chris Paul

February 10: “Westward Bound” – journalist Sara Haines and actor Tracy Letts (Lady Bird)

February 17: “Family Harmonies” – musicians Flea and Lizzo

February 24: “Artistic Roots” – filmmaker Spike Lee and actor Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked)

April 7: “Song of the South” – actor Danielle Deadwyler (Till) and musician Rhiannon Giddens

April 14: “Rags to Riches” – businessman Barry Diller and actor Kate Burto (Scandal)

Don't forget between 2022 and 2023 we created Genealogy TV Show BINGO cards for you and your family or a viewing party can play while watching. We tweaked the cards so that by version 4 it would work well with both types of genealogy TV shows. The earlier versions tend to work better for one show type or the other. Regardless of which version you use, have fun!

See you at our favorite library!
LE

Finding Your Roots Season 11 Begins Tues., Jan. 7 2025, on PBS at 8 p.m.

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. starts its 11th Season on January 7, 2025, on PBS at 8 p.m. Eastern. 

If you can't catch the show Tuesday night, don't worry it repeats on  Wednesday, at 3 p.m. and again Saturday at 5 p.m. It may even end up on your provider's InDemand or similar service.

You can find the trailer and extended trailer on the show's PBS website page, Face Book page or on its YouTube Channel.

There are 10 episodes for this season. Here are the celebrity guests announced so far or seen in the trailer: Lea Salonga, Amanda Seyfried, Joy Behar, Michael Imperioli, Amy Tan, Rita Dove, Sharon Stone, Chrissy Teigan, José Andrés, Sean Sherman, Rubén Blades, Natalie Morales, Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard, Debra Messing, Melanie Lynskey, Lawrence Fishburne, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Lonnie Bunch, AND it appears from the trailer that Henry Louis Gates gets his own Book of Life with the solution to a mystery that has haunted Gates' own family for generations.

Don't forget between 2022 and 2023 we created Genealogy TV Show BINGO cards for you and your family or a viewing party can play while watching. We tweaked the cards so that by version 4 it would work well with both types of genealogy TV shows. The earlier versions tend to work better for one show type or the other. Regardless of which version you use, have fun!

See you at our favorite library!
LE

Finding Your Roots Season 10 Begins Tues., Jan. 2 2024, on PBS at 8 p.m.

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. starts its 10th Season in just a few days on January 2, 2024, on PBS at 8 p.m. Eastern. 

If you can't catch the show Tuesday night, don't worry it repeats on Wednesday, at 3 p.m. and again Saturday at 5 p.m. It may even end up on your provider's InDemand or similar service.

You can find the premiere and extended trailer on the show's PBS website page, Face Book page or on its YouTube Channel.

There are 10 episodes for this season. Here are the celebrity guests announced so far or seen in the trailer: Ciara, Alanis Morissette, Valerie Bertinelli, Brendan Fraser, LeVar Burton, Wes Studi, Sammy Hagar, Ed O'Neill, Bob Odenkirk, Iliza Schlesinger, Sunny Hostin, Jesse Williams, Danielle Brooks, Dionne Warwick, Tracy Morgan, Anthony Ramos, Lena Dunham, Michael Douglas AND three "viewers like you" (Megan Robertson, Joyce Willis, Terrie Morrow) for the first time.

Don't forget between 2022 and 2023 we created Genealogy TV Show BINGO cards for you and your family or a viewing party can play while watching. We tweaked the cards so that by version 4 it would work well with both types of genealogy TV shows. The earlier versions tend to work better for one show type or the other. Regardless of which version you use, have fun!

See at our favorite library!
LE

More MCGG Genealogy TV Show BINGO: Version 3 Cards -- Try It!

Note: Originally posted Tuesday, January 17, 2023, at 6:32 p.m. EST. Change: Added line regarding use of one card per episode or subject/celebrity.

It is less than a couple hours until the third episode of the Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates TV series on PBS.

Last July, we experimented with creating our own MCGG Genealogy TV Show Bingo cards. We created two versions at that time.

Once again we have played with the cards even more to make them more adaptable to whichever genealogy TV show is airing. By condensing some items like vital record types and ethnicity, more spaces are available for items that could apply to all subjects of the show. Give these Version 3 cards a try. You can use one card per episode (more chance for Bingo) or one card per each subject/celebrity in an episode. It is up to you and the other players in your house/group to agree upon.

Striking a balance between the two formats of genealogy TV shows and yet adding in some quirks genealogy-aware viewers experience (Subject Gasps or Subject Cries not to mention Puts On/Takes Off Glasses) while watching is the challenge in developing a generic card to use for most genealogy TV shows. Unfortunately, we has to lose the Uses/Doesn't Use Gloves!

Remember, these are for personal use and not for commercial resale.

The image on this post is just for looks, use this link to download our version 3 PDF.

See you someday soon at our favorite library!
LE

"Your DNA Secrets Revealed" Airs Again on January 1, 2023, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Some of you may have heard about a new genealogy-related and DNA show, Your DNA Secrets Revealed hosted by Diahan Southard, and may have wondered how to view it.

It is on the Public Broadcasting Service aka PBS so you have to see if your local PBS station has picked it up to air in its broadcasting area. But if you have a PBS Passport subscription you can watch the show at anytime on demand.

No PBS Passport? You can watch for free during the air time for your local PBS station. For Detroit-PBS, we discovered belatedly that the show aired at 3:30 a.m. on December 21. Yep, that is right -- in the middle of late last night/very early this morning. The next scheduled airing on WTVS Detroit's PBS station is 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., January 1, 2023. Mark your calendars everyone.

The show is listed as on the 56.1 WTVS HDTV channel on schedule shown for Detroit on the PBS website. But checking the online schedule for Comcast/Xfinity it does show as airing on Channel 6, the non-HD WTVS channel here in Macomb Township.

You can check when Your DNA Secrets Revealed will air on your local PBS station using the Search Schedule on the PBS website www.pbs.org going to Schedule and the search schedule. Or check your cable/satellite service's schedule.

See you someday soon at our favorite library!
LE

Season 9 Announced for Finding Your Roots; 5-Month Wait for Season Premiere

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. started its Season 9 promotions a bit early with its first Season 9 trailer released on July 28, 2022. It can be seen on the show's Face Book page or on its YouTube Channel. Season 9 of Finding Your Roots actually starts in January 2023 with 10 episodes and 21 guests! So we have quite a wait for the new season packed with new celebrity subjects/guests.

Here are the celebrity guests revealed on FaceBook and spotted in the trailer so far: Cyndi Lauper, Tony Gonzalez, Claire Danes, Carol Burnett, Viola Davis, David Duchovny, Jamie Chung, Danny Trejo, Tamera Mowry, Edward Norton, Julia Roberts, Joe Manganiello, Van Jones, Niecy Nash, Jeff Daniels, Brian Cox, Angela Davis, and Billy Crudup. Also, according to a press release this season includes, Jim Acosta, Jeh Johnson, and Richard Kind, which makes for 21.

Season 9 of the show premieres on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, on PBS.

See you someday soon at our favorite library!
LE

More MCGG Genealogy TV Show BINGO: Version 2 Cards -- Try It!

It is just over six hours until the third episode of the Who Do You Think You Are? TV series on NBC.

Last week, we experimented creating our own MCGG Genealogy TV Show Bingo cards. As we said it was our first attempt, Version 1.

We've played with the cards some more to make them more adaptable to whichever genealogy TV show is airing. By condensing some items like vital record types and ethnicity, more spaces are available for items that could apply to all subjects of the show. Give these Version 2 cards a try.

There might be a third version -- the two main genealogy TV shows have different formats though both feature celebrities as the subject of each show. In one show the subject is presented a book and given a narrative of what was discovered and almost always covers DNA. In the other show the subject essentially goes on a journey discovering/revealing a narrative and rarely covers on DNA. Striking a balance between the two situations and yet adding in some quirks genealogy-aware viewers experience (Uses/Doesn't Use Gloves! not to mention Puts On/Takes Off Reading Glasses) while watching is the challenge in developing a generic card to use for most genealogy TV shows.

Remember, these are for personal use and not for commercial resale.

The image on this post is just for looks, use this link to download our version 2 PDF.

See you someday soon at our favorite library!
LE

MCGG Genealogy TV Show BINGO -- Try It!

It is a little over one hour away from the second episode of the Who Do You Think You? TV series on NBC.

As an experiment we've created our own MCGG Genealogy TV Show Bingo cards. These should work for any of the various genealogy TV shows out there. It is our first attempt thus the version 1. Give them a try.

Remember, these are for personal use and not for commercial resale.

The image at right is just for looks, use this link to download our PDF.

See you someday soon at our favorite library!
LE

TV Show Who Do You Think You Are? Returns Sunday, July 10, at 7pm on NBC

This is the first post about the TV show Who Do You Think You Are? since December 2018. The news today, which has been out for a bit, is that Who Do You Think You Are? is returning to NBC ten years and 2 months after it last aired on NBC. The first episode of this season will air Sunday, July 10, 2022, at 7 p.m. so mark your calendar.

This season and network change was announced back in May 2019 but due to life events (aka the pandemic) the 13 episodes are only now making the broadcast schedule.

Featured celebrities identified so far are: Allison Janney, Zachary Levi, Nick Offerman, Billy Porter, Zachary Quinto and Bradley Whitford.

The question appears to be what season is it? The 11th according to Wikipedia or the 12th according to IMDb websites. IMDb is counting Season 5 which ran from 2014-2015 as two seasons (Season 5 and Season 6.) Considering other errors and omissions of episodes on the IMDb website we believe the correct season number is 11. After airing on NBC for three seasons, the show was picked up by The Learning Channel (TLC) for seven seasons, now NBC reclaims the show hopefully for a long time.

You may still be able to catch pass season episodes in reruns. Though if you have Amazon Prime it looks like you can catch many past seasons there.

So, get your viewing snacks ready (you have a month so no rush,) your devices ready for social media if that is your thing, and refresh yourself with that Who Do You Think You Are?/genealogy bingo humor that is likely to return.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Finding Your Roots Season 8 Starts Jan. 4

This Tuesday, January 4, 2022, at 8 p.m., Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. begins its eighth season.

There are ten themed episodes:  Hidden in the Genes with Rebecca Hall and Lee Daniels; Activist Roots with Anita Hill and Brittany Packnett Cunningham; Children of Exile with David Chang and Raúl Esparza; Things We Don't Discuss with Pamela Adlon and Kathryn Hahn; Mexican Roots with Melissa Villaseñor and Mario Lopez; Fighters with Terry Crews and Tony Danza; Incredible Journeys with Lena Waithe and John Leguizamo; Songs of the Past with Leslie Odom, Jr. and Nathan Lane; Watchmen with Regina King and Damon Lendelof; and Where Did We Come From? with Amy Carlson, André Leon Talley and Erin Burnett.

There are a couple previews/teasers on the season eight page to nosh on and tide you over until Tuesday.

See you someday soon at our favorite library!
LE

Another New Genealogy Related TV Show: "A New Leaf" Airs Oct. 5, 11:30 am on NBC

Another new genealogy television show was announced recently, this one by Ancestry.com called A New Leaf which will air on NBC in the Saturday morning programming block, The More You Know, beginning on October 5, 2019. Check your local listings and television provider for air times. It appears that the show will air at 11:30 a.m. here in the Detroit metropolitan area.

You can see a trailer on the Ancestry.com blog page.

The show is being advertised as we heard your comments about Who Do You Think You Are? and wanting to see stories about everyday people not just celebrities. Thus A New Leaf was born following people on the cusp of key life inflection points.

See You Soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

"Taken At Birth" A 3 Episode Show Premieres October 9-11 on TLC

If you like watching television shows that feature DNA and using it to learn about someone's biological past, The Learning Channel network has a new three episode show called Taken At Birth.

In the mid-1940s a doctor set up a clinic in McCaysville, Georgia, near the Tennessee border which included a variety of illegal activities which included selling babies on the black market. The doctor did not keep records linking the babies back to their biological mothers/parents. The only clue is that the falsified birth certificates say the babies were born in the Hicks Clinic in McCaysville, Georgia. It is estimated at least 200 babies had their identities stolen. Now DNA is being used to reunite some of these grown-up babies (and their families) with their biological past.

The show airs October 9 to October 11, 2019, on the TLC channel.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Finding Your Roots TV Show Returns to PBS on October 8, 2019, at 8 p.m. EST Extended Season Continues Thru Fall 2020

Season six of Finding Your Roots will premiere Tuesday, October 8, 2019, on your local PBS station at 8 p.m. EST. This is the hour-long genealogy television show headed by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. This will be an extended season lasting from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020.


In October 2019 two new episodes will air along with several encore episodes. Then in January 2020 eight more new episodes will premiere with new guests and themes featuring participant stories from earlier seasons. Season six continues in October 2020 with again with six new episodes featuring new guests and remixed shows.

The season will spotlight new guests actors Jeffrey Wright, Sigourney Weaver, Melissa McCarthy and Sterling K. Brown; groundbreaking director Jordan Peele, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; acclaimed journalists Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell; musicians Queen Latifah and Jon Batiste; legendary fashion designers Diane von Furstenberg, Narciso Rodriguez and Zac Posen; as well as a host of other luminaries, including Jeff Goldblum, Anjelica Huston, Isabella Rossellini, Terry Gross, Marc Maron, Eric Stonestreet, Issa Rae, Amy Ryan and Justina Machado. Some of the guests whose stories will be revisited include actors Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore and Marisa Tomei; journalist Lisa Ling; radio talk show host Joe Madison; musician Questlove; and late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

Everyone has different television delivery/provider systems. Use your television provider's schedule system or PBS Detroit's schedule system to find the PBS channel number on your provider system and to learn when the show will be re-aired again. (On PBS Detroit's schedule system you can customize the listing to your service provider by edit or change provider so the schedule generated reflects your television provider's channels and schedule.) You can usually catch the episodes on your provider's in-demand service or on the PBS website a day or two after the episode has aired.

See You Soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Finding Your Roots TV Show Returns to PBS on January 8, 2019, at 8 p.m. EST

Season five of Finding Your Roots will premiere Tuesday, January 8, 2019, on your local PBS station at 8 p.m. EST. This is the hour-long genealogy television show headed by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

The season will spotlight 26 new guests. By episode they are: 1) Actor Andy Samberg and author George R.R. Martin; 2) Michael K. Williams and Felicity Huffman; 3) Christiane Amanpour, Ann Curry and Lisa Ling; 4) Sheryl Sandberg, Kal Penn and Marisa Tomei; 5) S. Epatha Merkerson and Michael Strahan; 6) Laura Linney, Michael Moore and Chloe Sevigny; 7) Tulsi Gabbard, Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan; 8) Marina Abramovic, Alejandro Innaritu and Kehinde Wiley; 9) Tig Notaro, Seth Meyers and Sarah Silverman; 10) Ty Burrell, Joe Madison, Dr. Gates’ personal DNA story and “The Finding Your Roots: The Seedlings” STEM Camp.

Everyone has different television delivery/provider systems. Use your television provider's schedule system or PBS Detroit's schedule system to find the PBS channel number on your provider system and to learn when the show will be re-aired again. (On PBS Detroit's schedule system you can customize the listing to your service provider by edit or change provider so the schedule generated reflects your television provider's channels and schedule.) You can usually catch the episodes on your provider's in-demand service or on the PBS website a day or two after the episode has aired.

See You Soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Who Do You Think You Are? on Air Again, Continues with Four Additional Episodes

We just learned that Who Do You Think You Are?  resumed airing with four additional episodes. (There appears to be some question of whether it is Season 10 continued or a very, very short Season 11 with just four episodes.) The first episode aired on Monday, Dec. 3, at 10 p.m. ET on the cable television channel, The Learning Channel aka TLC.

This past Monday's episode featured celebrity guest Mandy Moore and was followed at 11 p.m. by an episode from a prior season. The three remaining episodes feature:

• Josh Duhamel airing Monday, Dec. 10 at 10 p.m., followed by an episode from a prior season; and
• Regina King and Matthew Morrison both episodes airing Monday, Dec. 17, starting at 9 p.m.

The Season 10's six episodes (which first aired in May 2018) were: Hillary Duff, Jean Smart, John Cryer, Laverne Cox, Megan Mullally, and Molly Shannon.

Everyone has different television delivery/provider systems. Use your television provider's schedule system to find the TLC channel number on your provider system and to learn when the show will be re-aired again.

Also, the episodes are usually available on the TLC website page sometime after they have aired. So if you don't have TLC you should be able to watch the show on your computer over the internet. You can keep up with the show in its Facebook page even if you are not on FaceBook.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Season 10 of Who Do You Think You Are? Begins Monday, May 21 at 9 p.m. ET

We just learned that the next season — Season 10 — of Who Do You Think You Are? will begin on Monday, May 21, at 9 p.m. ET on the cable television channel, The Learning Channel aka TLC.

Celebrity guests announced for this season's six episodes are: Hillary Duff, Jean Smart, John Cryer, Laverne Cox, Megan Mullally, and Molly Shannon.

Everyone has different television delivery/provider systems. Use your television provider's schedule system to find the TLC channel number on your provider system and to learn when the show will be re-aired again.

Also, the episodes are usually available on the TLC website page sometime after they have aired. So if you don't have TLC you should be able to watch the show on your computer over the internet. You can keep up with the show in its Facebook page even if you are not on FaceBook.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!LE

Finding Your Roots TV Show Returns to PBS on October 3, 2017, at 8 p.m.

Season four of Finding Your Roots will premiere Tuesday, October 3, 2017, on your local PBS station at 8 p.m. EST. This is the hour-long genealogy television show headed by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 

The season will spotlight 28 new guests including: Larry David, Bernie Sanders, Carly Simon, Christopher Walken, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, William H. Macy, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ava DuVernay, Janet Mock, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Rudd, Bryant Gumbel, Tonya Lewis-Lee, Suzanne Malveaux, Lupita Nyong'o, Carmelo Anthony, Ana Narvarro, Téa Leoni, Gaby Hoffman, Questlove, Dr. Phil McGraw, Carlayne Hunter-Gault, Garrison Keillor, Amy Schumer, and three more.

 Everyone has different television delivery/provider systems. Use your television provider's schedule system or PBS Detroit's schedule system to find the PBS channel number on your provider system and to learn when the show will be re-aired again. (On PBS Detroit's schedule system you can customize the listing to your service provider by edit or change provider so the schedule generated reflects your television provider's channels and schedule.) 

See You Soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Get Ready for the Next Season of Who Do You Think You Are? It Starts March 5th!

We thought this should be happening soon but a search last week came up with no new news. It was just announced that the next season

— Season 9 — of Who Do You Think You Are? will begin on Sunday, March 5, at 10 p.m. ET on the cable television channel, The Learning Channel aka TLC.

Celebrity guests announced for this season's eight episodes are: Jessica Biel, Julie Bowen, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Grey, Smokey Robinson, John Stamos, Liv Tyler, and Noah Wylie.

Everyone has different television delivery/provider systems. Use your television provider's schedule system to find the TLC channel number on your provider system and to learn when the show will be re-aired again.

Also, the episodes are usually available on the TLC website page sometime after they have aired. So if you don't have TLC you should be able to watch the show on your computer over the internet. You can keep up with the show in its Facebook page even if you are not on FaceBook.

And by the way, Season Two of Long Lost Family premiered on February 12. The show, which reunites long lost families, airs on TLC on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. You can catch last Sunday's episode on the website or through your cable provider's In Demand service.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

History Channel and A&E channel Air its Four Part Event Series ... ROOTS

It starts tonight at 9 p.m. E.T.

The year 1976 can be remembered for many things by those of us old enough to remember. Two things likely near the top of any list are the United States Bicentennial and a book titled Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley. Both inspired people to dig into their genealogy.

And in 1977 the book was made into an eight episode television miniseries (remember those) called Roots which further inspired people to research their family history.

What does this have to do with tonight?

The History Channel (and A&E channel) premieres its 2016 "re-imagined" remake of the 1977 ROOTS miniseries. This four-part, eight hour, event series begins tonight, May 30, and runs through Thursday, June 3. Each night's broadcast runs from 9 p.m to about 11:13 pm E.T. 

See the show's website pages to learn more and to see an interesting animated presentation of the Roots Family Tree. Each preceding night's episode will also air prior to the night's new episode on Tuesday through Thursday. So by Thursday you could watch the whole eight hours in one sitting à la today's binge viewing habits.

So get your popcorn ready and gather your "present-day" family to revisit "an event from the past." We have the Beginner's Kit and genealogy forms ready just in case.

We hope everyone has had a safe Memorial Day weekend.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE