TV ShowEnded

Faces of America

8.0 / 10
2010
1 season
4 episodes
Documentary

Faces of America is a four-part Public Broadcasting Service Public television television series hosted by Professor Henry Louis Gates. The series originally aired February 10 – March 3, 2010 from 8–9 p.m. ET. In Australia, this program aired on SBS One each Sunday at 7:30pm from 9 -30 January 2011. It uses genealogical research and genetics to find the family history of 12 Americans: Elizabeth Alexander, Mario Batali, Stephen Colbert, Louise Erdrich, Malcolm Gladwell, Eva Longoria, Yo-Yo Ma, Mike Nichols, Queen Noor of Jordan, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Meryl Streep, and Kristi Yamaguchi. In the series finale, Gates explored the emerging use of full genome sequencing to understand personal ancestry and health, by learning what might be inferred from his whole genome sequence, and that of his father, through in-depth analysis by a personal genomics company and the Broad Institute. In 2012, PBS aired another miniseries entitled Finding Your Roots also examining questions of genealogy and genetics, and hosted by Gates.

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Cast

Seasons

  • Ep 1

    1.Our American Stories

    10-02-201060m

    Director Mike Nichols' family escapes Nazi Germany; Japanese Americans were imprisoned, including forebears of skater Kristi Yamaguchi; an encounter changes the life of cellist Yo-...

  • Ep 2

    2.Becoming American

    17-02-201060m

    Becoming American explores the many journeys to becoming American that defined the “Century of Immigration” (1820s – 1924) and transformed the United States from a sleepy agrarian...

  • Ep 3

    3.Making America

    24-02-201060m

    Making America tells the story of the peopling of the New World, of how land came to define the settling and identity of America, and of how the guests’ ancestors were part of this...

  • Ep 4

    4.Know Thyself

    03-03-201060m

    Know Thyself takes up the search for the guests’ ancestries where the historical record leaves off and links their distinctive family histories to the broader history of “the famil...

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