List categories and exclude child categories

After some trial and error, this is what it took to make it work…

    $cat_args = array('orderby' => 'count');
    $cat_args['title_li'] = '';
    $cat_args['exclude_tree'] = 1;
    $cat_args['exclude'] = 1;
    $cat_args['depth'] = 1;
    wp_list_categories(apply_filters('widget_categories_args', $cat_args));