30 Days is an Americanreality television series created and hosted byMorgan Spurlock forFX. In each episode, Spurlock, or some other person or group of people, spend 30 days immersing themselves in a particular lifestyle with which they are unfamiliar (e.g. working forminimum wage, being inprison, aChristian living as aMuslim, etc.), while discussing related social issues. As in Spurlock's film,Super Size Me, there are a number of rules unique to each situation which must be followed during each such experiment. At least one episode each season has featured Spurlock as the person spending the month in the particular lifestyle.
30 Days | |
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Created by | Morgan Spurlock |
Starring | Morgan Spurlock |
Narrated by | Morgan Spurlock |
Opening theme | "The Passenger" byIggy Pop |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 18(list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | |
Producer | Sebastian Doggart |
Running time | 42–48 minutes[1] |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | FX |
Release | June 15, 2005 (2005-06-15) – July 8, 2008 (2008-07-08) |
Season one premiered on June 15, 2005, and its respective DVD set was released July 11, 2006. The second season premiered on July 26, 2006. Season 3 of30 Days premiered on June 3, 2008.[2] Later that same year, FX said that it would not be renewing the series for a fourth season, effectively canceling the show.[3] The show was later picked up for re-air byDestination America, though no new episodes were ordered.
In the United Kingdom, the program is broadcast onMore4 andChannel 4. In Australia, the program is broadcast onNetwork Ten andLifestyle Channel. It currently[when?] airs in Canada onIndependent Film Channel andCanal Vie. It also airs on FX inLatin America. In Norway it airs onTV 2. In Sweden it airs onTV4 andKanal 9.
Episode listing
editSeason | Episodes | Season Premiere | Season Finale | |
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1 | 6 | June 15, 2005 | July 20, 2005 | |
2 | 6 | July 26, 2006 | August 30, 2006 | |
3 | 6 | June 3, 2008 | July 8, 2008 |
Season 1: 2005
edit# | Topic | Original airdate |
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101 | "Minimum Wage" | June 15, 2005 |
30 Days premiered on June 15, 2005, with the pilot episode "Minimum Wage," in which Morgan Spurlock and his then fiancée,Alex Jamieson, lived for 30 days inthe Bottoms neighborhood ofColumbus, Ohio, trying to get by onminimum wage ($5.15 an hour). They had no access to prior cash,credit cards or health insurance and lived in an apartment whose rent was less than their combined wages for one week. Rules:
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102 | "Anti-Aging" | June 22, 2005 |
The second episode featured 34-year-old Scott Bridges on his quest toreverse the aging process usingtestosterone andgrowth hormone supplements. However, Bridges quits after 22 days on the program after experiencing abnormalliver functions and extreme decrease insperm count (75M alive vs. 1M dead). Rules:
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103 | "Muslims and America" | June 29, 2005 |
The third episode featured Dave Stacy, a devoutChristian with seeminglyoffensive views of the Muslim people, who had to spend 30 days with aMuslim family. Rules: | ||
104 | "Straight Man in a Gay World" | July 6, 2005 |
The fourth episode featured aconservative Christian man (under the idea thatAmerican way of life is under attack) who spends 30 days living with ahomosexual man in his home inthe Castro, amajority-gay neighborhood inSan Francisco, California.
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105 | "Off the Grid" | July 13, 2005 |
Two nightclub employees with a dependence on thepower grid have to live withoutelectricity, phone service, or Internet; they have to spend 30 days atDancing Rabbit Ecovillage inRutledge, Missouri. Rules:
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106 | "Binge Drinking Mom" | July 20, 2005 |
In aFreaky Friday style of intervention of a daughter's future possibility of drinking, a mother begins tobinge drink for 30 days as her daughter watches what a person would go through (e.g.,vomiting,hangovers, and drunkenness). As the mother teaches the daughter, the mother ends up learning about the pressure teens experience to drink. Rules:
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Season 2: 2006
edit# | Topic | Original airdate |
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201 | "Immigration" | July 26, 2006 |
The second season begins with a reaction to recentimmigration protests by placing a border-patrollingMinuteman – who, incidentally, had legally immigrated to the United States from Cuba as a child – in a home of illegal immigrants. Rules:
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202 | "Outsourcing" | August 2, 2006 |
The second episode of season 2 involves an unemployed computer programmer, Christopher Jobin, who had his joboutsourced to India. He travels to India to work and find out why so many American jobs are being outsourced there. Rules:
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203 | "Religious Perception (DVD Title: Atheist/Christian)" | August 9, 2006 |
A firmatheist must live among a family of devout Christians. Rules:
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204 | "New Age" | August 16, 2006 |
A high-strung, stressed out salesman (Tom) is introduced to aNew Age "life guide" who compels him to participate in a number of New Age ceremonies, treatments, discussions, etc., much to the chagrin of his live-ingirlfriend. Rules:
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205 | "Abortion (DVD Title: Pro-Choice/Pro-Life)" | August 23, 2006 |
Twenty-nine-year-old Jennifer from Atlanta is a counselor at a reproductive health clinic who is stronglypro-choice, who had an abortion when she was younger. For 30 days she'll live inHis Nesting Place, a residential Christian crisis pregnancy center inLong Beach, California run by formerOperation Rescue activists.[1] Rules:
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206 | "Jail" | August 30, 2006 |
Series creator Morgan Spurlock serves a mock thirty day sentence in theHenrico CountyJail inRichmond, Virginia. However Spurlock is released after 25 days because in Virginia the average felon serves 85% of their sentence. Rules:
At the end of the episode, it is revealed that two of the inmates Spurlock befriended (and were released during the 30 days) were re-incarcerated a few months later. |
Season 3: 2008
edit# | Topic | Original airdate |
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301 | "Working in a Coal Mine" | June 3, 2008 |
Morgan Spurlock goes to West Virginia to work in a coal mine. He explores the detrimental effect burning coal has on the environment. Spurlock talks about the practice ofsurface mining, which is destroying the landscape in his native West Virginia. Rules:
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302 | "30 Days in a Wheelchair" | June 10, 2008 |
Cornerback for theSuper Bowl winningDenver Broncos,Ray Crockett, spends 30 days in a wheelchair to simulate living with a spinal cord injury. He restructures his life to resemble that of a paraplegic. He has full movement of his arms. In the process he learns aboutdisabled sports, the stigma associated withdisabled people and the difficulties that they face. Rules:
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303 | "Animal Rights" | June 17, 2008 |
An avid hunter lives in Los Angeles with a campaign coordinator for PETA, participating in PETA initiatives and working at an animal rescue center. Rules:
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304 | "Same Sex Parenting" | June 24, 2008 |
A mother (who was adopted herself) opposed to gays and lesbians adopting has to live with two gay men and their adopted children. Rules:
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305 | "Gun Nation" | July 1, 2008 |
A gun-control supporter, who had a friend murdered by a shooting, moves in with a father and son who are strong gun advocates. Rules:
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306 | "Life on an Indian Reservation" | July 8, 2008 |
Morgan Spurlock spends 30 days on theNavajo Nation to studyNative American life. Rules:
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DVD releases
editDVD Name | Release Date | # of eps | Additional Information |
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Season 1 | July 11, 2006 | 6 | Commentary on selected episodes, and diary cam on all episodes. |
Season 2 | July 1, 2008 | 6 | |
Complete Boxset | May 18, 2010 | 18 |
References
edit- ^"30 Days".Netflix. RetrievedFebruary 6, 2016.
- ^Schneider, Michael (March 19, 2008)."'30 Days' to return for third season".Variety.Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. RetrievedApril 23, 2009.
- ^Weprin, Alex (November 6, 2008)."Exclusive: FX Cancels30 Days".Broadcasting & Cable.Archived from the original on December 6, 2009. RetrievedApril 23, 2009.