30 Days (2005)
30 Days is a reality television show on the FX cable network in the United States, created and hosted by Morgan Spurlock. 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, 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. 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 of 30 Days premiered on June 3, 2008. FX said on November 6 that it would not be renewing the series for a fourth season, effectively canceling the show. The show has recently been picked up for re-air by Planet Green, though no new episodes have been ordered. In the United Kingdom, the program is broadcast on More4 and Channel 4. In Australia, the program is broadcast on Network Ten and Lifestyle Channel. It currently airs in Canada on Independent Film Channel and Canal Vie. It also airs on FX in Latin America. In Norway it airs on TV 2. In Sweden it airs on TV4 and Kanal 9.
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Episode 1 - Minimum Wage
Release Date: 2005-06-15Morgan Spurlock and his fiancée Alex leave their fabulous New York lifestyles behind for the heart of the Midwest, Columbus, Ohio. Morgan and Alex work at multiple minimum wage jobs for 30 days earning $5.15 per hour. They get to experience first hand the struggles minimum wage earning families face as Morgan's niece and nephew come to live with them.
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Episode 2 - Anti-Aging
Release Date: 2005-06-22Can the ageing process be reversed? A thirty-something former athlete battles back at his expanding waistline and lowering libido by going on an anti-ageing drug regime prescribed by a doctor for 30 days. What will the effects be on his marriage, career, and mood? During his 30 days of drug therapy he will exercise with a trainer, adhere to a nutritionist's plan and undergo monitoring by his doctor to watch for any negative side effects. Can he recapture his youth?
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Episode 3 - Muslims and America
Release Date: 2005-06-29David Stacy, a 33-year-old Christian man from West Virginia, agrees to make a drastic life change for 30 days when he moves to the largely Muslim community of Dearborn, Michigan. David struggles with his feelings and previous prejudices against a religion that does not believe in Christ and in the minds of many Americans is associated with the September 11 terror attacks, as he befriends his new host family and adopts their customs.
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Episode 4 - Straight Man in a Gay World
Release Date: 2005-07-06A God-fearing 24-year-old conservative homophobe from red state America travels to San Francisco's Castro District to live in what is notoriously known as one of the gayest areas of the country. As he joins a gay sports team, works a job that caters to gay clientele, attends gay-friendly church services and lives with a gay roommate, he gets an inside view of what it is like to live as a minority that still elicits strong feelings of hatred among many Americans. Throughout the 30 Days this former youth minister and member of the military will have his Bible-rooted values severely challenged as these important issues become very personal.
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Episode 5 - Off the Grid
Release Date: 2005-07-13Two 30-year-old professionals who are friends and typical Americans, i.e. ravenous consumers of fossil fuels such as gas and electricity, go 'back to the future' and learn to live without the natural resources that will be depleted from our earth in the not-too-distant future. To do this they'll uproot themselves and move to an 'eco village' in Missouri to live 100% OFF THE GRID. As they set up house in a former 3,000 bushel grain bin, they will sustain themselves on a clean power such as solar and wind, recycle all their waste (both food and human), live in a car-free culture, grow and eat only organic foods and conserve their water use with solar showers and rain-catch systems. Can these fossil fuel addicts wean themselves from their consumptive habits without their lives falling apart? Will they thrive in a community that is the total opposite their New Jersey neighborhood? And will the ecological solutions they learn stick once their Thirty Days are up?
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Episode 6 - Binge Drinking Mom
Release Date: 2005-07-20A mother concerned about her daughter's alcohol consumption now that she is in college agrees to binge drink for 30 Days to try to get through to her. In a booze-drenched Freaky Friday scenario, the daughter will see her mother drunk, vomiting, and hung over as she makes decisions about the tough social choices she faces every day in college. The mother, on the other hand, will become more aware of the enormous social culture pressure to drink that faces kids every day of their college careers.