"30 Days" (2005) TV series 2005-????

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

15 June 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Reality-TV

Plot:

An unscripted, documentary-style program where an individual is inserted into a lifestyle that is completely different from his or her upbringing, beliefs, religion or profession for 30 days.

Plot Keywords:

Fish Out Of Water | Number In Title

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 4	11:30 PM	FX	New Age	#2.4
Sun. July 5	12:31 AM	FX	New Age	#2.4

Cast

Morgan Spurlock

...

Himself - Host / ... (12 episodes, 2005-2008)

(more)

Series Directed by
Jay Bluemke		(1 episode, 2008)

Series Writing credits
Sarah Carney		(6 episodes, 2008)
Colin Devenish		(6 episodes, 2008)
Rebecca Lock		(6 episodes, 2008)
Sona Panos		(6 episodes, 2008)
Matt Taylor		(6 episodes, 2008)

Series Produced by
R.J. Cutler	....	executive producer (18 episodes, 2005-2008)
Alexandra Reed	....	producer (12 episodes, 2006-2008)
Michael Bernstein	....	supervising producer / senior producer (8 episodes, 2005-2008)
Jonathan Chinn	....	executive producer / co-executive producer (8 episodes, 2005-2008)
Alan LaGarde	....	senior producer / producer (8 episodes, 2005-2008)
Mary Lisio	....	producer / co-producer (8 episodes, 2005-2008)
H.T. Owens	....	executive producer (8 episodes, 2005-2008)
Benjamin Silverman	....	executive producer (8 episodes, 2005-2008)
Morgan Spurlock	....	executive producer (8 episodes, 2005-2008)
Lyle Gamm	....	story producer (7 episodes, 2005-2008)
Max Swedlow	....	supervising producer / lead story producer (7 episodes, 2005-2006)
Todd Cohen	....	co-producer (6 episodes, 2005)
Nick McKinney	....	executive producer (6 episodes, 2005)
Chris Lehman	....	co-producer (6 episodes, 2007-2008)
Jay Bluemke	....	producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Margaret Burris	....	associate producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Poppy Das	....	supervising producer (6 episodes, 2008)
John Gray	....	story producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Keri Hammond	....	producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Nate Harrington	....	producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Matthew Hobin	....	associate producer / co-producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Elsa Johnson	....	consulting producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Mark Kadin	....	co-executive producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Graham McKay	....	associate producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Grant Rickard	....	story producer (6 episodes, 2008)
David Roma	....	senior producer / producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Kathleen Shugrue	....	co-producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Jill Snyder	....	story producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Paul Storck	....	story producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Matthew Testa	....	producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Isabel Vega	....	co-producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Emma Webster	....	senior producer (6 episodes, 2008)
Alison Ellwood	....	supervising producer (2 episodes, 2005)
Keith Hoffman	....	supervising producer (2 episodes, 2005)
Carolyn McEwen	....	segment producer (2 episodes, 2005)
Ellen Raphael	....	line producer (2 episodes, 2005)
Kaarina Cleverley Roberto	....	associate producer (2 episodes, 2005)
Eric Salat	....	segment producer (2 episodes, 2005)
Mary Belton	....	segment producer / story producer (unknown episodes)
Mala Chapple	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)
Dave Hamilton	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)
Jill Hutchinson	....	associate producer (unknown episodes)
Mark Koops	....	co-executive producer (unknown episodes)
Mark Landsman	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Kim MacQuarrie	....	story producer (unknown episodes)
Monica Martino	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Chris Nee	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Stacey Offman	....	supervising producer (unknown episodes)
Fred Pichel	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Kate Richter	....	co-producer (unknown episodes)
Jonathan Ruane	....	story producer (unknown episodes)
Michael Selditch	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Angela Victor	....	associate producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Jeff Cardoni		(12 episodes, 2005-2006)

Series Cinematography by
Sarah Levy		(3 episodes, 2005-2008)
Brian Danitz		(unknown episodes)
Mike Desjarlais		(unknown episodes)
John Mans		(unknown episodes)
Bob Maraist		(unknown episodes)
Gary Russell		(unknown episodes)

Series Film Editing by
Maris Berzins		(6 episodes, 2008)
Diana DeCilio		(6 episodes, 2008)
Eileen Finklestein		(6 episodes, 2008)
Greg Finton		(6 episodes, 2008)
Yaffa Lerea		(6 episodes, 2008)
Jillian Twigger Moul		(3 episodes, 2008)
Andy Robertson		(unknown episodes)

Series Casting by
Morgan Fahey		(6 episodes, 2008)
Jaye Fenderson		(6 episodes, 2008)
Chad Hillman		(4 episodes, 2005)
Nisa Ahmad		(2 episodes, 2005)
Carmen Cuba		(unknown episodes)

Series Makeup Department
Abby Lyle	....	key makeup artist (2 episodes, 2008)

Series Production Management
Rita Doumar	....	unit production manager (6 episodes, 2006)
Nathan Rotmensz	....	post-production supervisor (2 episodes, 2005)
Sean Gordon	....	production manager (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Lain Morgan	....	sound mixer (7 episodes, 2005-2008)
Brian Whitlock	....	sound mixer (7 episodes, 2006-2008)
Tomm Dauenhauer	....	sound mixer (6 episodes, 2008)
Jonathan Ingalls	....	sound mixer (6 episodes, 2008)
Jeff Leemon	....	sound mixer (6 episodes, 2008)
Chad Grochowski	....	sound mixer (2 episodes, 2005)
Brian Foley	....	sound mixer (unknown episodes)
Jorge Rivas	....	sound mixer (unknown episodes)
James Stein	....	sound mixer (unknown episodes)
Holly Sweet	....	additional sound (unknown episodes)
Ted Thacker	....	additional sound (unknown episodes)

Series Visual Effects by
Scott Coleman	....	graphics and animation: ACME Filmworks (2 episodes, 2005)
Pernille D'Avolio	....	graphics and animation: ACME Filmworks (2 episodes, 2005)
Ron Diamond	....	graphics and animation: ACME Filmworks (2 episodes, 2005)
Michael O'Donnell	....	graphics and animation: ACME Filmworks (2 episodes, 2005)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Mia Barker	....	additional photographer (1 episode, 2005)
Kevin Early	....	additional photographer (1 episode, 2005)
Greg Glomb	....	additional photographer (1 episode, 2005)
Jose Luzquinos	....	additional photographer (1 episode, 2005)
John Roher	....	additional photographer (1 episode, 2005)
John P. Tarver	....	camera operator: additional photography (1 episode, 2005)
Tom Waldron	....	additional photographer (1 episode, 2005)
R.J. Bain	....	additional photographer (1 episode, 2006)
Bryan Donnell	....	additional cinematographer (1 episode, 2008)
Colleen Laffey	....	camera operator (1 episode, 2008)
Sandy Chandler	....	additional photographer (unknown episodes)
Doug Hyun	....	still photographer (unknown episodes)
Mark Whaley	....	additional photographer (unknown episodes)

Series Animation Department
Pat Smith	....	animation director (1 episode, 2005)
Cameron Teisher	....	animator (1 episode, 2008)

Series Casting Department
Stephanie McCanles	....	casting associate (6 episodes, 2006)
Carmen Cuba	....	casting producer (2 episodes, 2005)
Chad Hillman	....	casting associate (2 episodes, 2005)
Allan Johnson	....	casting associate (2 episodes, 2005)
Lea McMullen	....	casting associate (2 episodes, 2005)
Kat Ogden	....	casting associate (2 episodes, 2005)
Jonathan Putnam	....	casting associate (2 episodes, 2005)
Abigail Golden	....	casting associate (unknown episodes)

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Esther Pak	....	wardrobe supervisor (1 episode, 2005)
Esther Park	....	wardrobe supervisor (1 episode, 2005)

Series Editorial Department
Peter Bruno	....	post-production coordinator (6 episodes, 2005)
Noah Musser	....	on-line editor (6 episodes, 2005)
Robert Condol	....	on-line editor (6 episodes, 2006)
Ove Langevei	....	post-production coordinator (6 episodes, 2006)
Dave Maguire	....	colorist / on-line editor (6 episodes, 2006)
Jason Hagen	....	post-production coordinator (6 episodes, 2007-2008)
Mickey McLaughlin	....	post-production coordinator (4 episodes, 2005)
Phillip Pableo	....	lead assistant editor (2 episodes, 2005)
Darren Kloomok	....	additional editor (2 episodes, 2008)
Luis Ortiz Guillen	....	assistant editor (unknown episodes)
Mark D. Lee	....	assistant editor (unknown episodes)
Lara Mazzawi	....	associate editor (unknown episodes)
Amber McKenzie	....	on-line assistant (unknown episodes)

Series Music Department
Margaret Yen	....	music supervisor (2 episodes, 2005)

Series Other crew
Thomas Carmichael	....	production associate (6 episodes, 2005)
Justin Eldreth	....	production coordinator (6 episodes, 2005)
R.J. Bain	....	researcher (6 episodes, 2006)
Shaifali Marsh	....	production coordinator (6 episodes, 2006)
Diana Nguyen	....	development associate / production associate (5 episodes, 2005)
Katie Moran	....	associate story editor / assistant story editor (3 episodes, 2005)
Kristi Burns	....	stock footage researcher (2 episodes, 2005)
Jeremy Chilnick	....	assistant: Morgan Spurlock (2 episodes, 2005)
Mari Colabelli	....	production coordinator (2 episodes, 2005)
Colin Devenish	....	researcher (2 episodes, 2005)
Justin Dillon	....	assistant: H.T. Owens (2 episodes, 2005)
Ruth Fertig	....	researcher (2 episodes, 2005)
Karma Franklin	....	logger (2 episodes, 2005)
Daniel Hopps	....	logger (2 episodes, 2005)
Jeanne Kowalski	....	production accountant (2 episodes, 2005)
Dani Michaeli	....	researcher (2 episodes, 2005)
Jill Snyder	....	assistant: R.J. Snyder / production associate (2 episodes, 2005)
Chris Stangl	....	logger (2 episodes, 2005)
Deborah Taylor	....	assistant production coordinator (2 episodes, 2005)
Dickson Thirima	....	production assistant (2 episodes, 2005)
Dan Tischler	....	assistant: Ben Silverman (2 episodes, 2005)
Robert Tonkin	....	director of operations / director of studio operations (2 episodes, 2005)
Roxana Altamirano	....	story associate (unknown episodes)
Geoff Ernst	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)
Abigail Golden	....	story associate (unknown episodes)
Alexandra Lambrinidis	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)
Eric Leven	....	story associate (unknown episodes)
Stephanie McCanles	....	story associate (unknown episodes)
Lance Ripka	....	field assistant (unknown episodes)
Patrick Roche-Sowa	....	story associate (unknown episodes)
Reneira Wolff	....	production accountant (unknown episodes)

Series Thanks
Ted Baker	....	special thanks (2 episodes, 2005)

Production Companies

• Actual Reality Pictures
• Bluebush Productions
• Borderline TV
• Reveille Productions
• Warrior Poets

Distributors

• More4 (2005) (UK) (TV)
• WoWow (2006-) (Japan) (TV)
• fX Network (2005) (USA) (TV)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Actual Reality Pictures

Quotes:

Reverend Dr. Penny Davis: [talking about homosexuality and the Bible] I think God cares more about what we do with our resources than what we do with our genitalia.

Movie Connections:

Spin off from Super Size Me (2004)

Hosed down with political correctness and best taken with a grain of salt, but Spurlock makes "30 Days" a fun trip over the reality fence

Network: FX; Genre: Documentary, Reality; Content Rating: TV-PG - MA (occasionally strong language); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);

Season Reviewed: 2 seasons

At this point, after "The Shield", "Nip/Tuck" and "Rescue Me", I am putty in the palm of FX's hand. HBO and Showtime - look out. This is the network that is poised to become the new home of quality television. "30 Days" is the network's first step away from scripted dramas and it is a generally successful addition to the line-up.

Created and hosted by Morgan Spurlock, this reality series and something of a spin-off from his entertaining, well made obesity exploration documentary "Super-Size Me". Each week Spurlock finds somebody who is willing to immerse themselves in someone else's life for 30 days - somebody who, like the ABC British remake "Wife Swap", is their polar opposite or is someone the media has told us that person should dislike. A Christian lives as a Muslim, a Christian lives as a gay man, gas-guzzling SUV lovers live off the grid and a man who lost his job to outsourcing takes takes one in India. See the pattern here? Even when we do meet an atheist, who wants "God" taken out of the pledge, living with a peaceful religious family (did Spurlock read my season 1 review?), the show flips its formula around and takes her side. We didn't need to see Spurlock's ACLU card to know where he stands.

But like in "Super-Size Me", Spurlock is fair and he doesn't look down on the participants or lecture to us too horribly. He comes off like more of an "awe shucks" inquisitor then a pit-bull hell bent on proving a hypothesis. Even his human subjects are sympathetic, if only because of how hard they are trying to make this unenviable situation work. That fairness and authenticity makes "30 Days" almost indistinguishably from every other "reality" show. It isn't trying to put something over on us or humiliate the participants. That is refreshing - which is quite the commentary on the state of reality TV.

The effect Spurlock's perspective does have on the show is that many of the experiments really only make sense in a vacuum. There is no explanation as to why people are on minimum wage or why Americans believe what they do about Islam, just that it happens and we need to fix it somehow. All episodes end with the same bleeding-heart message of tolerance and diversity and the two opposites becoming close friends - which is predictable. I'm not asking for "balance" here, just a little more imagination in the topics.

In the best episodes, the experiments put us into a squeamish fear for the health of the subjects - such as "Outsourcing", "Binge Drinking Mom" and the best, "Minimum Wage" where Spurlock and his fiancé, Alex, themselves hit the streets of Detroit in what becomes a real trial for survival. "Minimum Wage" is exceptional TV. It was my hope that the rest of the season could match its intensity. But in the 2nd episode, an experiment to debunk hormone therapy, the concept is changed up all together and becomes more like "Penn & Teller: Bullshit".

With many of the results predictable, "Days" isn't about how it ends,but about the process - and actually getting to see how this life change slowly effects people is a quite a bit of fun. It is here when the show makes the same fundamental mistake that every other reality show does. As exceptional as the packaging is, the fact remains: real people aren't very interesting. The participants are admirable in their guts and Spurlock finds fairly interesting people to go through this, but even they are unable to carry the show for the whole hour.

Fortunately, Spurlock has planned for this. He uses the old documentary stand-by of animated sequences to move through quick educational vignettes and history lessons. Nothing profound, but they are informative enough to get everybody up to speed. Spurlock himself also pops up intermittently amid the experiments to do little experiments of his own, like going down to Mexico and trying to buy his own HGH or interviewing a parent whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver. The show comes back to life when Spurlock, or his fiancé (a game gal if there ever was one), appear back on the screen. Spurlock is a great host/tour guide: energetic, creative, funny, clever - all the things Michael Moore isn't. He pokes fun at his own mustache in the single funniest line of the season.

"30 Days" should be taken with a grain of salt and has clearly been sanitized for our politically correct protection (his depiction of media sacred cows as the gay man and the American Muslim is strictly by the book), it achieves what is no doubt the goal - to spark debate and discussion at home or at work and have a little fun in the process.

The show is restrained emotionally. On one hand it never degrades into sap, on the other hand Spurlock doesn't go full force and give us an emotional punch in the face some stories probably need. On the other hand it isn't manipulative. This is a slight show, but Spurlock makes it work. Plug it back into the reality/documentary genre it belongs in and it looks even better. I hope the show returns and would like to see Spurlock given the chance to really get creative with the experiments. Twist the knife a bit. The potential is there for a great product.

* * * /4