http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/origina ... /main.html

Anyone else going to watch this? I think James Hetfield's a pretty cool guy.
I think the Gay/Straight and the Muslim shows look good. Should be hilarious.

Why is it that FOX gives most of their good shows over to FX? It really sounds interesting, but they could have even gone further with it. Most of this stuff sounds pretty tame.

I hadn't read the Drunk Mom one. That should be funny.

Yeah that one will be interesting. I like that the intention of the show seems to be to make people look at a different perspective, without exploiting the people in it. Who am I kidding, it is just entertaining exploitation, and I like it.

Well, it is exploitation, but how many producers would put themselves through the stuff themselves? He did the McDonald's thing and he lives on minimum wage for the first episode. Other than that "off the grid" episode, that's arguably the hardest one.

Yeah I wouldn't want to do that for a month. But what I really want to see, is for him to be homeless or a begger for a month. That would make some fucked up tv.

i wish i had FX

It looks interesting so I'll probably check out the first episode and see what it's all about.

The reason fox puts all their "good" shows over on FX is because since it is cable, they can get away with more than they could had they put it on regular netowrk fox. For example, they wouldnt be able to use the language, or probably do most of the stuff they do on the shield if it were on Fox. Just think how amazing 24 would be if they had it on FX...

Here's a review from Entertainment Weekly - Sounds Pretty Good!

Amiable of nature and handlebarred of mouth, Morgan Spurlock was the darling of Sundance 2004 due to his documentary Super Size Me, in which he spent 30 days on an all-McDonald's diet and reaped the repellent consequences. The film became an unusual Oscar nominee — part diligent reporting, part character piece — with the unassuming Spurlock as its star.

With his new FX series, 30 Days, Spurlock and exec producer R.J. Cutler (The War Room) spin out that formula, daring people to live a certain life for a month and see what insights arise. The debut episode, clearly inspired by Barbara Ehrenreich's investigative memoir, Nickel and Dimed, has Spurlock and his vegan-chef fiancée, Alex Jamieson (his charming Super Size costar), trying to survive on minimum wage. The show combines ugly, sharp facts (minimum wage has been stuck at $5.15/hour since 1997) with ugly, sharper reality. Plopped in Ohio, Spurlock and Jamieson share a bus pass, work several jobs, live in an ant-infested, freezing dump, and still barely get by.

The episode is full of heartfelt moments: Jamieson, buried in winter wear and worn with work, weeps when she discovers a free store for people in need. ''Human beings can be so incredibly wonderful, and sometimes I forget that,'' she sniffles. But the vagaries of a working-poor life are unnerving: Halfway through the 30 days, the two find themselves squabbling over whether to splurge on 60-cent pastries. Ultimately, the uninsured duo are undone by a pair of doctor's visits, with such obscenities as a $40 Ace bandage.

Spurlock continues as the host of subsequent episodes. Thirty-something family man Scott embarks on an antiaging regimen that includes myriad supplements and shots of testosterone and growth hormones; Dave, a devoted if blinkered Christian, lives with a Muslim family for a month. While Spurlock, with his down-home demeanor, has been compared to Michael Moore, his is a mellower kind of documentary. 30 Days has minimal money shots — no intentionally combative gimmickry here. There are even cartoons to explain things like, say, the differences between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. It's anomalous in this day of Moore's staged antics and docuseries like Bravo's Project Greenlight and Showbiz Moms & Dads, which are cast with the most combustible friction makers possible. Grade: B+

here is my problem with the minimum wage thingy.

he was on o&a today, and they mentioned they had a $1200 medical bill. yes its atrocious, but how can that be a real depiction of how it would affect a minimum wage family? They, and the hospital knew full well the bill would be paid... A.) Not nearly the stress that an actual minimum wage family would deal with, B.) The Hospital probably could have guessed that the guy walking around with a cameraman might MIGHT have the money to pay the bill..

and how many times do you have to pay rent a month? in one 30 day period, there would have only been one month of all these bills. far from an accurate representation of the stress minimum wage families go through.

I watched it and thought it was pretty good.

Makes me feel lucky to have (what I thought was) a low paying job.

That was great. I can't wait to see what happens next week.

I guess not every episode is going to feature Morgan actually doing something? It seems like next week is about a different guy.

If you look at the website, this is the only episode filmed so far that features him.

This is what worries me. I liked that episode, but a lot of what I enjoyed was him and his fiance. They're this cute, funny, in-love couple and that adds to the show. I don't think I'll like it was much if the people aren't as likeable. I don't forsee liking the next episode.

But I guess he can't keep abusing himself and his fiance (seriously, my wife would have walked upon the announcement that we were living over a crackhouse), and it's not like he would have as much to learn in the gay episode or the Muslim episode as the people he throws into them.

As for the hospital, I was thinking the same thing, but what I came to, is you tell the hospital to bill you, and they'll bill you, so they don't care. And the lack of stress, well, yeah, but that can be applied to the whole episode. Yeah it sucks to have no money, but you know you get to go home on the first of the month.

They didn't show them giving the furniture back to the free store. I hope they did.

EDIT: I also think I enjoyed it b/c it was in Columbus, Ohio, and I recognized all of the places they went in and out of.

pretty good, but i missed a bit of it since good eats is on at the same time.
obviously a lot of "yeah, but" parts that some of you have mentioned, but i think the point of the show was made nonetheless.

hopefully Spurlock will star in more episodes. If they have a couple in between the ones that he personally does that would be alright. But to have him do the premiere episode and then not do anymore during the life of the show will suck.

I actually really liked it. I wish I could say it was an eye opener, but it really wasn't. If my parents kicked me out tomorrow, I couldn't even DREAM of an ant infested apartment over a crackhouse in the badlands.

I'm looking forward to the next couple of eps but it's still a 'we'll see' situation as far as whether it makes my regular rotation.

BTW knuckles - Good Eats rocks!

You have good taste in TV. I just can't figure out why you watch Farscape.

Don't frell with my Farscape, man. Out. Of. Bounds.