DVD Review: 30 Days – Season One

By April MacIntyre Jul 15, 2006, 17:47 GMT

From Morgan Spurlock, the Academy Award nominated writer, director, and star of the hit film Supersize Me, comes Thirty Days, the intelligent and innovative TV show that dares to ask: "Do we really know what it’s like to see the world through our neighbors’ eyes?" Explore some of America’s most pressing social issues by following the lives of ordinary people who agree to live well-outside their comfort zones for thirty ...more

What would you do if you could live someone else's life for 30 days?  A better question might be how would you handle it if you had to?

20th Century Fox and FX Network have released 30 Days, an original FX series now on DVD that grabs those questions by the ankles and turns it upside down, shaking  all the hidden secrets, problems and challenges out for our full view.

The FX series was created by Morgan Spurlock (Academy Award nominated documentaries for Super Size Me) his own grueling thirty day endurance test detailing the physical tolls of a consistent fast food diet on the human mind and body.

Spurlock carries the original movie premise into this unique series that gets under the skin of whatever situation Spurlock injects himself into.

Social issues are met head on as Spurlock and his trooper of a fiancée transform their comfortable existence, immersing themselves in lives that we know exist, but maybe haven't given too much thought too.

Spurlock seeks out 30 day increments of other people's actual lives.  A devout Christian from West Virginia adopts a Muslim lifestyle while residing in an Islamic Michigan community; a straight Army Reservist moves to San Francisco's Castro section living with a gay man; a 43-year-old mom becomes a binge drinker to show her college bound daughter the effects of her drinking. 

Spurlock himself becomes a minimum wage work trying to survive, and shadows a 34 year old man trying to recapture his youth in a startling anti-aging segment that exposes a growing medical fix to reverse aging by injecting testosterone and human growth hormones, and other snake oil remedies to aging.

Morgan Spurlock is known for taking on controversial subjects, and posing us the questions, could you live this life, walk in these shoes, or rethink you own biases towards certain groups of people? 

The answers are not easy and there are no neat, happy endings here.  This series is much more complex and sophisticated than anything you have seen on network television.   This 30 Day journey Spurlock take us on is reality television at its highest art form.  

This DVD is a must own for anyone who cares about where our country is headed, what our citizens face and what we can do collectively to improve the quality and course of our American lives.

Unlike master documentarian Michael Moore (who relishes exposing wrongs and contradictions) Spurlock's video diary foray has more of an educational and compassionate bent to his script and his story lines.

In the case of his "Minimum Wage" 30 Days, this is a video segment that should be drafted into the curriculum of all American schools and be mandatory viewing for middle school children.  

It parallels "Nickel and Dimed", by author Barbara Ehrenreich – her gritty diary of sobering truths recounting her three month life as a minimum wage worker.  “Minimum Wage" will educate all children to the realities of not being prepared educationally for their future.  

Spurlock's best commentaries accompany "Muslims in America" and "Straight Man in a Gay World" which providing additional context behind the scenes, and showing Spurlock's field work had some lasting effects in the relationships he forged.

The first season consists of six episodes. The two-disc set is filled with lots of good material. Bonus features include four commentary tracks from the producers and participants and additional footage from the personal video diaries maintained by the show's stars.

The 270 minutes in length, 2-Disc DVD features additional audio commentary on the "Minimum Wage," "Anti-Aging," "Muslims and America," and "Straight Man in a Gay World" segments on Disc one and two. A "Diary-Cam" for each episode.  English/Spanish language options.

30 Days – Season One is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.