Best known for the documentary film Super Size Me in which he demonstrated the health effects of McDonald's food by eating nothing but McDonalds three times a day, every day, for 30 days, Spurlock is also the executive producer and star of the reality television series 30 Days.
In case you are not familiar with this show, the premise is that each episode features a person or group of people spending 30 days immersing themselves in a particular lifestyle with which they are unfamiliar. For example, a Christian living as a Muslim, a heterosexual living with a homosexual person, a Minuteman living with immigrants, etc. During each episode, Spurlock discusses the relevant social issues involved with the participants.
Additionally, Morgan spends 30 days living another lifestyle as well. In the premiere episode of the first season, ‘Minimum Wage’ Spurlock and his fiancée Alex lived for 30 days in the Bottoms neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio, earning minimum wage, with no access to outside funds.
In the second season finale, Spurlock spent 25 days locked in a Henrico County, Virginia jail to experience life as an inmate. He did not complete the entire 30 days in jail because the majority of inmates in the state of Virginia serve 85% of the sentence, so once Spurlock hit that benchmark, he was released.
The episode we screened last night was the first episode of the third season. Entitled ‘Working in a Coal Mine’ it was filmed in Bolt, West Virginia, roughly 18 miles from the town of Beckley, where Spurlock was raised prior to leaving for New York. Morgan lived in the home of Dale and Sandy Lusk. Dale comes from a family of miners and is a supervisor in the mine where Morgan worked.
Morgan was very impressed that I not only knew where his home town of Beckly, West Virginia is, but that I had been there as well. (Thanks Dad, I know those family summer road trips would pay off in the end!)
The event was held at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association's awesome screening room, and Morgan, Dale and Sandy were there for the reception as well as a Q&A session after the screening.
David and I love watching 30 Days and have been fans since the first episode, so it was a real treat to meet Morgan. Dale and Sandy are great too, I had no idea they'd be there and I'm glad to have met them.
Morgan, myself and Dale
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