British television presenter Louis Theroux has presented a number of documentaries since 1998. His work includes studies of unusual and taboo subcultures, crime and the justice system, and celebrities. He also acted as a correspondent for the TV Nation documentary series.[1]
Louis follows several people who believe in UFOs. One of these is a man called Thor Templar, the self-titled "Lord Commander of the Earth Protectorate" who claims to have killed more than twenty aliens.
1.3
"Porn"
29 January 1998
This episode offers a look at very different sides of the porn industry, as Theroux interviews both male and female porn stars. He reveals the problems a lot of porn actors face, be it not getting a job in straight porn and therefore having to do gay porn, or not getting an erection when it is needed.
1.4
"Survivalists"
5 February 1998
In Idaho, Theroux meets military enthusiasts and right-wing patriots who are preparing for a global catastrophe, including trips to survivalists' store Safetrek and a mountain refuge for conspiracy theorists called Almost Heaven. Theroux also visits the Aryan Nation Church and helps to build a straw-bale home. The episode focuses on the survivalism movement and communities formed around it. That several self-proclaimed survivalists were also hippies and environmentalists is a recurring theme.
1.5
Louis Theroux's Weird Christmas
23 December 1998
Theroux invites someone from each of the four episodes of series 1 to New York for Christmas.
Theroux attempts to become a presenter on Florida's Home Shopping Network TV channel and meets Anthony Sullivan. He also meets people who invent, sell and make a fortune from products such as the Win Gym.
2.2
"Swingers"
26 May 1999
Theroux meets a couple from Southern California who host swinging parties. He visits one of these to find out what drives couples to want to swap partners. This programme also offers a brief look into other kinds of swinging through an organisation that has a database of members that are rated on a scale of 1 to 10. Under this system, people rated highly are invited to exclusive parties intended to keep out unattractive, socially awkward, or otherwise undesirable people.
2.3
"Black Nationalism"
2 June 1999
Theroux goes to Harlem in New York to meet its proponents, and meets the Reverend Al Sharpton, the main point of contact in the black nationalist movement. Theroux also meets Khalid Abdul Muhammad, dubbed by the media 'the most dangerous man in America' and visits the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, who believe that blacks are the true Israelites and that all English monarchs until early modern times were black. Theroux also joins Al Sharpton on a march on Wall Street to protest at the shooting by New York police of Amadou Diallo, who was shot 19 times.
2.4
"Demolition Derby"
9 June 1999
Theroux has to overcome his nerves to enter a demolition derby in car-mad Michigan.
2.5
"Off-Off Broadway"
15 June 1999
Theroux meets the hordes of out-of-work actors in New York as they try to land a part – and even goes on an audition himself – for a job on a Norwegian cruise ship, in front of Craig Revel Horwood.
2.6
"Wrestling"
6 July 1999
Theroux takes a look at different types of wrestling from the high-profile WCW to low-profile amateurs organizing events in their spare time. He also visits the WCW Power Plant, a training facility where some of the WCW wrestlers started out. The training he receives there from DeWayne Bruce shows him that some wrestlers will not break kayfabe (the illusion of fiction being fact) and will take exception when their profession's authenticity is questioned.
Theroux meets a Las Vegas hypnotist who claims he can make dreams come true and meets a California man who teaches chat-up techniques.
3.2
"India: Enlightenment"
2 October 2000
Theroux travels to India to witness Westerners seeking enlightenment. In Goa he meets 57-year-old American astrologer (and former psychology professor) "Deepak" who studies meditation. He moves on to meet Mike, who is a follower of Swami Ganapathi Sachchidananda, and Amma who claims spiritual powers through hugging people. He joins Amma on a pilgrimage with 400 believers on their three-month tour of India.
3.3
"Whites"
9 October 2000
Theroux meets Afrikaner separatists who dream of building cultural enclaves in post-apartheid South Africa, including leader Eugène Terre'Blanche.
3.4
"Body Building"
16 October 2000
Theroux travels to California, home of the body beautiful, to see if he can join the world of extreme body building. After working out with Guy Grundy, a leading amateur, he soon realises he is not cut out to be a muscle man and goes off in search of another role in the bodybuilding world. Theroux travels to Charles Peeple's farm in Connecticut, where Peeple has transformed his farm into a playboy mansion for female body builders. While here, Theroux gets a part in a female muscle film being made at the farm.
3.5
"Looking for Love"
23 October 2000
Theroux visits a Bangkok marriage agency where Western men meet Thai brides.
3.6
"Rap"
30 October 2000
Theroux travels to America's South to have a look at the gangsta rap scene known as the "Dirty South". He starts his own Gangsta rap, having a CD cover designed for him as well as getting the rappers Reece and Bigelow to write a song for him to perform on a rap radio show. Other parts include him interviewing pimp turned rapper Mello T, as well as rap superstar Master P.
Theroux visits his former childhood hero—73-year-old Jimmy Savile, the miner who became a TV and radio star. Theroux also talks briefly about the allegations of paedophilia against Savile before the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal broke after his death.
Theroux follows the former ToryMPNeil Hamilton and his wife Christine Hamilton as they try to make a living as "objects of curiosity". The film features Theroux on the sofa with a tipsy Christine, and follows the pair when they are arrested over an alleged sexual scandal (both were later cleared).
A prickly encounter with the Conservative politician Ann Widdecombe, in which Theroux upsets her by asking about her possibly non-existent sex life and hears about her love of poetry and cats.
2.2
When Louis Met Chris Eubank
12 March 2002
Theroux joins the ex-boxer Chris Eubank at home, in the ring and on a trip to buy jodhpurs. Eubank attempts a tongue twister and pontificates on being a role model for children.
2.3
When Louis Met Keith Harris and Orville in Panto
19 March 2002
Theroux meets the ventriloquist Keith Harris who no longer enjoys the TV light entertainment limelight but is still earning a good living. He has a flashy car, an ex-model partner, a large home and a role in Crewe's pantomime.
Produced exclusively for pay TV channel UK Horizons. Jimmy, Paul and Debbie, The Hamiltons, Chris Eubank and Keith Harris talk about being interviewed by Theroux. Theroux also discusses how he felt those four shows went and what the subjects were like to spend time with. The show is interspersed with clips from the shows.
Ex-prostitute Susan Austin and her ex-client and now husband, Lance Gilman, run America's newest legal brothel – The Wild Horse Ranch in Reno, Nevada. In a three-week sojourn, Theroux gets to know the couple and meets their customers. He also hears the stories of the working women.
Theroux spends time in one of the most notorious sections of Miami County Jail: the fifth and sixth floor of 'Main Jail', where many of the most volatile inmates are incarcerated.
Theroux goes deeper into the jail system and meets an inmate facing a possible death sentence. He also follows a group of younger inmates who have escaped prison by pleading guilty and agreeing to attend a four-month military style boot camp.
Theroux travels to one of the most innovative autism schools of its kind – the DLC Warren in New Jersey – opened in 2007 at a cost of $54 million. There he finds out how specialised intervention can help both the children and the families that care for them.
Fifteen years after documenting the world of male porn performers in Los Angeles, Theroux returns to find a business struggling with the deluge of free porn online.
Theroux immerses himself in the world of Ohio's State Psychiatric Hospitals, meeting patients who have committed crimes - at times horrifically violent - while in the grip of severe mental illness.
Louis embeds himself in an American community (Huntington, West Virginia) devastated by heroin abuse.
2
Sex Trafficking in Houston
15 October 2017
Investigating sex workers and their pimps, Theroux uncovers the dark underbelly of Houston, Texas.
3
Murder in Milwaukee
22 October 2017
Theroux spends time with the Milwaukee Police Department as they try to tackle the high rate of homicide and meets the residents affected by gun crime.
Life on the Edge is a series released during the social distancing restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK in 2020. It follows Theroux, in his home, discussing the content and making of many of his past documentaries, including Weird Weekends, interspersed with clips and interviews with participants.
Forbidden America is a three-part series focusing on social media use in the United States among several groups, including the alt-right, rappers and pornographic film actors.
Louis interviews members of the trap rap community in Florida about the controversies and criminal records that the artists have accrued, including an interview with 9lokkNine, prior to his trial for attempted murder.
A documentary film about Scientology in which Theroux teams up with former senior church official Mark Rathbun, the film takes an unconventional approach, after the Church of Scientology refused to cooperate in its making. It features actors "auditioning" for parts playing high-profile Scientologists in scenes recreating accounts from ex-members about incidents involving senior church management. Initially released on 7 October 2016 in the UK, and 3 March 2017 in the US.
