Louis Theroux's Shows and Books
Here you can find information and clips on all of Louis' programmes and books. Browse through the catagories listed to the right of the web page.
Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends
In Weird Weekends (1998–2000), Theroux followed marginal, mostly American subcultures like survivalists, Black nationalists, White supremacists and porn stars, often by living among or close to the people involved. Often, his documentary method subtly exposed the contradictions or farcical elements of some seriously-held beliefs. Theroux himself describes the aim of the series as
“ Setting out to discover the genuinely odd in the most ordinary setting. To me, it's almost a privilege to be welcomed into these communities and to shine a light on them and, maybe, through my enthusiasm, to get people to reveal more of themselves than they may have intended. The show is laughing at me, adrift in their world, as much as at them. I don't have to play up that stuff. I'm not a matinee idol disguised as a nerd. ”When Louis Met…
In When Louis Met… (2000–2002), Theroux accompanied a different British celebrity in each programme as they went about their day-to-day business, interviewing them about their lives and experiences as he did so.
His episode about the DJ and charity fundraiser Sir Jimmy Savile When Louis Met Jimmy was voted one of the top fifty documentaries of all time in a survey by Britain's Channel 4.
In When Louis Met the Hamiltons, the disgraced Tory MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine were arrested following false allegations of indecent assault during the course of filming.
In When Louis Met Max Clifford, Max Clifford tried to set Louis up. However, it backfired when Max Clifford was caught lying, as the crew was still recording his live microphone during a conversation. After this celebrity series concluded, a retrospective was aired, called Living with Louis.
He was meant to do a similar programme with Michael Jackson before Martin Bashir completed his documentary for Channel 4, but it was cancelled.[citation needed]
Louis Theroux's BBC 2 Specials
In these special programmes (2003), Theroux returned to American themes, working at feature-length, this time with a more natural tone. In March 2006, he signed a new deal with the BBC to make ten films over the course of three years.
On April 1, 2010, during an interview to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Theroux announced that one of the upcoming documentaries will be shot in Israel, and will follow the Israeli Settlers. Answering the question "Have you considered making an episode of your show in Israel?", Theroux replied: "More than considered. In 2010 I will make an episode about teenage settlers." This episode is named "Ultra Zionists" and was broadcast on 03 February 2011.
Book - The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures
His first book, The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures, was published in Britain in 2005. In this book, Theroux returns to America to find out what has happened in the lives of some of the people he featured in his television programmes since he last saw them.
