Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends

Anyone who hasn't seen Louis Theroux in his Weird Weekends series is in for a massive treat. I've just been through two four-hour DVDs from the video shop and it's a delight from start to finish. The weirdest thing was the episode with Jimmy Saville, who really is weird. That's Weird with a capital W.

Louis Theroux is such a charming, disarming sort of guy that you can't help but love him. He has this naïve, simplistic manner and way of asking questions, like a five year old set free into a world of adults, none more so than the Swingers episode. And the South Africa episode… and the Survivalists episode… and so on.

My favourite is the Gangsta Rap Weird Weekend where Louis tries to become mean and nasty, a ghetto gangsta rapper; somehow, it just doesn't fit, although it's great fun doing his best to be angry, thinking up rap songs on the cuff. He explains how, in the shower, he thought up some lyrics for his rap debut: 'Jiggle, Jiggle, I like you more than a little… do you maybe want to fiddle?' Can a gangsta rappa drive a Fiat? We get loads of questions like that.

In the weekend with the Hamiltons, Louis stumbles upon the bizarre rape allegations arrest of Neil and Christine Hamilton, a major scoop for the show as Louis lands up filming the Hamiltons being filmed by the press and TV. He becomes news himself in his role as a documentary reporter/journalist.

I'm not sure about Jimmy Saville. I think he is definitely too weird even for Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends series.

Great drama. Louis builds a great rapport with the subjects. Love the raw honesty in Louis approach

I'm really surprised that nobody has left any comments on here yet. Really, this show is one of the best ones on T.V. right now. He gets involved with the most outrageous American situations and exposes their stupidity. I know, nothing new, right? But the way he does it is amazing! Unlike Tom Green or any other comedian going out for laughs, he doesn't make himself look stupid. He adapts to his environment and makes the people in it look idiotic without letting them know that they're being portrayed in a bad light. He can do one episode on a White Supremacy camp one day and another about a Black Power group in New York City the next. He really must be one of the best and most interesting reporters in world today.

I have to agree - This is a gem. Where he finds these people I don't know, but there is nothing else quite like Louis.

There was a two DVD set available in the UK - not sure if it's still available, contains for episodes along with some extra's. It's worth chasing.

I am a big fan of Penn and Teller's Bulls**t! but now that I have discovered Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends, I believe that Penn and Teller may have gotten some ideas for their show from Theroux's. One thing that I kind of like better about Louis's show is that when he interacts with "unusual" people, he doesn't really judge them or treat them as idiots or other names as P&T do. Also, P&T often focus too much on libertarianism which sometimes can be a bit annoying, and Louis does not seem to have a particular political agenda. Something interesting too is that Louis really gets involved with his subjects, and since he has a good attitude, it seems they like him and tend to be open about their beliefs. It's a shame that he only did relatively few episodes...