Grounded: new Louis Theroux podcast

[thugler]

I'm really loving this retrospective series. People are rightly complaining that there is a lot of recycled material, but I don't mind because it's nice just to hear voiceover from today's Louis put over the footage from 20 years ago. It makes it clearer what the intention of these documentaries was. He sort of pulls out the essence of what he was trying to say by curating the footage and reliving the encounters this way: for example it is more clear that, essentially, Louis is anti-porn and sees the people in the industry as people to be pitied.

Yeah am enjoying it, I like how he's not necessarily focused on the obvious ones. Never expected to see half of these ones included.

[Malcy]

Me and a few of my mates used to love Hip Hop Connection. The extraordinary MC Jason Squires, from the "Bite Back" letters page, always gave us a laugh or two.

EDIT: I spent the last hour going through some old issues at https://www.undergroundunited.de/category/magazinesfanzines/alphabetical-list-mags/ but sadly not all of them have the letters page scanned. Like the person who did it assumed that people would prefer to read articles on bands and reviews, and not some guy trolling the readership with his ludicrous rhymes.

That will keep me occupied! Thanks for that.

[Jackson K Pollock]

Much like the original documentaries, I found last night's retrospective almost unwatchably dull - and I say that as a fully paid-up member of BLM and Antifa.

I get that Louis presumably wanted to do something more 'worthy' after Weird Weekends, but it's a shame as having heard his audiobook recently, as well as his appearances on the Adam Buxton podcast of course, he is absolutely hilarious when he wants to be.

I guess I selfishly want him to be that Louis more often.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Yeah, last night's bored the shite out of me. How many are left now? I feel like he's skimmed over the more fun ones then gone onto his more serious ones. I wanted less of him with his grim face on wearing a bulletproof vest and more of him getting shouted at by Sarge. I reckon he's sort of disowned that earlier part of his career as not "worthy" enough.

[imitationleather]

There's one episode left and I suspect it will be almost entirely about the fucking Phelps family.

[Retinend]

What would be so wrong with that?

[imitationleather]

There's already been three Louis Theroux documentaries about them and the last one was one of his worst ever.

[Ferris]

There's already been three Louis Theroux documentaries about them and the last one was one of his worst ever.

The CaB thread was good

[Retinend]

I loved how the latest episode of "Life on the Edge" (episode 3) brought up the hot-button issues of transgenderism and policing in black neighborhoods right at the start. Definitely food for thought. I liked it when Louis said that Deborah was emblematic of how in that world of high security prisons "nothing is quite as simple as you might imagine." I feel like Louis's strength as a filmmaker is in demonstrating that the world is really never quite as we want it to be: even if we want the world to be entirely hopeless. I think that this retrospective show has confirmed that the Weird Weekend shows are inferior to the shows he started doing at this point in his career. The reason people like WW more is because they confirm what you already know, whereas the later ones challenge what you think you know.

[Retinend]

...What's more, the episode also includes his "A Place For Pedophiles" documentary, which is also somewhat relevant today, considering Epstein and Qanon conspiracies out there.

edit: However, re the trans issue, I think he dropped the ball by not including the late Deborah Lee Worledge's own words in that segment: audio here https://takeapicturetellastory.com/2011/09/deborah-lee-worledge-4-april-2008/ /

more info here: https://www.reddit.com/r/LouisTheroux/comments/4f5rlo/re_more_information_into_the_life_of_deborah_lee/

[chveik]

this made me laugh

https://twitter.com/Zafarcakes/status/1299995274346221572

[Malcy]

Been listening to the audiobook of his Call Of The Weird book. His impressions of the people he met are hilarious.

[thugler]

His episode on trans kids was decent overall, but seemed he hadn't done enough research to be aware of exactly what the process involved and how permanent the choices made were. A pre pubescent kid choosing with advice of parents and medical professionals to go on puberty blockers is in no way making a permanent life changing irreversible decision and this should have been made very clear to combat the insane tabloid fury it tends to attract. It was brilliant to see that little girl seemed to be doing great several years on.

Still really enjoying these retrospective ones

[bgmnts]

Been listening to the audiobook of his Call Of The Weird book. His impressions of the people he met are hilarious.

Yeah his Ike Turner is brilliant.

[Johnboy]

just checking out how much louis stuff is on netflix - quite a lot, recommend me some, ta

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

just checking out how much louis stuff is on netflix - quite a lot, recommend me some, ta

Start with the Weird Weekends - his early funny stuff - then the When Louis Met documentaries (the Savile episode presumably isn't on Netflix, though), followed by the best of his 'serious' documentaries. Which for my money are...

Louis and the Nazis
The Most Hated Family in America
A Place for Paedophiles
America's Most Hated Family in Crisis
Extreme Love: Dementia
Drinking to Oblivion
A Different Brain

[paruses]

Can someone help with a trivia bit? There's an interview where he talks abouy how he has matured and one particular instance is his reference to humiliating the gay-for-pay actor in the porn WW.

I just can't think where it's from and I really enjoyed the interview.

[bgmnts]

Richard Herring interview?

[paruses]

Richard Herring interview?

Ah - very likely. Thanks.

[Sin Agog]

Interesting lineup for the second series, with Oliver Stone, Sia, FKA Twigs, Frankie Boyle, Ruby Wax and Rylan 'Sin Agog will not be listening to this particular episode' Clark-Neal.

[Sean Ymphs]

The Ruby Wax one might be interesting given she has recently voiced her dislike of Louis on Adam Buxton's podcast.

[Sin Agog]

Really loved the Sia one- easily the best of these I've heard so far.  They practically sounded like BFFs, and Sia pretty much gave him gave him all-access coverage because she's such a Louis nerd (bet she owns multiple 'We've got to get Theroux this' throw cushions).  It's mostly very giggly with some more primo Louis karaoke for fans of the Buxton pod, before getting heavy as a death in the family near the end.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

It's mostly very giggly with some more primo Louis karaoke for fans of the Buxton pod...

I have come to the conclusion that Louis singing in a ridiculous falsetto is one of my favourite things in the world.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I should add, as Sin Agog said, that the Sia episode is quite dark and heavy at times, especially towards the end. So don't go in expecting wall to wall falsetto tomfoolery.

[jsgibble]

Almost all of these have been very interesting in different ways. I hope that Ruby Wax's work being talked about makes it more likely that it's released in some form.

Frankie Boyle is trending on twitter, by the way. Someone's fans are upset.

[Menu]

Almost all of these have been very interesting in different ways. I hope that Ruby Wax's work being talked about makes it more likely that it's released in some form.

Frankie Boyle is trending on twitter, by the way. Someone's fans are upset.

Being discussed in the Gervais After Life thread.

[AllisonSays]

I'm only twenty minutes in and I might just be grumpy for extrinsic reasons, but fuck me Frankie Boyle is annoying me in this. He is hitting every cliche about 'daring' or 'transgressive' comedy with a combination of sanctimony and feigned innocence. I don't really care about him as a cultural figure and I never found him a funny stand-up - I think he's quite a good writer, to be fair, at least as a columnist - but I don't see why it's so hard for him to say something like 'some of my previous jokes were bad, and I'm sorry' rather than turn it all into a unified theory of the outsider-as-critic-of-convention.

I agree with some of what he says, particularly about how the reaction to supposedly shocking jokes is driven by the right-wing media rather than by the woke left. But I find the edgy comic (not comedian, of course) pose really annoying. Maybe I'm being unfair but at least over the first wee bit it's hard not to read it as a put-on.

[Thomas]

I've been listening to Frankie quite a bit lately - not his comedy, but his political opinionating. If all you knew him for were his edgy panel show jokes, you might assume he was on the side of the lazy Todd Phillipses of the world: everyone's woke these days and you can't even make jokes any more, man. But it's great to hear someone like Frankie thoughtfully challenging that viewpoint.

He does always manage to intellectualise his way out of agreeing that the Harvey Price joke was nasty, though. 'It was borne of a nihilism that I practised at the time as an outsider comedian, and which I have since outgrown as the global situation has become too urgent; next question!'

[sevendaughters]

am no fan of Boyle but he's been trending non-stop because of his comments on this podcast in favour of trans rights, the trend kept alive by TERFs who haven't heard it because they keep trotting out the Harvey insult line, like they even care about that kid. feels like people can't countenance the idea that maybe he...changed?

[AllisonSays]

He does always manage to intellectualise his way out of agreeing that the Harvey Price joke was nasty, though. 'It was borne of a nihilism that I practised at the time as an outsider comedian, and which I have since outgrown as the global situation has become too urgent; next question!'

Yeah, that's basically all I'd like him to say. I've got no issue with him politically and think he speaks well about politics, but there was a bit of a guru-ish, self-satisfied affect to the way he talked about comedy with Louis which I found really irritating.