After founding the adult DVD empire Girls Gone Wild and cementing the brand into the 2000s pop-culture zeitgeist, creator Joe Francis has been exiled to Mexico amid a slew of legal battles and has largely remained out of the spotlight. But Peacock’s new documentary Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story, which started streaming on Dec. 3, puts Francis in the hot seat, with journalist Scaachi Koul forcing him to confront his sketchy past.
The three-part series reexamines the cultural phenomenon that was Girls Gone Wild — videos of young women flashing cameras, most notably during spring break trips — and sheds new light on the topic with interviews from former employees, women who were coerced as teenagers to have sex on camera and sign their rights away, and, of course, Francis himself. Koul interviewed Francis at his compound in Mexico about the history of Girls Gone Wild and his sordid history with the company, including alleged assaults.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, but if you just start at the core, I will work with you, however many hours, and peel back every layer and answer every fucking question and show you every document,” Francis said to Koul at the beginning of their interview. “I would love for you to be able to nail me … I want that to be your goal. Nail me. Fucking nail me.”
The new docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV examines the working environment of the young stars who fueled Nickelodeon's rise. The series pays close attention to allegations of sexual harassment, manipulation, and other problematic behavior by Dan Schneider, who was in charge of shows like iCarly, Sam & Cat, and All That. And Drake & Josh star Drake Bell talks publicly for the first time about the sexual abuse and assault he says he experienced at the hands of his dialogue coach. Today, we talk about the series and how it fits into a larger conversation about protecting kids who work in entertainment.
In “Taste the Nation,” which debuted its second season this month on Hulu, Padma Lakshmi, the longtime host of the reality-television competition “Top Chef,” visits various immigrant communities throughout the United States, not only eating their food, but interviewing the people who make it.
Much has been written about how the show is a radical departure for food television, with its ability to highlight the way history, memory and trauma are woven through what we eat. Whether Ms. Lakshmi, 52, is breaking the Ramadan fast with Arab Americans in Dearborn, Mich., or making piroshky with a queer Ukrainian-American chef, she manages to shine a spotlight on how politics and culture sit downstream from food. Its D.I.Y., documentarian style — not unlike earlier food shows from hosts such as Anthony Bourdain — manages to avoid turning these communities and their cuisine into objects of fascination.
The food appreciation/travelogue corner of the doc world is a popular one, but there’s a growing collection of shows that are adding rich dimensions to that formula. There’s the always-popular Stanley Tucci series (a show with its own future in doubt) and the fantastic “High on the Hog” (one of our picks for Netflix’s greatest originals). To that list, add “Take Out,” a show that uses food as an avenue to discuss the experiences of Asian immigrants living in America. Ling is a welcoming guide, bringing in personal perspective from her own life while acknowledging the undiscovered corners of her culinary knowledge. There are some stylistic shake-ups to the usual B-roll/interview/dish-tasting structure, including some animation and poetry sequences. But the series’ best moments feel like an exciting meal: thoughtful in its presentation, waiting for those with open minds and stomachs. —SG
At Northshore Recovery High School, students are greeted with hugs and “I love yous” from their principal. They text their teachers, telling them that they spent the night before smoking weed or popping pills. They have a bathroom specifically for taking drug tests.
It’s all done to keep them alive.
The Beverly, Mass., school for adolescents battling drug addiction is at the center of a four-part MTV limited documentary series directed by Steve Liss, “16 and Recovering,” which premieres Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 9 p.m. and follows students throughout the 2017-18 school year, who are identified by their first names only.
“We are losing a generation” to addiction, principal Michelle Lipinski, who helped found the school in 2006, told The Post.