'Super Size Me' filmmaker goes to jail undercover

Associated Press

Posted: June 12, 2006

Richmond, Va. - The filmmaker who chronicled his decline during a steady diet of fast food in the superpopular documentary "Super Size Me," spent 23 days behind bars for another video report - and discovered, he said, that inmates are not all bad guys.

Morgan Spurlock checked into the Henrico County (Va.) Jail in February and left with some shattered stereotypes.

"One of them is that you imagine jail, and prison, being filled with all these bad guys," Spurlock told the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch. "And I'll be the first person to say there's people that are locked up who should be locked up. But at the same time, I think there's a lot of good, honest, genuine people in there who made a mistake."

Spurlock's experience will air July 26 on the FX network, launching the second season of his "30 Days" documentary series.

Spurlock said he chose the suburban Richmond jail after reading an article about Sheriff Mike Wade and a drug-rehabilitation program his department started.

"Henrico is one of the few places that recognizes that just punishing somebody for being a drug offender isn't enough," Spurlock said.

An agreement was signed, and Spurlock was processed at Henrico's Jail West on Feb. 8, after he was "sentenced" to 30 days in jail for a phony contempt-of-court charge.

Wade said Spurlock did not "serve" his full 30 days because he was satisfied with the footage he had after 23 days.