Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends

Louis Theroux explores the weirder fringes of American society. Theroux tries his persuasive selling skills on the Home Shopping Network in Florida, a television channel devoted to non-stop, around-the-clock selling. He enters a world of inventors, pitchmen and visionaries, all obsessed with making their product the next big thing.

Louis Theroux continues his exploration of the fringes of American society. He visits Southern California, home to a group of people known as swingers. There he meets Gary and Margaret Lee who host parties at their home but only for swinger couples, so Louis goes searching for a date.

Louis Theroux travels to New York, the epicentre of the radical black nationalist movement, to meet proponents of black nationalism. American black nationalist groups have been branded anti-Semitic, homophobic, misogynist and even racist by the mainstream press. As he follows their work, he tries to separate myth from reality and wonders whether he will be welcomed.

This week, Louis Theroux tries to infiltrate Michigan's demolition derby industry and drive in a race himself. He seeks advice from drivers Jon Lipka and Rick Arnold and cousins Kevin and Steve Hanna, who find him a car and get him ready for his first competition. But after seeing them in action, Theroux begins to wonder if he is up to the challenge.

Louis Theroux spends time in New York among the subculture of off-Broadway performers in his latest foray into the weirder fringes of American society. Only a small proportion of actors make a decent living and Louis soon finds himself struggling to get work alongside the thousands of out-of-work actors. To improve his chances he joins a talent grooming agency, puts together a portfolio and has acting and voice coaching lessons. But as he discovers, an actor's lot is not an easy one.

In his final challenge, Louis Theroux investigates the most extreme American wrestling organisations. He hangs out with the WCW wrestlers of Monday Night Nitro and considers joining the Independent Wrestling Federation, who use barbed wire to spice up their shows.