Vice (TV series)
| Vice | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Created by | Shane Smith |
| Starring | Shane Smith |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 43 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Bill Maher Shane Smith Eddy Moretti BJ Levin Fareed Zakaria (consultant producer) |
| Running time | 26-42 mins. |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | HBO |
| Release | April 5, 2013 – present |
Vice (stylised as VICE) is a documentary TV-series created and hosted by Shane Smith of Vice magazine. Produced by Bill Maher, it uses CNN journalist Fareed Zakaria as a consultant,[1] and covers topics using an immersionist style of documentary filmmaking. It premiered April 5, 2013, on HBO. The show's second season aired in 2014 and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series or Special.[2]
On May 7, 2014, HBO renewed the show for two more seasons. The 14-episode third season began March 6, 2015, one week after the hour-long "VICE Special Report: Killing Cancer" aired on February 27. Vice's fourth season aired in 2016.[3][4]
Synopsis
It follows VICE journalists and founders Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi, and segment hosts Ryan Duffy and Thomas Morton as they go to different parts of the world interviewing people on political and cultural topics. Subjects include political assassinations, young weapons manufacturers, child suicide bombers, Indian and Pakistani border politics, the Chinese one-child policy, climate change, and bonded laborers in Pakistan's brick kilns, featuring the work of human and labor rights activist Syeda Ghulam Fatima.
Correspondents, crew
- Shane Smith - correspondent, host
- Suroosh Alvi - segment host
- Ryan Duffy - segment host
- Thomas Morton - segment host
- Eddy Moretti - producer
- David Choe - segment host
- BJ Levin - producer
- Fareed Zakaria - consultant producer
- Fazeelat Aslam - segment host
- Gelareh Kiazand - segment host[5]
- Ben Anderson - segment host
- Vikram Gandhi - segment host
- Isobel Yeung - segment host
- Gianna Toboni - segment host
- Simon Ostrovsky - correspondent
-
VICE co-founder Shane Smith (pictured 2014) -
HBO talk-show host Bill Maher (pictured 2010) -
Fareed Zakaria of CNN (pictured 2007)
Production
The show is executive produced by Bill Maher, Shane Smith, and Eddy Moretti and uses CNN journalist Fareed Zakaria as a consultant.[1][6]
Release and reception
The first episode aired on HBO on April 5, 2013, and was available for free via YouTube.[7] The series is the first televised program for VICE, featuring VICE staff as correspondents.
The show has received both positive and negative reviews because of its unique, provocative presentation and style. Some compare it to a gonzo type of journalism.[8][9] Maureen Ryan of The Huffington Post wrote a negative review of the show, due to its presentation.[10] Rolling Stone magazine have written that: "It feels a little like your buddy from the bar just happened to be wandering through eastern Afghanistan with a camera crew."[11] In June 2013, the show was covered extensively in mainstream media for documenting a basketball game with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | |||
| 1 | 10 | April 5, 2013 | June 14, 2013 | |
| 2 | 12 | March 14, 2014 | June 13, 2014 | |
| 3 | 14 | March 6, 2015 | June 26, 2015 | |
| 4 | 18 | February 5, 2016[12] | June 24, 2016 | |
Episodes
Season 1 (2013)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Killer Kids" | April 5, 2013 | |
|
Assassination Nation: Political assassinations in the Philippines. The Killer Kids of the Taliban: Taliban-supported child suicide bombers in Afghanistan. | ||||
| 2 | 2 | "Bad Borders" | April 12, 2013 | |
|
Escape from North Korea: Desperate defectors flee North Korea. The World's Most Dangerous Border: Kashmir’s line of control – the world’s most dangerous place. | ||||
| 3 | 3 | "Guns & Ammo" | April 19, 2013 | |
|
Gun School: Armed preparedness in a New Mexico school. Toxic Iraq: The human toll of post-war toxic waste in Iraq. | ||||
| 4 | 4 | "Love & Rockets" | April 26, 2013 | |
|
Chinese Cockblock: The plight of desperate bachelors in China. European Meltdown: Ultra-extreme reactions to the economic crisis in Europe. | ||||
| 5 | 5 | "Winners & Losers" | May 3, 2013 | |
|
Mormon Lost Boys: Exiled sons of polygamists. The Fat Farms of Mauritania: Fat farms for Mauritanian women. Mumbai Slumscraper: Have and have-nots in Mumbai. | ||||
| 6 | 6 | "Corruption" | May 10, 2013 | |
|
China's Ghost Towns: How China’s appetite for housing created huge ghost cities. Egypt on the Brink: The violent aftermath of Arab Spring in Egypt. | ||||
| 7 | 7 | "Addiction" | May 17, 2013 | |
|
Tobaccoland: Tobacco obsession in Indonesia. Underground Heroin Clinic: Treating heroin addiction with hallucinogens in Mexico. | ||||
| 8 | 8 | "Fighting Chances" | May 31, 2013 | |
|
Senegalese Laamb Wrestling: Laamb wrestling in Senegal. The World is Sinking: The rising tide of climate change. | ||||
| 9 | 9 | "Gangs & Oil" | June 7, 2013 | |
|
Nigeria's Oil Pirates: Oil drilling in the Niger River Delta. | ||||
| 10 | 10 | "The Hermit Kingdom" | June 14, 2013 | |
|
Basketball Diplomacy: VICE makes history on a trip to North Korea to play hoops and meet with "supreme leader" Kim Jong-un. | ||||
Season 2 (2014)
On August 17, 2013, Shane Smith confirmed that filming of a second season was going on in Kandahar at that time.[13] Season 2 premiered on March 14, 2014 at 11PM EST.[14]
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "Afghan Money Pit & The Pacification of Rio" | March 14, 2014 | |
|
Investigating the misuse of American taxpayer dollars intended for the reconstruction in Afghanistan; The city of Rio de Janeiro takes extreme measures to remedy its reputation as a drug and murder capital. | ||||
| 12 | 2 | "Greenland Is Melting & Bonded Labor" | March 21, 2014 | |
|
High temperatures in Greenland cause melting which results in a rising sea level; Examining the conditions that bonded laborers endure while working in Pakistan's brick kilns. | ||||
| 13 | 3 | "American Scrap & Children of the Drones" | March 28, 2014 | |
|
Examining the life cycle of scrap metal; Investigating the effect of drone strikes in Pakistan. | ||||
| 14 | 4 | "A Syria Of Their Own & White Gold" | April 4, 2014 | |
|
Thomas goes to the frontline of the battle for a Kurdish state to follow the story of Syria's forgotten ethnic group, the Kurds; Rhino horn has been coveted in Eastern medicine for centuries. Vikram Gandhi traces the trade from Southern Africa to Vietnam to understand this illicit phenomenon which has been on the rise. | ||||
| 15 | 5 | "Terrorist University & Armageddon Now" | April 11, 2014 | |
|
Shane goes to Dagestan to see what makes it the world capital of terrorist training and recruitment; Thomas joins a group of born again Christians as they tour the Holy Land and find out the real reason why they support Israel. | ||||
| 16 | 6 | "Rocky Mountain High & North Korean Defectors" | April 25, 2014 | |
|
Impact of legalized marijuana in Colorado; The struggles of North Korean defectors relocating to South Korea. | ||||
| 17 | 7 | "The Pink Gang Rebellion & Genetic Passport" | May 2, 2014 | |
|
Women take a stand against rape in India; Repercussions of nuclear radiation in Kazakhstan. | ||||
| 18 | 8 | "The Resource Curse & Deliver Us from Drought" | May 9, 2014 | |
|
Natural-gas opportunities and opposition in Papua New Guinea; Drought and denial in Texas. | ||||
| 19 | 9 | "Crude Awakening & The Enemy of My Enemy" | May 16, 2014 | |
|
Examining the lasting effects of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; Yemen's Houthi rebel movement. | ||||
| 20 | 10 | "Playing with Nuclear Fire & No Man Left Behind" | May 23, 2014 | |
|
Investigating the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan; Veterans struggling with mental illness and addiction. | ||||
| 21 | 11 | "Heroin Warfare & The Coldest War" | June 6, 2014 | |
|
The heroin epidemic in Iran; How global warming is re-igniting the Cold War. | ||||
| 22 | 12 | "Surveillance City & The Forgotten War" | June 13, 2014 | |
|
Futuristic police surveillance in Camden, NJ; Genocide in Sudan leads to overburdened refugee camps and rebel groups preparing for a fight for justice. | ||||
Season 3 (2015)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 1 | "Our Rising Oceans" | March 6, 2015 | |
|
Shane travels to Antarctica to investigate the West Antarctic ice sheet and see how the continent is melting. | ||||
| 24 | 2 | "To Serve and Protect & Coming to America" | March 13, 2015 | |
|
The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO sparks a series of protests and a fierce debate about the militarization of the U.S. police force; Thousands of Central Americans embark on a perilous journey to emigrate to the United States. | ||||
| 25 | 3 | "We the People & Countdown to Extinction" | March 20, 2015 | |
|
A study lists domestic right-wing groups as two of the top three terrorist threats in America; The global damage caused by overfishing in the oceans. | ||||
| 26 | 4 | "Lines in the Sand & Outsourcing Embryos" | March 27, 2015 | |
|
Exploring the cocaine trafficking hotspots of South America and Africa to determine who is profiting from the increase in cocaine use in Europe; Investigating the commercial surrogacy industry in India. | ||||
| 27 | 5 | "Synthetic Drug Revolution & Transsexuals of Iran" | April 10, 2015 | |
|
Tracking the rise of synthetic drugs; Homosexuals and transsexuals in Iran navigate a terrifying cultural landscape. | ||||
| 28 | 6 | "The Post-Antibiotic World & Indonesia's Palm Bomb" | April 17, 2015 | |
|
The overuse of antibiotics leads to dire consequences, causing scientists to search for new natural sources of anti-bacterial compounds; As the demand for palm oil grows, growers in Indonesia push farther onto rainforest land, torching the forests. | ||||
| 29 | 7 | "Sweet Home Alabama & Haitian Money Pit" | April 24, 2015 | |
|
Alabama passes a harsh anti-immigrant law; Haiti receives billions in aid money after an earthquake. | ||||
| 30 | 8 | "Egyptian Tomb Raiders & Rent a White Guy" | May 1, 2015 | |
|
In Egypt, looters steal artifacts; The white male is seen as a symbol of cultural cachet in China | ||||
| 31 | 9 | "Savior Seeds & India's Water Crisis" | May 8, 2015 | |
|
The effects of planting genetically modified seeds; India struggles to provide adequate clean water and sanitation systems for its growing population. | ||||
| 32 | 10 | "A Prayer for Uganda & Kidneyville" | May 15, 2015 | |
|
Anti-gay leaders teach intolerance to Uganda's youth; Exploring the thriving illegal market for kidneys in Bangladesh. | ||||
| 33 | 11 | "Evolution of a Plague & Campus Coverup" | June 5, 2015 | |
|
People attempt to control the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa; Examining the recent rise in reports of sexual assaults on U.S. campuses. | ||||
| 34 | 12 | "Enemies at the Gates & Global Jihad" | June 12, 2015 | |
|
Saudi Arabia attempts to defend itself against terrorist organizations; Examining why young men and women in Europe are drawn to ISIS. | ||||
| 35 | 13 | "Afghanistan After Us & La Haine" | June 18, 2015 | |
|
Afghanistan's war against the Taliban; Religious tensions spiral out of control in France. | ||||
| 36 | 14 | "Cold War 2.0" | June 26, 2015 | |
|
Shane meets with Kremlin officials and American leaders to discuss the rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia. Examining the recent conflict in Ukraine. | ||||
Season 4 (2016)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 1 | "Boko Haram & Unnatural Selection" | February 5, 2016 | |
|
The Nigerian government is determined to drive militants from a terrorist group out of the country; A new gene-editing method allow scientists to change the genetic traits of plants and animals. | ||||
| 38 | 2 | "Escape to Europe & Cycle of Terror" | February 12, 2016 | |
|
Following the refugee trail from the Syrian border to Europe; The global reaction to the terrorist attack in Paris impacts the fight against terrorism. | ||||
| 39 | 3 | "Right to Die" | February 19, 2016 | |
|
Exploring the moral, political and personal questions raised by euthanasia. | ||||
| 40 | 4 | "Beating Blindness & White Collar Weed" | February 26, 2016 | |
|
Doctors and researchers make incredible strides in the fight against blindness; Struggling small-scale marijuana farmers face corporate takeovers as the end of the pot-prohibition nears | ||||
| 41 | 5 | "Meathooked & End of Water" | March 4, 2016 | |
|
Examining the environmental harm of industrial meat operations; Assessing the depths of the world's water crisis. | ||||
| 42 | 6 | "Return to Yemen & Church and States" | March 11, 2016 | |
|
Examining the conflict in Yemen; Exploring the ongoing battle for LGBT equal rights in the United States. | ||||
| 43 | 7 | "Palestine Now & Viva Cuba Libre" | March 25, 2016 | |
|
Exploring the lives of young Palestinians today; Examining the political thawing of relationships between Cuba and the United States. | ||||
| 44 | 8 | "Afghan Women's Rights & Floating Armories" | April 8, 2016 | |
|
Violence and oppression are still a fact of life for women in Afghanistan; Private military contractors protect global commerce. | ||||
| 45 | 9 | "The Future of Energy" | April 15, 2016 | |
|
Examining the future of how to make and use energy and how to meet the growing demand as carbon emissions are cut. | ||||
| 46 | 10 | "Trump in Dubai & China in Africa" | April 22, 2016 | |
|
The plight of migrant workers in Dubai; Examining the increasingly prominent business relationship between China and Africa. | ||||
| 47 | 11 | "The Deal & City of Lost Children" | April 29, 2016 | |
|
Exploring the recent Iran deal from both sides; Tribes of homeless children live along the tracks in Kolkata, India. | ||||
| 48 | 12 | "The End of Polio & Collateral Damage" | May 6, 2016 | |
|
Health workers put their lives on the line in Pakistan to eradicate polio; Examining the devastating effects of unexploded ordnance in Myanmar and Laos. | ||||
| 49 | 13 | "State Of Surveillance" | May 27, 2016 | |
|
Shane travels to Moscow to meet with Edward Snowden and discuss government surveillance programs. | ||||
| 50 | 14 | "Heroin Crisis & New Age of Nukes" | June 3, 2016 | |
|
The effects of America's Heroin epidemic and the next nuclear arms race. | ||||
| 51 | 15 | TBA | June 10, 2016 | |
| 52 | 16 | TBA | June 17, 2016 | |
| 53 | 17 | TBA | June 24, 2016 | |
Specials
| # | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "VICE Special Report: Killing Cancer" | February 27, 2015 | |
|
Shane explores how common diseases are being used to fight cancer. | |||
| 2 | "VICE Special Report: Fixing the System" | September 27, 2015 | |
|
The impact of America's approach to crime and imprisonment. President Obama tours a federal correctional institution in Oklahoma. | |||
| 3 | "VICE Special Report: Countdown to Zero" | December 1, 2015 | |
|
Examining the search for a cure and a preventative vaccine that could eliminate AIDS. | |||
| 4 | "VICE Special Report: Fighting ISIS" | January 31, 2016 | |
|
Journalist Ben Anderson gains access to three front lines in Iraq, where Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish forces are battling the Islamic State. | |||
See also
- The Vice Guide to Travel (2006)
- Rule Britannia (2009)
References
- ^ a b "About Vice". HBO. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
- ^ "HBO's 'VICE' Wins Emmy for Outstanding Informational Series or Special". Sounds & Picture. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
- ^ Vice Staff. "Our HBO Show Has Been Renewed for Two More Seasons". Vice.com. Vice Media LLC. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ^ Vice Staff. "Watch 'Vice' on HBO's Special Report: Killing Cancer". Vice.com. Vice Media LLC. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20140511043919/http://www.hbo.com:80/#/fullpage/signIn?referer=http://talk.hbo.com/t5/forums/replypage/board-id/silicon-valley/message-id/40. Archived from the original on May 11, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "HBO gave us our own TV show". Vice Staff. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
- ^ "Watch the first episode of our HBO show". Vice Staff. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
- ^ Goodman, Tim. "Vice brings its brand of provocative, let's-go-find-danger journalism to HBO as a half-hour newsmagazine". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
- ^ Flint, Jos. "HBO's 'Vice' news targets Gen Y with edge and absurdity". The Detroit News. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
- ^ Ryan, Maureen. "'Vice' On HBO: News And Stuff, Bro-Style". The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
- ^ Van Syckle, Katie. "HBO Courts Danger With Gonzo 'Vice' Show". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
- ^ Dinsmore, Jef (January 3, 2016). "VICE on HBO Season 4 Debuting in February". HBO Watch. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- ^ Smith, Shane. First and second tweets confirming filming of second season. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
- ^ Bibel, Sara (January 9, 2014). "HBO Confirms Premiere Dates for 'Game of Thrones', 'Veep', 'Vice' & 'Silicon Valley'". TV by the Numbers (Press release). Retrieved January 9, 2014.
