What were the criteria for choosing what you wanted to explore in "30 Days"?

It was really about finding things that I thought were important issues in America today. Things that needed to be dealt with, from religion in America  especially Muslims in America, which I thought was a very pertinent issue with the environment and the world we live in today  to anti-aging with steroids. You know, you turn on the TV and there are steroids stories all the time now, with baseball players in front of Congress, and then you hear about the people who are just doing this to stay young. There were so many things we wanted to use. We went to FX with a laundry list of things we wanted to tackle and then we narrowed it down to these six.

What was a great idea you wanted to do, but that wouldn't work logistically?

There was one we wanted to do, but we're going to explore for next year, which is the prison system in America. Logistically it is incredibly difficult to shoot in a prison, but next season we're going to explore that topic. We've already begun on that. Well, next season, knock on wood!

Yeah, I was going to say.

But we've already got a plan; the minute that we get the nod, we'll be ready to go. But we'll be keeping our fingers crossed until then.

So what are some of the episodes this season?

Well, there are the ones I've mentioned ... Then there's also one that deals with binge drinking and alcoholism in America. There's a mother whose daughter is in college, and she's very concerned about the impact alcohol is having on her daughter's life. She's had family members who've fallen victim to drunk drivers. She just wants to show her daughter the impact of these choices on her life. And so the mother basically takes up living as her daughter does and becomes a binge drinker for 30 days while also trying to live her life and maintain her job and everything she's doing. It's a powerful issue that's been put in a completely different context. It's one that not only viewers but the people around her really could relate to.

We also do one about sexuality in America, where we take a guy who's ex-military, somebody who has a very straightforward view of what homosexuals are -- these are people who are sinning against God, this is a sin against nature, these are people who are going to hell because of the choices they make, they are choosing to defy God. And so we take this guy from Michigan, where he grew up, and we moved him to California, to the Castro [in San Francisco], where he moved in with a gay man and really got a firsthand look at what gay culture is like. The stereotypes that he had aren't what it is.

How was his experience?

Well, he saw what the homosexual lifestyle was really like: seeing couples, going to support groups. One of the best things that happened was he went and met with gay veterans from past wars. He met a guy who was at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. So here's this old gay man he's talking to and trading war stories with, and it's like, "Oh my gosh, these are people who are just like me, only they're gay." So I think that the show does a great job of shattering stereotypes, of exploring issues, but not being heavy-handed about it. I, like anybody else, don't like to be told what to do. And I think the show lets you make up your own mind. For me, that's what good films and good television do.

What comes next?

We've got a show we're developing right now that should hit the air this fall for Comedy Central called "Public Nuisance," which is in the vein and the spirit of Michael Moore's old shows like "The Awful Truth" and "TV Nation," where we'll look at things that are going on in America and around the world from a much more satirical, irreverent point of view. And then next spring I'm going to make another film, another documentary.

Do you know what it's going to be about?

I sure do.

What's it going to be about?

I can't tell you.

Why?!

Because it's a secret.

Oh, man. Are you in it again?

Yes, it's my film. I'm directing it, I'm producing it, I'll be in it.

Is it another experiment-type thing?

We'll see.

So coy! So, do you ever crave McDonald's food?

To this day, if I smell a Big Mac, my mouth will start watering like Pavlov's dog. But I abstain. I love a good burger, and for me, a good burger just doesn't come from a fast food restaurant. I'd rather go to a mom and pop place down on the corner, a little diner that uses fresh ground beef.

I just don't know if I can ever completely shake the allure of the fries from McDonald's.

Well, nothing smells like that food. Nothing tastes like that food. It's its own animal. But here's the thing to always think about, anytime you think about buying those fries? Think about you're washing your car, you reach under the driver's seat, and you pull out a french fry. Who knows how long that thing's been there. But it looks like you bought it yesterday. Why is that? How does that happen?

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