Yahoo Lifestyle A Trailer For The "Girls Gone Wild" Documentary Just Dropped, And The Behind-The-Scenes Stories Are Making Me Anxious
Brace yourselves. The dark secrets of late '90s/early 2000s television have returned to haunt us.
Before there were thirst traps on social media and easily accessible porn on the internet, late-night infomercials were showing everyday college coeds in the wildest NSFW scenarios. Remember those?
Well, the trailer for Peacock's Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story just dropped, and it looks like the behind-the-scenes stories of one of the most controversial brands from the aughts is finally coming to light.
Starting back in 1997, the Girls Gone Wild late-night infomercials overran after-hours television everywhere, promoting videotapes of college-aged women exposing their bodies and performing NSFW acts on camera during spring break and college parties.
The multimillion-dollar franchise was part of an era before the convenience of social media and on-demand pornography. It dominated the early 2000s with fantasies of "the girl next door" going buck wild during spring break, but there's seemingly a darker reality behind the camera.
From what I gathered from the trailer, the docuseries intends to expose the secrets behind the NSFW franchise and its creator, Joe Francis.
Joe, an entrepreneur and film producer, started working on Real TV, one of the earliest reality television programs that aired wild accidents, stunts, rescues, and other graphic footage that wasn't on mainstream news.
Jean Baptiste Lacroix / WireImage, RTV News Inc. / Paramount Domestic Television
It's necessary to mention that since the Girls Gone Wild franchise began, Joe has been involved in numerous legal battles and faced serious allegations.
From there, Joe ventured off to create his own productions, including the salacious and more graphic Banned from Television videotapes and the infamously popular Girls Gone Wild.
One by one, the trailer shows the faces of different former employees, enemies, and survivors seemingly involved with the franchise in some way, preparing to share their stories, which one can only assume are tied to the darkest behind-the-scenes secrets of the once-popular, risqué brand.
The biggest bombshell of the docuseries is a very rare "in-depth, in-person interview" with Joe and journalist Scaachi Koul (who is also the host of the successful podcast Scamfluencers).
Scaachi's reporting on Joe Francis first appeared in HuffPost in 2023, where she uncovered the rise and fall of the founder of the controversial porn empire.
Scaachi will uncover stories about Joe's proximity with "famous people" and his rise to prominence with Girls Gone Wild, making $20 million "in the first two years."
Charley Gallay / WireImage, Donato Sardella / WireImage
2024 has introduced dozens of shocking documentaries that have unpacked the truth behind the darkest secrets of some popular '90s and 2000s TV shows and brands, and I have a gut feeling Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story will do the same.
Gonzalo Marroquin / Getty Images for Investigation Discovery, Kevin Winter / Getty Images
Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story is co-produced by the same producers as Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
Watch the trailer here:
Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story, a three-part docuseries, will premiere on Peacock on Dec. 3. Will you be watching?
