''Hamilton's Pharmacopeia'' is an American

docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

, which premiered on

Viceland Viceland (stylized in all caps; also known as Vice TV in the United States) is a brand used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. The brand launched on February 29, 2016, with two cable channels in North America. The Vice ...

on October 26, 2016. The show follows Hamilton Morris as he explores the history,

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and social impact of psychoactive substances. It chronicles Morris' travels and first-hand experiences, as well as interviews with scientists,

shamans Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of th ...

and fringe culture figures.

Background

''Hamilton's Pharmacopeia'' is a documentary series created, written, and directed by Hamilton Morris. It has been produced in various forms since 2009. ''Hamilton's Pharmacopeia'' began as a monthly column about psychoactive drugs written by Morris for ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'' magazine. When given the opportunity to film short documentaries to accompany his written pieces, Morris began to produce ''Hamilton's Pharmacopeia'' as an online documentary series starting with the release of ''The Sapo Diaries'' that same year. Initially the series was only available on VBS.TV, but after its release on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

the series began to gain a wider international following. From 2009 to 2017, Morris produced ten ''Pharmacopeia'' documentaries before the show began its first season on the cable television channel

(now Vice TV). From 2016 to 2020, Morris directed twenty episodes of ''Hamilton's Pharmacopeia'' for Viceland. After delays caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the third season was released on January 4, 2021.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2016)

Season 2 (2017–18)

Season 3 (2021)

Reception

The show has received widespread critical acclaim for its alternative and unusually honest approach to the portrayal of recreational drug use. Writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Tim Jonze drew comparisons between Morris' obsessive dedication to his subject and similar qualities in his father. Praising his demeanor on the show, Jonze writes: "Morris is a good presence on screen – dressed all in white, he has a sort of charming awkwardness not dissimilar to

Louis Theroux Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British and American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received three British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award. After graduati ...

(they share the same disarming smile) and he allows his subjects plenty of space to tell their stories." In another review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Ross Simonini praised the show's unique tone: "Mr. Morris has a grinning, laid-back persona, with an approach not dissimilar to Hunter S. Thompson’s gonzo journalism. In person Mr. Morris, son of the filmmaker Errol Morris, is bookish and intense, speaking with a fastidious attention to word choice." Hermione Hoby made similar remarks, writing that Hamilton Morris proceeds with "a mix of gonzo abandon and scholarly rigour".

References

External links

{{wikiquote
''Hamilton's Pharmacopeia'' on IMDb
Drug culture Viceland original programming