Anthony Bourdain - No Reservations
I saw this show advertised once or twice and even caught bits and pieces of it last season while flipping through the channels. But I finally got to watch a whole episode a few weeks ago and now I'm totally hooked.
I don't know what it is about the show that I find so appealing. Well that's not totally true. The general premise (guy with dark humor tours various cities around the globe and goes off the beaten path to experience odd places and people) bares a striking resemblance to one of my 'old' favorite shows, Comedy Central's 'Insomniac' starring Dave Attell. But since Anthony Bourdain is a chef by trade his show tends to focus much of its time on the culinary side of things in each of the places he visits. Couple that with the fact that he's also a writer (giving the show a strong narrative) makes it surprisingly entertaining. I can see why he's no longer on the Food Network though. He loves to mock Rachel Ray and some of the other hosts there.
Unlike Insomniac's Attell, I don't think Bourdain is the type of guy I could tolerate for very long in person. He's just SO dark and sardonic that I know I'd quickly find him offputting. But in the realm of TV, I find his dark charisma extremely entertaining. In fact, a quick search on him revealed that he was the man behind one of my favorite new TV shows this past fall (Fox's 'Kitchen Confidential.') The show received high critical praise, but never drew a big audience as it had to go head-to-head with CBS which owns Monday nights. It was soon cancelled and I doubt it'll get picked up unless somebody like Showtime sees its merits. If only Fox had waited to premiere it this spring and let if follow an American Idol lead-in.
Anyway, if you haven't caught this show yet I highly recommend checking it out. It comes on on Tuesdays at 9pm central.
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