Here’s an extended look at Esquire Network’s new travel show The Getaway, from Anthony Bourdain and Zero Point Zero Productions (the team behind No Reservations, The Layover, and Bourdain’s new CNN show Parts Unknown). The ten-part series debuts this fall and will focus on a different celebrity in a different city each week, including: Joel McHale in Belfast, Aziz Ansari in Hong Kong, Aisha Tyler in Paris, Rashida Jones in London, and Seth Meyers and his brother Josh in Amsterdam.
Now, here’s the thing: “Let’s send famous people all over the world and film it” is a cool idea on paper, and I’ve got no reason not to trust Bourdain and Zero Point Zero Productions because their track record is immaculate, and at one point in the trailer Joel McHale looks up from his beer in an Irish pub and says “I’ve decided I’m not going to eat for this whole trip. I’m just going to drink,” so it’s got a lot going for it on a few different fronts. But the success or failure of each episode is going to ride almost completely on the hosts. Like, you could send DMX to a Radio Shack and it would almost certainly be a captivating hour of television, but if you aren’t particularly interested in the person guiding you around (or if their acting/musical/writing skills don’t translate well to the new format), it may not work as well.
Either way, I still hopes it makes it to a second season. I’m serious about that DMX thing.
(via The Wrap)
