Posts Tagged ‘travel’

An Idiot Abroad

Posted: March 2, 2013 in Comedy, Documentary, Travel
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Title

What do you get when you take an average British bloke who has no interest in traveling the world and make him travel the world? You get An Idiot Abroad, brought to you by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, creators of the original British version of The Office.

Karl Pilkington is the average British bloke and I have yet to determine if he truly hated his assignment or was just exaggerating for the sake of the TV show. Either way, Karl comes across as totally uncomfortable no matter what his destination, no matter what he encounters.

Ricky, Karl and Stephen          Karl and Taj Mahal

In series one, Seven Wonders of the World, Ricky and Stephen send Karl to visit the New Seven Wonders of the World. But sadistic Ricky Gervais doesn’t send Karl to Rome to see the Colosseum, (because he knows Karl might enjoy a trip to Rome) Ricky instead sends Karl to places like The Great Wall of China, The Dead Sea, Chicen Itza, Machu Picchu and the Pyramids of Giza. Most people dream of the chance to see these sites, but Karl has nothing good to say about any of them. He complains about the journey as well as the destination. Here are a couple of memorable Karl Pilkington quotes:

Karl and Gorilla“It’s not a Great Wall. It’s an alright wall. It’s the Alright Wall of China.”

“I really can’t believe what a state the Pyramids are in. I thought they had flat rendered sides, but when you get up close, you see how they are just giant boulders balanced on top of each other, like a massive game of Jenga that has got out of hand.”

I’ll never understand why Karl agreed to do a second series. I guess he’s a glutton for punishment or a masochist because in the second series, The Bucket List, Ricky and Stephen arrange even more surprises for Karl to make him even more uncomfortable than he was in series one. This time he’s scheduled to participate in activities like bungee jumping in New Zealand, swimming with sharks in Australia, climbing Mount Fuji in Japan, traveling the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia and living on a desert island. He doesn’t even find joy in whale watching in Alaska. And some of these things Karl just will not do, no matter how much Ricky humiliates him via cell phone.

Karl and Natives          Karl and Warwick

Though there was originally never going to be a series three, Ricky teamed Karl up with dwarf actor Warwick Davis for three more shows called The Short Way Round, roughly following Marco Polo’s journey from China to Venice. The teaming of Karl and Warwick (“I’ve been given an Ewok.”) added a new level of discomfort for Karl. While Karl continues his complaining and wants to get through the trip as fast as he can, Warwick would prefer to make the most of everything and experience all each culture has to offer.

There are more than a few laugh out loud moments in all three series of An Idiot Abroad. You can’t help but feel for Karl, who although he agreed to make these journeys, didn’t sign up for all the tortuous experiences Ricky and Stephen made him do. “A fish out of water” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

MAIN CAST:
Karl Pilkington
Ricky Gervais
Stephen Merchant
Warwick Davis

Total Seasons: 3 (19 episodes)
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 2
In Production: 2010-2012

Robbie Coltrane: Incredible Britain

Posted: July 14, 2012 in Comedy, Travel
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Comedian/Actor Robbie Coltrane sits behind the wheel of his classic Jaguar roadster and explores the beautiful British countryside, outside the big cities and off the beaten path on the B roads. The show was also called “B Road Britain.”

Although Robbie Coltrane has done a lot in his career, he’s probably best known as the character Hagrid from the Harry Potter films. In this program, Robbie sets out to “recapture the joy of driving”, getting away from the congestion on the major motorways to find the real heart and soul of Britain.

He meanders around the country from London to his home city of Glasgow, Scotland encountering bizarre festivals, sporting events, small town traditions and colorful characters.

Here are some of the things Robbie discovers on his journey: High Wycombe’s weighing of the mayor ceremony, an asparagus farm, wing walking acrobats doing stunts on biplanes, the one and only monster fire truck that pops wheelies, the possible origination of the phrase “cock and bull story,” a Frisbee golf course, a shoe museum, the Cambridge Tiddlywinks Association, the town of Stilton’s cheese rolling event, the “Faster Pastor” who does funerals for bikers with his sidecar hearse, the Mytholmroyd Dock Pudding Championship (Robbie enters his recipe and comes in second), the oldest sweet shop in Britain, a man who has a lawnmower collection and races them, the Scarecrow Festival, pigeon racing, haunted Chillingham Castle, the destruction of the Chapelcross nuclear power plant towers, grooming the long-haired highland cattle for a show, and the curry cooking competition in Glasgow (which is the curry capital of Britain.)

Robbie meets a lot of unique people and explores some delightful rural towns. I was fortunate enough to see some on my own trips to Britain many years ago. I’m looking forward to going back there and seeing more of these wonderful sites.

MAIN CAST:
Robbie Coltrane

Total Seasons: 1 (3 episodes)
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 1
In Production: 2008
Viewer Discretion: Suitable for all audiences

Two Fat Ladies

Posted: May 19, 2012 in Cooking, Travel
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The British aren’t famous for their cooking, more like infamous — with dishes like Toad in the Hole, Bangers and Mash, Bubble and Squeak and favorites like kidney pie, mushy peas, treacle, and how about a bit of pureed pigeon liver? Yum.

What makes this show fun to watch is that these two women travel the English countryside in their Triumph Thunderbird motorcycle with “doublewide” sidecar. They visit some really lovely places and Jennifer and Clarissa are quite entertaining as they cook up what they consider tasty dishes.

The Two Fat Ladies don’t always cook traditional English cuisine. It just depends on who they’re cooking for and what the menu’s theme is. They cook large meals for different groups of people like British Army officers, Scottish lumberjacks, a Welsh men’s choir, a girl’s school and employees of a brewery.

But whatever they cook you can be sure their recipes include lots of butter, everything starts with butter or ends with butter. And they do a lot with kidneys and kippers. Yuck. How about some Yorkshire pudding, which is basically like pancake batter baked in fat.

And speaking of pudding, that’s what the British call dessert. So, cake is pudding. Pie is pudding. Trifle is pudding. And I guess, pudding could be pudding.

They don’t always give you the exact measurements, so it’s not like a regular cooking show. But again, would you really want to make these dishes?

Not surprisingly, Jennifer Paterson (the one with the glasses) died of cancer in 1999. She often popped out for a ciggy when her dishes were in the oven and she was always smoking at the end of the shows. To pay tribute her friend, Clarissa ate a tin of cavier after Jennifer’s funeral.

By the way, Toad in the Hole is sausages in Yorkshire Pudding batter. Bangers and Mash is sausages and mashed potatoes. Bubble and Squeak is leftover vegetables, sometimes served with cold meat. Why not whip up a batch?

MAIN CAST:

Jennifer Paterson
Clarissa Dickson Wright

Total Seasons: 4 (24 episodes)
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 4
In Production: 1996-1999
Viewer Discretion: Suitable for everyone

The Supersizers

Posted: April 7, 2012 in Cooking
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While surfing the DirecTV guide, I came across a show called The Supersizers Go… on the Cooking Channel. Lo and behold, it’s a British cooking show, sort of. It’s actually a combination of a food show and a history show.

Here’s the premise: Restaurant critic Giles Coren and comedian Sue Perkins dress up in period costumes and for a week eat food from that particular period. Then a doctor checks to see how their health has been affected by such diets. It’s actually quite funny. Sue Perkins is a riot.

The first, and at this point only, episode I’ve seen is The Supersizers Go Regency. Not only do you get to see what awful, fatty, sometimes disgusting foods the British ate during that period (boar’s head, jugged hare, sheep’s tongue, cheese with maggots, yes, maggots), but you also get to learn some history of the time. Apparently, the Prince Regent was a big, fat whoremonger with gout. Who knew?

And boy, did these people drink! There were at least two types of alcohol served at each meal. Guess they needed to lift their spirits with spirits. It wasn’t like there was too much going on. Think of Jane Austen times.

Not only do Giles and Sue eat the food and dress the part, they actually go about their lives as if they lived during the Regency period, 1789-1821. Sue spends part of her time during the show looking for a suitable husband. While Giles, estate owner and quite the Beau Brummel, keeps a lookout for poachers on his land.

Giles and Sue did two series, The Supersizers Go and The Supersizers Eat. The “Go” series covers different periods in British history (Victorian, Elizabethan, World War II) and the “Eat” series involves different historical periods around the world (Ancient Rome, The French Revolution, Medieval England).

MAIN CAST:

Giles Coren
Sue Perkins

Total Seasons: 2 (12 episodes)
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 0
In Production: 2008-2009
Viewer Discretion: None

A Yank’s Tour of the BBC

Posted: March 25, 2012 in Uncategorized
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In 2005, for my 40th birthday, we took a trip to London. In addition to all the other great stuff to see and do in London, we were anxious to see if we could get a tour of the BBC. At the time, I had a great fondness for British TV and watched quite a few shows, but not as many as I do now. I guess now it’s an obsession. We found out that, yes, the BBC does offer tours of their facility. So, we booked one.

The BBC Television Centre is located very close to the White City tube stop in West London. It was opened in June of 1960 and is considered one of the most recognizable TV facilities in the world. It’s been featured in the background of countless British TV shows, including Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which was shot inside the studios.

I wasn’t able to take any photographs inside, so I just have a few of the outside. Unfortunately, you can’t see the unique shape of the building from the ground. It’s actually shaped like a Question Mark. Supposedly, the building’s architect drew a question mark on a piece of paper thinking that it would be a perfect shape for the site.

Our tour started at 10:45am. Our tour guides were Debbie and Ollie. They were very entertaining and very knowledgeable. There was a lot of walking involved, up and down lots of stairs, down long hallways. The facility is huge. Being in the TV business, I had a lot of questions to ask. Basically, they do things the same way they do here. Freelance production personnel are sometimes hired for shows.

The tour included the newsroom where BBC World News is broadcast and two studios, seen from up above through the lighting grid. Top of the Pops was schedule to be taped later that day to air that night. The crew was setting up the stages and prepping for the shoot. Dr. Who, Fawlty Towers and Absolutely Fabulous are among the many programs that were taped or filmed in the studios.

They had a silly little weather center demonstration with a blue screen. Several members of our tour stood in front of it and played weatherman.

We saw the dressing rooms and heard some stories about celebrities that had stayed there. Unfortunately, I don’t really remember what stories they told us, but I do remember they were about a lot of the “divas” that would come to perform. They would have outlandish requests for things. Not unlike the “only green M&Ms” rumors you hear about rock stars.

Then there was a wacky quiz program that the tour was involved in. I was forced to be a contestant. They showed clips of shows and we had to answer questions about them. No knowledge of the show was needed. Just an observant eye. What color was Nigel’s shirt in that scene? Stuff like that. I won. My prizes, a BBC coffee cup and pen. Woo hoo!

From what I’ve read, the tour is pretty much the same today.  But they’ve added some props and memorabilia from BBC shows, including the Tardis from Dr. Who.   If you’ve never seen a TV studio before, it’s kind of fun to see behind the scenes and learn about some of your favorite TV shows.  I would recommend the BBC Studio Tour, if you’re ever in London.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/tours/