Tag Archives: tv

Travel Channel makes fake commercial using Bourdain footage and audio »

November 13th, 2012

Anthony Bourdain, who has it in his contract with Travel Channel that he must explicitly approve all uses of his name/face, etc:

So it came as a shock and a disappointment to turn on the TV for the last two episodes of my show, and see that someone had taken footage that me and my creative team  had shot for my show, cut it up and edited it together with scenes of a new Cadillac driving through the forest. Scenes of me, my face, and with my voice, were edited in such a way as to suggest that I might be driving that Cadillac. That, at least, I was very likely IN that Cadillac—and that if nothing else, I sure as shit was endorsing Cadillac as the vehicle of choice for my show. All this following seamlessly from the actual show so you were halfway through the damn thing before you even realized it was a commercial.

As Tony points out, this stinks that he, his team, and Travel Channel couldn’t just ride off into the sunset together on a high note. After working with them for years with little problem it is only when they are parting ways that something has to come between them. It is a shame.

Anthony Bourdain on the best and worst of No Reservations »

November 2nd, 2012

This Monday marks the 140th and final episode of No Reservations to air on Travel Channel. On the one hand, I’m sad to see what is easily one of my most favorite shows go off the air, but on the other I realize that after doing something for so long it is good to shake the bag.

Bourdain recently wrote about some of the worst and best shows. It is no suprise that the shows he chose as the best were also the shows I would have chosen. Although I think I’d add in the most-recent Emilia Romagna and Burgundy episodes into the mix as well.

As our final episode of NO RESERVATIONS approaches, I’ve been asked to write a top ten list of personal favorites. That’s hard to do. It’s been a mixed bag—and deliberately so. Travel and food shows necessarily tell more or less the same story:  somebody goes someplace, eats and drinks a lot of stuff, comes to some kind of conclusion (rightly or wrongly) then goes home. My partners and I—a rotating band of cinematographers, producers, editors and post production people—have worked very hard over the years to mess with, expand, undermine and subvert that basic narrative and the conventions that go with it. Sometimes we succeeded.

Other travel shows set out to show you what is there. No Reservations set out to find out what was there. I think this was one of the reasons I most enjoyed the show.

Bourdain and his cohorts would usually base the way they’d shoot and edit the episodes based on their favorite movies that were shot in those regions of the world. This made each and every episode very different, though exactly the same, as the others. Otherwise it’d just be a guy eating in a new place each week.

I’m going to miss No Reservations but I think they are choosing to move on at exactly the right time. I look forward to the next rodeo.

Bourdain on creative control »

September 4th, 2012

Anthony Bourdain, remarking on the last season of my favorite travel show:

Seven new episodes of NO RESERVATIONS left—interspersed, I’m afraid, by three (count them, THREE) shows made up of “repurposed” material—aka clip shows. Seven shows seemed like enough to me. Especially since knowing they were to be our last, we put our heart and soul into them. Austin , Burgundy with Ludo Lefevbre, Emilia Romagna with Michael White, Sydney, the Dominican Republic, Rio de Janeiro and Brooklyn. I like the idea of going out on a high note—still doing strong work. But smarter minds than ours insist that seven is not enough. And that audiences either love—or won’t notice—old footage reedited to look like new—aka “special”— shows. This, apparently, is what passes for creativity in the stratosphere of executive thinking.

I think it is clear why Anthony & Co. are leaving The Travel Channel. I hope CNN allows Anthony and his team to do whatever they think best with their show – sink or swim.

People are using Netflix to watch TV programs »

July 16th, 2012

Brian Anthony Hernandez of Mashable sums up the Neilsen study:

A new Nielsen study reveals 19% of respondents prefer using Netflix to watch TV programs — up 8% since a year ago — instead of movies or both equally.

I would argue that this study revealed very little data of interest. Netflix’s movie catalog hasn’t grown significantly in many, many months. In fact, it has been losing popular titles without adding many. TV shows, however, are really where Netflix is a boon for most TV-watchers. Netflix’s TV program catalog offers multiple seasons of many of the most popular shows over the last several years. How can its movie catalog even compare?

/via Mashable.

Why I like No Reservations

May 7th, 2012

Anthony Bourdain on the different types of people that like his show No Reservations:

Generally speaking, there are two distinct audiences for this show: people who like to look at images of food and are interested in where it comes from and how it got to the plate—and people who like to travel—or like the idea of travel—and enjoy watching images of faraway places and cultures. Oh—and there’s also a smaller group who apparently enjoy watching me get falling down drunk and stupid.

I happen to fit all three.

Diego’s Soul Patch

December 30th, 2011

You may remember that Jorge Garcia and his girlfriend Bethany Shady had a podcast for behind-the-scenes LOST stuff appropriately named Geronimo Jack’s Beard. Well, Garcia and Shady are back with a new podcast for behind-the-scenes stuff on Alcatraz, a new show coming in the spring, named Diego’s Soul Patch. Here is the iTunes feed.

I’ve seen the pilot for Alcatraz already (shh, don’t tell anyone) and I can say that the show looks like it is going to be really great.

Subscribed.

Will the next Apple TV be really inexpensive?

December 28th, 2011

Horace Dediu of Asymco thinks so. Him, on Twitter:

I’m starting to believe that if and when Apple TV is updated the hardware price will be surprisingly low.

As you may very well know Eliza and I use our Apple TV a lot. We don’t use all of the features but we use it daily. For $99 (its current price) I think it a steal. I can’t imagine what would happen if, say, a new Apple TV was priced at $29 (my guess at what “surprisingly low” could be).

This, of course, is besides the notion that Apple will, at some point in the future, debut a brand-new television-related product. Perhaps a TV of their own. Or, perhaps, a really inexpensive Apple TV in addition to a TV of their own. Who knows?

But I can say this… I highly, highly recommend anyone with an iPhone, iPod, iPad or Macintosh to consider the Apple TV a must-have accessory. A must-have accessory. And if a new one is priced lower than today’s models than my recommendation would only be stronger.

The top 5 things people really do while watching The Biggest Loser

September 21st, 2010

Professional comedy writers Colin & Eliza Devroe, authors of The Misguided Twitter Guide and The Misguided Facebook Guide, are back to tell you the truth. Many people think that The Biggest Loser, a TV show about people exercising 8 hours a day for 6 days a week, eating healthy and losing incredible amounts of weight in a short period of time is changing the world. It isn’t. Here is the truth. Here are the top five things that people really do while watching The Biggest Loser.

  1. Well, they are watching TV. – Lets face it, people are just sitting on the couch watching other people work out. This isn’t a work out tape. This isn’t Richard Simmons and definitely no Tony Horton. This is a TV show and people are sitting there, watching it, doing nothing.
  2. Eating junk food! People eat a lot while watching The Biggest Loser. And, it isn’t like they are eating a sensible meal either. This dude eats pie. Someone else cake.
  3. Drinking alcohol. Jillian recommends almost no drinking of alcohol while dieting. But I guess champagne is ok?
  4. Cry. The journey for the contestants isn’t only physical, it is also emotional. I guess it is emotional for the viewers too. Every time.
  5. Make fun of The Biggest Loser. If you can’t beat ‘em, make fun of ‘em. This guy says he is going to get some cookies and this chick is going to get some donuts for tonight’s premier.

The authors of this list are big fans of The Biggest Loser and are probably as guilty as anyone of doing one or all of them while watching the show.

Enjoy the premier!

Live chat – No Reservations – Food Porn 2.

April 19th, 2010

Tonight’s episode of No Reservations, Food Porn 2, will be the first episode in many episodes that I will be watching “Live”. I figured I might as well take the opportunity to do something fun. A live chat. I’ll be using FriendFeed, yes that FriendFeed, to make this dead simple to update.

There is no need to refresh the page, it will update automatically. Just leave the page open and watch the show.

If you want to participate you can by joining the room on Friendfeed for this post or simply comment below.

Using an Airport Express to extend a wireless network using the LAN port

March 2nd, 2010

Recently Eliza and I signed up for Netflix. Ever since moving into our new apartment I haven’t had the Xbox 360 connected to the Internet because of the location of my cable modem/router and because the Xbox 360 does not come Wifi-enabled by default.

This hasn’t been too much of an issue since I haven’t been playing any games using the Xbox 360 (we’ve been playing a lot more Wii though) and haven’t needed any of the Live features. But, Netflix has an Xbox 360 application that makes it simple to stream any movies directly to your TV in HD. Daddy wants.

I didn’t want to spend the money for the “dongle” or whatever it is to give the Xbox 360 Wifi capability so I was very pleased when I came across Alex King’s blog post about using the Airport Express to provide a wired connection. I already have an Airport Express that I use for Airtunes to my surround sound set up which is right next to the Xbox 360. I’ve had Alex’s tutorial ‘starred’ in Google Reader for weeks and today I finally took the time to get it set up.

It works great. (And the Airtunes capability remains.)

Alex links to an Apple Support article that, inexplicably, isn’t complete. Where the article lacks Alex provides some tips so be sure to read both the support article and his blog post in full before you begin to help alleviate any headaches.

Revision3 offers Conan a job/stake in the company

January 19th, 2010

Revision3, the Internet video network that brought you DIGG Nation, The Totally Rad Show, Scam School, and other very popular video podcasts, is offering Conan O’Brien a spot on their network. What’s more they are offering a fair stake in the company itself to Conan if he decided to make the jump.

Jim Louderback, the CEO of Revision3, also provided his reasoning on the matter. I believe his comparison to Howard Stern and satellite radio is apt.

I think this bold move is great for a company like Revision3 to make. I hope there is some dialogue that carries on as a result of this move that, at the very least, puts the Internet into the mix for anyone that does traditional TV and wants something different. It may not be Conan’s choice but if it even makes it “a choice” for Conan that will be a success.

The L5 Remote

January 7th, 2010

Speaking of cool remote controls – the L5 Remote is a combination iPhone/iPod touch application + accessory to turn said iPhone or iPod touch into a remote control for your television, DVR, Blu-ray player, and just about anything else accepting IR input.

Yes, please. But I’ll need a discount on two (one for my iPhone and one for the wife’s).

The utility of an iPhone is something that is being realized over time. It is a simple, extensible touchscreen device that can and will replace many, many other devices. Think of the devices it has already replaced (for those of us that own one). For me the iPhone has already replaced a pocket-sized digital camera for quick photos, an iPod, a phone, a “netbook” like device for Internet access (anything smaller than a laptop), a notebook, a pocket dictionary (not a device I suppose), a photo album, an alarm clock, a calendar, a to do list of some sort, a wireless remote control for my surround sound when playing music through iTunes, a pocket-sized gaming device (like a Nintendo DS or the like), and much more.

For those that have the iPhone 3GS it replaces, by default, several other devices such as a small pocket-sized video camera, a GPS device, and perhaps even a turn-by-turn directions device for the car.

I think that we’re just beginning to see the iPhone being extended through accessories that will help it replace even more of our devices. Will the next version of the iPhone do that even better? Will Apple announce a new device that will replace even more devices in our home? Time will tell.

I blame Crocodile Dundee

July 21st, 2009

Make no mistake. No Reservations is a show primarily about food. That doesn’t mean that every episode is only about food or that the entire length of the program is centered around food. Sometimes an episode focuses more on the people, culture, history, geography, or various other aspects of a location – instead of only the food.

No Reservations Australia was about food. Not necessarily Australian food either. More like food that happened to be made in Australia. Like so many other places on this planet, globalization is in full effect in Melbourne, Australia. The food is heavily influenced, if not outright made and served by, people from other cultures around the world. This episode, rather than focusing on the Australia we all think we know (shrimp on a barbie, Aborigines eating bats in the outback, and kangaroos) it focused on the side of Australia we probably never knew was there. I blame Crocodile Dundee for my skewed view of Australia.

I suppose Tony’s little black book being chocked full of amazing chefs all over the world helps – since we undoubtedly saw a side of Melbourne cuisine that most of us probably couldn’t afford. But I’m ok with that. No Reservations is the world through Tony’s eyes – not mine. Through Tony’s contacts, budget, and experience – not mine. And every single week I look forward to that… whether or not it depicts an experience that I could ever have or not.

Shrimp over pasta

I decided to make something a little different for this episode. Yes, I made shrimp but I decided to add a little bit of an Italian flare (read: make my own basic tomato sauce and throw it over pasta). There was no indication that Italy has had any real effect on the food in Melbourne, Australia in this episode (although I’m sure it has)… but there was a lot of showing many other areas that obviously have had a huge impact. British, Lebanese, and Sichuan influences were highlighted the most. I need some Sichuan food at my next opportunity.

When No Reservations focuses on food everything else seems to fall into place.

Aren’t Mondays the greatest?

July 15th, 2009

Mondays are notoriously the least favorite day of the week. The end of the weekend. The beginning of the work week – no matter how you look at it, it isn’t good. Which is why I love that No Reservations is on Monday night.

What better way to cap off an otherwise crappy day? Tune into the Travel Channel and be whisked away by Anthony Bourdain to someplace you’ve probably never been, learn facts about that place that you’ve probably never known, and watch him experience peoples and foods that you’ve probably never experienced yourself.

No Reservations Chile

The opening few minutes of No Reservations – Chile, for me, weren’t that great. I’ve watched the episode twice now and I still think the beginning could have used a punch up in the first few minutes somehow. That being said, the rest of the episode was fantastic.

Empanadas

I don’t know about you, but every time I watch No Reservations I end up drooling, stomach making gurgling sounds, ever wanting a dish of whatever Tony is eating. Not this time. This time my lovely wife Eliza whipped up some empanadas for us to enjoy. We were both surprised when empanadas were not in this episode… but wait – they were. One of the missing scenes was mouthwatering empanadas. We had ours baked not fried as Tony does. I don’t know how Tony isn’t 300lbs.

Patagonia. I think the No Reservations crew are using some new lenses this year because, while Patagonia looks like one of the most beautiful coastal areas on the planet, it looked altogether real or three-dimensional on my HD TV. I could smell the seawater. Whatever lenses you’re using – keep it up. Chile is one of the most gorgeous episodes to date (Venice is high up on this list).

Twice during this episode Tony remarked how he could see himself somehow delegating the job of host to someone else. He jested that he’d just like to sit back, relax, and enjoy his food without “worrying about the cameras”. He has to be kidding right? Although I believe he’s a hard working man, a man that does his job well, puts a lot of effort into making what could be just a good show a great one – I also believe he really loves his job. But, if he wants to experiment a little – I’m available for a trip or two. There are several places on earth I’m dying to get to, to explore, to enjoy, to photograph, to eat.

I bet with Tony’s job I’d come to love Mondays.

Next up: Australia. Having had kangaroo I’m looking forward to Tony’s take on what I think is some of the best meat in the world.