Anthony Bourdain - Parts Unknown
 

Am I the only one who finds his/this show totally cool? And I guess it proves that I DO watch more than Fox News! :D

Much like Guy Fieri and Charlie Rose, but in totally different ways because the shows are totally different, they all have great jobs and do a great job with their shows.

It' Saturday, it's cold as all get-out, and I'm working on reasons to not rotate the tires....

Why in D.C.?

I don't know why it's in DC, but I do like it. I think it's great that he shows you every-day life areas of places he visits.

Because it's not Chiefs or sports...

I tend to error on the side of not putting things not-sports-related anywhere but in the D.C..

I agree. I know when I come across it I usually don't change the channel. I'm not as interested in the US-based stuff because I'm here (although it's not "bad"), but the overseas stuff is shown through a very interesting journalistic lens.

It's a fantastic collection of video essays on place. Wonderful show.

The comparison to Guy Fieri is bizarre, however. Also GD, this should have been posted in the Media Center subforum.

Can somebody move it, I don't know how to do that?

And the comparison to Guy Fieri was that they have cool jobs, nothing more. I know this, I'd rather have either of their jobs most of the time. Anthony for the travel and meeting of people the world-ver, Guy Fieri for the the awesome food!

Except Guy Fieri's job just may give him a heart attack some day.

PM a mod to have it moved.

On the subject of Fieri's show - his schtick is kind of annoying but I do like how he goes in the kitchen of those places and has them show you how they cook. Gives me a lot of respect for these people that go to a ton of effort just to make one dish.

I know Guy was seen to be kind of a jackass when he was here in KC (at a Royals game), but I'd like to think he was just having a bad day. I'm prolly wrong. but it's a nice place for my mind to live.

But alas this is more about Anthony and his more thought-provoking work, not the gut-filling awesomeness Guy exposes (but is very cool to watch being made and trying to duplicate at home)...

So?

Done.

Thanks..

I prefer Bourdain's prevous shows. They were travel shows disguised as a food show. This one seems more like a news documentary than a travel show. Maybe it is just me.

I'm a big fan, watch him all the time, reruns on Travel and the new one on CNN. He's mellowed quite a bit over the years, he isnt nearly as snarky and snooty as he used to be.

Watched a really excellent on in Cambodia just the other night, its just good tv, you learn something about how to make exotic foods and learn something about the world while you're at it.

That wasn't Guy Fieri.

Wait, what??? Who was it then?

Yes. The show is awesome, though he shares very little with Guy Fieri.


I was a little torn on Parts Unknown to start because I was a huge fan of No Reservations and wasn't sure they'd do as good of a job with it. I think that I like Parts Unknown as much or more.

Woot, it got moved. It's all like magic up in here!!

An impersonator attention whoring, kind of like inmeme58...

Well dang, I have some un-shit talking to do!

Thanks...

OK, I'm re-convinced that the man has one of the best jobs EVER!

Watching the piece on the firehouse cooking was totally cool...

And now Doe's Eat Place (in Greenville, MS) is on my bucket list.

Never seen the show, but I'm currently reading Kitchen Confidential. Quite a good read so far.

RE: Guy Fieri... I used to like the guy, but he now suffers from what knocked Rachel Ray out for me: Overexposure. He's on all the ****ing time. I personally can't stand DDD, and I was flipping through the guide the other day and it was on FN for like 9 straight hours. Insane.

I must admit, I still watch DDD for ideas for taking staff members to a well deserved meal from the boss. So far it's been just awesome, I recommend it for any bosses who have employees who work tirelessly and sacrifice.

But I'd never consider ABPU anything like those other people. ABPU is a chef who gets out into the world and uses food as a means to uncover the larger issues of the region, the people, the traditions, the culture, and the struggles of the lives the people lead. From vietnam, to the Bronx, to Burma, to China, he gets around. Watching his piece on Provincetown, MA was amazing. It's really where he got his 1st start (before his other 1st start in NYC), but it was very interesting.

I encourage everybody to watch it....

This dude just comes across as a pretentious douchebag, trying to be all noble. But we all really know he's a tool.

Bourdain, noble?

That's an interesting description of him.

Some people just don't get irony or sarcasm. Bourdain is as self deprecating as it comes, and readily acknowledges he has the best job in the world due to nothing special about himself.

He sure wasn't saying that on the Layover show that he did at the end of his Travel channel show. Pretty sure he was angling to get fired with some of the shit he was saying about it that made the airing episodes. I'll bet there was some priceless stuff that got left on the cutting room floor.

I don't know - he almost seems like he doesn't like himself sometimes. I wouldn't say he acts noble.

he was very pissed off at Travel Channel for using his show for product placement without his approval.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...n_2083223.html

Wow, I've never had any such take on the guy. He lways say he's lucky because he survived drugs, says his cooking isn't the best, and just is humble about himself when he meets the people in these distant places who usually live with less than the graces we enjoy.

Oh right, the bodies in the trunk tweets. What is funny, Bourdain has had product placement in his show before, but with companies he gets paid by. Silly to be mad about the car and have no problem hocking lipitor and chase sapphire.

I like Bourdain for what he is and I also think his older shows are superior.

Silly? Because someone used his name and likeness without asking? He was very upfront about the limited amount he does and why. I don't blame him one bit.

My favorite Bourdain moment was when he went to... Sardenia maybe? Somewhere in Italy. The guy he is "fishing" with attempts to set up a photo op where they're supposedly catching their seafood by hand. He wholesale starts throwing frozen fish and octopus and such into the water, then pretending to go and gather them with fins and snorkel.

Tony, in the narration, completely busts the guy out and talks about how miserable the whole thing made him. He then proceeds to get wasted drunk because he's so dejected about it. He also narrates that and says, "I'm glad this is on film, because I have absolutely zero recall of how this evening turned out or the conversation I'm having with this couple."

It was just so refreshing for him to peel back the lens of how so many of those photo op "reality" shows stage crap and to see how much it depressed him when he was seeking an "authentic" experience. His subsequent alcoholic binge rang so true, and reminded me of something I'd do.

that was hilarious. as was the spat with the place in Chicago that tried to pack the place with "extras". Tony said you know what, we don't need it fake, we'll go somewhere else.

LOL

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Yeah I think that was the one where the wife is giving him dirty looks during dinner.

Love Bourdains show. The layover is great too. Definitely somebody you'd like to have a drink with and listen to his stories. He comes from the real world. Bourdain admits he was flat on his ass broke when he wrote kitchen confidential and just had a lot of things go his way.

Most fans are aware, but I'm not sure everyone who watches the show knows Bourdain's background. His rough past was emphasized to me recently on the Bronx episode. He's hanging with his tour guide and they're discussing the neighborhood crackheads. Bourdain says something like, "I know it well. I spent quite a few years as a crackhead."

But the part when he's eating in the park, looks across the water and says, "I can see my apartment from here but didn't know this place existed" was very interesting too.

I just thing the man is cool and hasn't sold-out to the man yet. At least not yet. And if he has, he's hiding it well. And his ability to talk about everything in his past from drugs, to his first job being in what is/was a gay town, to just how dam lucky he is to both be alive and doing so well is so cool. Add to it the nature of the show, using food to get to all these other cultures and their larger issues and a lot of history, is really something that makes me keep watching.

So, for a guy who usually doesn't like CNN, AB is certainly part of what makes me rethink some of that. And even their New Year's duo is the one I'm most likely to watch because they appear to be the "NY New Year's Eve" bash equivalent of AB's take on cooking and traveling.

yeah, we has BIG into heroin. His fiction books aren't half bad either.

Brazil is on now... Like!

Just watched AB's Manila episode... Wow, the dude is awesome!

My favorite is when he visits Iran. Wish they had a better government. Iranians are just busting to go more western.

Sobering too... The way their leadership oppresses people is downright terrible.