About the same time, I discovered "Lonely Planet" (also known as "Globe Trekker") a similar show, but much less staged, and often featuring much more remote locations. The show had three or four hosts, but really the only one worth watching was Ian Wright, a funny, slightly-effeminate Englishman who was pretty much at home anywhere in the world and probably the only person who could turn getting a haircut in Iraq into something you'd want to watch. I lived for his episodes. But sadly, over time Ian began appearing less and less and ultimately the whole damn show just went away.I didn't know what to do with myself.
For years I tried to find a replacement, but Samantha Brown was obnoxious, Anthony Bourdain was a prick and John Ratzenberger was, well, John Ratzenberger. The Travel Channel was just about to completely lose me to the Food Network when I saw an advertisement the other night for "America the Wright Way," featuring the one and only Ian Wright. It premiered Monday at 10:00 but I missed it, but from now on you can consider it Tivo'd, I'd recommend you do the same.
*One of my favorite episodes of "Travelers" took place in Turkey and involved a scene featuring the pleasantly plump, balding, not-quite-sure-what-ethnicity-he-is traveler named Solomon visiting a traditional Turkish bath. While this alone would make for some great TV, it got even better when he decided to indulge himself with what the menu called the "Turkish Squirts." Personally, this would have been the one thing I would have tried to avoid. In fact, when traveling abroad I pretty much do everything within my power to avoid getting the squirts of any nationality. But not Solomon. What followed was the sight of Solomon, dressed in his swimming trucks, being led into an open shower where a burly Turkish man got behind a high-powered water canon and laid into him like he was some belligerent hippie—assaulting his ample man-boobs with blasts of cold water, leaving him welted and jiggling. (I tried to find video of this on YouTube but somehow this is the only thing captured on film over the last 50 years that hasn't made it's way to the Web.)
3 comments:
Mr. Ian Wright! I’d almost forgotten about this globe-trotting little Englishman. He had quite a turn of phrase. I’ll never forget his classic use of “easy peasy lemon squeezy” to describe the obviously mundane and simple task of bounding from one outcrop of volcanic rock to another while mere hundreds of feet above certain death.
I wrote this entry with you in mind. In fact, I originally had a whole part about "easy peasy lemon squeezy" and how I have a playlist on my ipod entitled "Easy Peasy" but I thought people would just think I was a dork.
Thank you for mentioning how annoying the chipper Samantha Brown is. I have never heard of anybody else not liking her...until now! As an avid traveler (and former fan of Travel Network shows), I will look this show up.
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