The Layover with Anthony Bourdain

[heidih]

I just saw a promo for the upcoming series. Here is a link to a description. Has anyone seen any promos or "leaked" views?

[Hassouni]

I saw a commercial for it the last time I saw No Reservations (I think it was a rerun). It's a decent idea for a show - sounds like the 24 hour Greatest Hits of any given city. Does this mean No Reservations is over though?

[tanstaafl2]

The Huffington Post has a preview video here. It is a pretty basic promo of the show. Premieres November 21st.

And probably other sites as well. There is a preview video on Travel Channel but I can't get that one to load from the office.

Sounds like this is in addition to rather than instead of No Reservations.

I plan to give it a try as I have enjoyed most episodes of No Reservations. I do confess I like the travel part of No Reservations as much or maybe even more than the eating part of the show.

[ScoopKW]

I've watched the previews -- looks like Tony is going to be "Rick Steves" with an attitude.

"Here's how you get from the airport to the [stuff] you want to see, and back in time to catch your next flight."

[Vooon]

I caught the first episode from Monday where he's in Singapore. It is quite similar to No Reservation, but I felt it lacked the same quality. To sum up the concept Mr. Bourdain is still rather foul mouthed and tries to do as much as possible in some 24 to 48 hours. The result was definitely some nice dining, but the concept is also kinda an Achilles heel of the show as well. In my opinion they stuffed way too much information into the 45 minutes it lasts. As well as following Anthony they present dozens of places he recommends or just mentions because of fame or something. This leads to a lot of use of split screen, three-four tiles, bombing you with information and makes you just as exhausted as he obviously is towards the end of the show.

If they cut out at least 2/3s of the additional material added and focused on what he actually is doing it would be much better, but I guess this would be just like No Reservations was filmed in 24 hours instead of 3-4 days. I am eager to see what the rest of the series has to offer though, but if it's along the same lines I'd say he should go back to the old concept.

[jsmeeker]

I've watched the previews -- looks like Tony is going to be "Rick Steves" with an attitude.

"Here's how you get from the airport to the [stuff] you want to see, and back in time to catch your next flight."

This seems like a good short and sweet summary.

The idea is to do a more traditional type of travel show. Do things that are easily accessible to regular normal people. A lot of what Tony does in No Reservations is pretty "extreme". So, now, you get Rick Steves or Samantha Brown, but with the normal does of Tony Bourdain snark.

[Special K]

I liked the New York episode much better than the Singapore one. I don't care much for restaurant dining, but I did like the segment on the restaurant supply place and ah! the Kitchen Arts and Letters bookstore - now that's someplace I'd love to visit!

[Jmahl]

Tony is Tony. You either love him or watch something else. The man is a mench.

[David Ross]

5 letters.....A--W--F--U--L.

[Vooon]

Ditto. I also enjoyed the NYC episode more than Singapore, I think they might have toned down all the additional information a little. The first one felt like reading a academic text filled with more footnotes than actual text.

[jsmeeker]

5 letters.....A--W--F--U--L.

Wow? Really?

I can't recall if you have a general, overall dislike of Tony or not. If not, how is this really bad? It's still Tony. He's just doing a travel show that doens't have lots of "obscure" stuff in it.

[jmolinari]

I thought the singapore episode was pretty awesome. Haven't watched NY yet.

[Vooon]

Getting better and better I'd say. The last couple of episodes have been interesting, Anthony definitely not high on pot in Amsterdam, and Anthony definitely very drunk in San Francisco. Amusing in it self, but the shows have been stuffed with good stuff as well, I especially enjoyed the Hong Kong episode.

[BeeZee]

my only disappointment with the shows is how many of the episodes have him spending the better part of his time in a city in a bar (or more correctly, bars), even after he'll say what a great city it is, he won't show many options for someone who doesn't want to sit on a barstool for 48 hours. I get that he doesn't want to show the typical touristy stuff, but surely it doesn't need to be one extreme or the other.

[annabelle]

I've grown tired of Tony. I like his books better than him.