My New Favorite Show

A colleague of mine recently told me about this show on PBS called "Spain - On The Road Again." I have to say, I absolutely adore this show. The premise is basically Mario Batali, you know, the guy w/ the orange Crox, going on a road trip through Spain with Mark Bittman, a food writer for The New York Times, Gwyneth Paltrow and this Spainish actress I haven't heard of Claudia Bassols. I must say that normally I don't turn to PBS now that I don't watch Sesame Street, This Old House, or that dude that does the painting show but after a few episodes and I was immediately hooked. It's really funny, not in an intentional scripted way like on a sitcom where there's a platoon of writers working. They show a little bit of food, the sights and history of the places they go to, yet somehow in a balance like your favorite bottle of wine. The thing I can't stand about some of these travel shows is that the selling point of the show gets a little old after a while. Yeah, Andrew Zimmern, we know you're going to eat weird shit, and yeah Samantha Brown, we know you're going to talk about whatever fabulous hotel you're staying at that's out of most people's budget especially in this economy.

I am beginning to have more and more problems with Sam Brown... she's just getting annoying, a little too "white girl from Northeast", especially after watching the episode of Paris where she keeps pronouncing Arc de Triomph "trai-awnf" instead of "tree-awnf." Who cares about the $400/night hotel room you're staying in unless it is what defines the city? Maybe there is one that I'm not thinking of off the top of my mind right now but when was the last time you hear someone said that Hotel Bordeux is a must see in Paris (I don't know if there's really a Hotel Bordeux in Paris, I just made that up). She's got a new series now on China... I have a feeling I won't like it and I'll be incredibly offended.

Some other random thoughts:

• Claudia Bassols is really quite beautiful. I have a mad crush on her right now. She's just turned 30 so it's not like age wise it's out of the question. I think she's even more beautiful than Penelope Cruz.
• Who takes road trips in two Mercedes convertibles? When I think road trip I think like Honda Element or just something easy and comfy. I guess after all this is celebrities we're talking about. And it's so funny they always seem to be find a parking spot right in front of the restaurant or whatever destination they're going to. They never happens to me. Oh... the magic of television.
• My gosh! Gwyneth Paltrow knows Spanish? I had no idea! Not only is she a great actress, taken after her mother Blythe Danner, you know, the mom from Meet the Parents, good looking, married to Chris Martin from Coldplay, whom I assume have made and will make more gorgeous babies, she's really quite well traveled and knows her stuff.

I really fell in love with Spain from my visit last year. Part of me secretly wish I could be reborn a Spainard. The food is just full of color and flavor. They have combined the influences of its neighboring countries and cultures flawlessily into another unique idenity (unlike Canada... there's a joke that say Canada could've had the British culture, French cuisine, and American technology but instead they got the American culture, French technology, and British cuisine). I want to take the time and visit more cities in Spain. I want to go to Bilboa, San Sebastian, Valencia and Madrid and have my own version of the Don Quijote adventure.

If any producers out there are interested, I'd happy to pitch the idea of doing a road trip show through the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Australia and different regions of the U.S. That's at least maybe 6 seasons. All sponsored by Honda Element. Go ahead, whore it up. I don't care about product placement.