An Idiot Abroad (Sky 1, 2010)

[kaytee]

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are producing a travel show where they are sending the great Karl Pilkington to different parts of the world to see how he reacts to different cultures.

I have watched the Pilot and I have to say that it is the most funniest show I have seen in a long time. I don't know if Karl is actually this daft or if he is just playing the part but man this show is funny.

If you loved their XFM radio show this is definitely for you.

[madali]

Holy shit, hadn't heard of this, but sounds like the best thing ever. Karl Pilkington is fucking awesome.

[kaytee]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/aUTH1coLIWE&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/aUTH1coLIWE&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/TChZa-GfAtA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/TChZa-GfAtA&rel=1</a>

[madali]

By the way, KT, Karl is real. I remember Ricky, on the show, talking about how much work they put in the Office, why would they spend time scripting for a radio show.

Here is one of his recent blog posts,

"
A Confession

Some people have correctly spotted that An Idiot Abroad is totally scripted. It took ages to write too. Each episode of The Office took us about 2 months to write but they were only 30 minutes long. This show is nearly an hour so each script took us about 3 and a half months to write. Casting was a lot harder too. Just finding that indian actor that looked like Bill Oddie took 8 weeks. It was also a bit embarrassing auditioning people and asking them to wrap their cocks round a walking stick. Still, it will all be worth it when Steve and I win all the BAFTAs again for writing and directing.

I'm a lot prouder of creating the "Pilkington" character (that's not his real name, of course), than I am of David Brent probably. (Although ironically, David Brent isn't a character at all. I am just like that in real life so I didn't have to write any lines for that one. In fact I didn't realise The Office was a sitcom at the time. The BBC just came to my place of work and filmed me selling paper. I've certainly milked becoming famous off the back of that lucky break, right?)

So yeah, Karl is completely fake. When you meet him off camera he's a bit like Steven Fry. We just get him to act dim to make money. All the podcasts and audiobooks were completely scripted too. If you listen carefully you can hear us turning the pages. The good thing about those were that we didn't have to learn the lines by heart as we weren't in vision. A lot easier than in An Idiot Abroad where Karl not only has to learn the whole script but often only gets one take because we only have all those extras for a few hours.

The tricky bit is when he's interviewed on radio and TV. We have to get the presenter in on it so they ask him the right questions. Luckily every single one has gone along with it and never given the secret away. Thanks. But I just thought it was time to come clean. I'm ashamed that I ever lied to you. Sorry.

"Karl" will find it difficult getting different roles in other scripted comedies and dramas as we have typecast him so much over the last few years, so please buy the audiobooks and DVDs as he will need the money.

I'm glad the charade is over as I won't need to pretend to find my best mate funny anymore. It's hard laughing at lines you've written yourself. Obviously I don't find him funny at all and we are not really friends. Thanks for watching all this time suckers, and well done to the really smart people who knew all this all along. You got me! You are brilliant.

Ricky. "

[madali]

KT, you saw episode 3 where he goes to Israel, Palestine, and Jordan? Absolutely brilliant episode and just shows why I like Karl so much. He says very funny things, but in a very strange way, he is also quiet smart, just without the pretentious that comes from most smart people.

[kaytee]

No I havent seen it yet, will do so tomorrow.

[madali]

An Idiot Abroad (Sky 1, 2010)

[In the Taj Mahal] "This is where Diana had her photo taken when she was having her problems with Charlie. Everyone said this is why she looked so miserable, but to be honest I think she was just sick of being in India.”

When I listened to Ricky Gervais' old XFM radio show, I was mainly finding other work that Ricky Gervais had done. My first surprise was how much funny always co-writer Stephen Merchant was. But my real surprise came when I was introduced to their producer, Karl Pilkington, who turned out to be a down to earth, every day man, with a unique and honest view of the world. Who was very gullible and said a lot of stupid things, that made Ricky and Stephen mock and laugh at him. It was a brilliant mix of three different comical personalies.

After all the years of Ricky standing behind Karl, we finally have him on the screen, with his TV Show, "An Idiot Abroad", where Karl is send to the 7 wonders of the world. Stephen says that he believes travel broadens the mind, Ricky says his reason for sending him is because he knows Karl will hate it. It's his most expensive practical joke.

As Karl visits each city, he follows the plan that Ricky and Stephen have set up for him, with people to meet and places to visit, before ending with visiting the wonder in that particular city. Karl's reactions are funny, discomfort combined with confused, but to me, there is something else about Karl's visit that makes the show more than just a funny fish-out-of-water comedy. Karl's reactions are brutally honest. When we travel to places we feel are important, it is difficult to not say how impressive they are, even if we might not be that impressed by it. Stick a camera in front of our face, and we certainly do not want to ever say that visiting a wonder is not that big of a deal. But Karl does. If he isn't impressed by something, he says it. For example, for the most part, he is not impressed by the Great Wall of China (he calls it the Alright Wall of China), with a great observation. It seems most of the wall has been reconstructed, so most of it isn't even that old. So, it is just a newly built wall. He's right, how is that really that impressive?

"A lot of people say they go to India to find themselves. But what happens if I change, and go home and I'm all different? Suzanne's going "what's wrong with you?" and then she doesn't like the new me that I've found. And then I start to hate myself because I'm not the person I thought I was. I know who I am. Bloody hell I'm getting bills for Karl Pilkington left right and centre so I hope I'm him, 'cuz if I'm not I'm paying for someone else."

4/5

[madali]

An Idiot Abroad: Season 02 (Sky 1, 2011)

Karl Pilkington returns back with another series of “An Idiot Abroad”. The show remains funny, and while it does not break new ground from the first series, it is still a fantastic show. For all of Karl’s idiocy, he still remains an honest, and at times, surprisingly insightful individual, which makes the show the best travel show to watch.
 
Travel shows are usually like cooking shows. The hosts exaggerate the potential positive qualities of everything they do. In cooking shows, every meal the host tastes is the best orgasmic thing they have ever tasted. Sometimes I want the hosts to go, “Hmm…not that good”. But it is always, “WOW, MY TASTE BUDS JUST ORGASMED INTO A MILLION PIECES!!”. Travel shows are like that, so it is nice when Karl visits somewhere and tells how that it is underwhelming, because sometimes you visit a place, and you feel exactly like that. In this second series, it is not the supposedly great places Karl is to see, like how it was in series one , but as it is, things to do before you die list, it is great things a person is supposed to do. When he visits the peak of the world (that is, the most north point in the world), it may sound amazing on paper, but it’s just a barren, snowy location in Alaska. As Karl points out, not even a coffee shop.
 
Karl does not do all the things the show asks of him. He refuses to bungee jump in two different episodes. So when he does actually do something, you feel happy for him. In his final travel, he climbs Mount Fuji, and it seems difficult, but he does it for himself. And it’s best feelings I got from a show for a long time.
 
4/5

[kaytee]

I agree, this is a feel good show and Karl makes it soo watchable.