TV Reviews: Naked Castaway / Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

Over the weekend, two new shows premiered on TV for all of us to enjoy.  One TV show shows one guy butt naked on a deserted island.  Another TV show shows a famous TV chef going to very interesting locations.  So let’s review Naked Castaway and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.

Naked Castaway

Naked Castaway is the ultimate survival show that is even better than Man vs. Wild.  The show stars Ed Stafford, who was the first person ever to walk the length of the Amazon River.  Ed was transported to the island of Olorua near Fiji in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  This island has no one living on it and the challenge for Ed Stafford will be to survive on this island for 60 days.  He was given a first aid kit, camera equipment, a satellite phone, and a GPS tracker to be only used in an emergency, and no clothes!  That’s right, he started the living experiment with no clothes.  Some people will be offended seeing anyone naked on TV.  Yes, they did show Ed’s buttocks a few times, the front area was blurred.  But this is real life, you never know if you may end up in a situation like this one day.  Yes, I did black out his butt!

Ed Stafford arrived on the island by boat and he was dropped off.  The survival experiment has begun.  He was given no food, water, tools, or knifes so he has to find resources on his own.  He spends the first night in a cave and then he has to find water.  He uses some old water bottles that has washed up onto the island to collect water.  Sadly the oceans are polluted with lots of human garbage.  One of the most interesting things was the lack of any human interaction.  Ed did scream in the middle of nowhere.  I’m guessing the stress of no interaction is starting to get to him.  I wonder if he will resort to using a coconut or a piece of garbage as an imaginary friend?

Ed did not eat too much in the first episode.  He ate some coconuts and drank some coconut water, a small gecko, snails, and some other interesting things.  But sadly, Ed threw up what he ate!  Along with the water bottles, Ed used shells to collect water during a rain shower.  This is going to be an interesting show to watch.  Ed found some feral goats on the island.  He wants to kill one but needs to build a weapon!  Ed needs to build some shelter to protect him from the hot sun and cold nights.  But the toughest part will be the lack of human interaction.  Will Ed’s mind be able to stay sane?  Naked Castaway airs on Sunday nights at 9 pm central on Discovery Channel.  I encourage you to watch!  This is the ultimate survival experiment!

Learn more at: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/naked-castaway

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

CNN’s ratings have been in a tailspin for a long time now.  So CNN decided to try something new, a reality show!  They tapped Anthony Bourdain and they filmed a show where Anthony goes to interesting places around the world.  The first episode was very interesting as Anthony Bourdain visited Myanmar or Burma.  This country has been under a military, dictatorship control since the 1960’s.  Many people have suffered or have been killed.  Cameras and tourists were banned from this country for a long time until now.  The show mixed in some classic tape of fighting in Myanmar with scenes of the country today. You know the show is going to be good when it opens with Anthony walking down a dark street in the capital city of the country.

Anthony Bourdain takes you on a culinary tour of Myanmar and some of the food he tries is very interesting.  Anthony and the camera crew are the first people to document what is going on in the country in decades.  I liked how they showed the people of Myanmar and the work and activities they were doing.  They talked about the release of human rights activist, Aung San Suu Kyi and the visit from President Obama.  The first stop was a Myanmar tea shop.  The people of Myanmar enjoys black, Indian style tea with some condensed milk.  Some of the pastries and noddle dishes looked yummy!

Anthony rode with the locals in Myanmar.  That meant he rode in packed buses and trains that bounced all around because of bad train tracks.  Most people in Myanmar enjoyed seeing the cameras and they were smiling!  Anthony visited a street fair and the Ferris Wheels looked pretty with the lights on them.  But there is one big difference, the wheels are human powered!  Several people actually climb to the top of the wheel to start spinning the Ferris Wheel.  I was surprised to see how well these people do this job.

In Myanmar, meals are presented by putting many different dishes on the table.  Then you enjoy what you want to eat!  To summon a waiter, people actually smoosh loudly.  In America, this would be considered rude.  I loved seeing the very old British Colonial buildings that people actually live in.  And the Buddhist temples as well!  I liked how the show mixed in food tastings with the culture of Myanmar.  The street fairs, people, music, restaurants, and other things were great to see!  I think I am going to enjoy this show on Sunday nights!  Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown airs on Sunday nights at 8 pm central on CNN.

Learn more at: http://www.cnn.com/video/shows/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown

Follow on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/PartsUnknownCNN and on Twitter @partsunknowncnn

Watch the first episode now at: http://www.cnn.com/video/shows/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown/episode1?on.cnn=2

Related articles

• Behind the scenes with Anthony Bourdain in Myanmar (cnn.com)
• TV Reviews: CNN’s ‘Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown,’ HBO’s ‘The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington’ (variety.com)
• Bourdain: With CNN, I get to go to all the places that I never would have been able to go with any other network (cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com)

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