"Spain - On the Road Again," AKA "Horndog Road Trip"

...meaning Mario Batali's new PBS series, which I am finding to be virtually unwatchable. I like usually Batali's TV efforts, but lemme tell you, a little bit of him and mind-boggling smarmy sidekick, the NYTimes's Mark Bittman, flirting with a Spanish actress young enough to be their respective daughter goes a very, very long way. Jose Andres just did a delightful comprehensive milti-ep Spanish cooking 750% better, AND with 0% Willie Nelson content - plus Andres didn't once make my skin crawl. What a waste of time and money. What was PBS thinking in greenlighting this malarkey??

How bad is it? 20 minutes in, and I'm back to the Cowboys/Redskins game. Que horrible!

I rather like it, but I'm genetically predisposed to like anything with Claudia Bassols in it. I thought the trip to the cheese maker was a great segment, even if the Don Quixote bit was lame.

I like Jose Andres' show quite a bit, too, but I don't think they're quite the same. Jose Andres' is more cooking focused, and S-OTRA is more travel focused.

Ditto on the Horndog Road Trip. Bittman is just unbearable.

Love Gwyneth's affected, "granola look." I can't believe she just said "barfing" on a food show.

S-OTRA is more travel focused.

Not at all, IMO. This seems to be focused on some imagined remake of a bad Woody Allen movie, with food thrown in. Godawful. I checked back periodically when the Skins/Cowboys game went to commercial, and there seems to be a fixation on Batali/erstwhile vegan Paltrow and Bittman/Bassols strolling pointlessly through the Spanish countryside. And did I catch Batali mentioning the Huns storming El Escorial? WTF??

Arrrrgh!

I am a huge Batali fan and I can't express how disappointed I am in this show. What producer thought that people wanted to watch these four chatting away about nothing in a car for an hour, or walking down the road? The cooking is minimal and I'm not getting much culture of travel content out of it either.

I do think I would watch Claudia Bassols in just about anything though.

It's OK. I've watched 2 eps. so far (am Tivo-ing it). It's at least as much about Spain as a travel destination as it is about food, if not more so. (and witness all the support ads for the Spain Tourism Board)

I've seen it a few times. I think it's disgusting to see those two old guys ogling the hot babes. I soooo wish I was one of those two old guys.

They don't seem like they are ogling to me. From what I have read, Paltrow and Batalli are friends, as are Bittman and Batalli.

Necessary visual aids:



Claudia Bassols



Percebes

Hmm.




Batali.

Draw your own conclusions on the need for some photogenic balance in the program.

They don't seem like they are ogling to me.

Perhaps "drooling and slobbering" would be more accurate. I am assuming you didn't see the ep featuring the sleepover at some hype-expensive inn located in a Spanish vineyard. Cringe-worthy in the extreme.

How bad is it? Well, Tony Bourdain did a pilot for a new Travel Channel show called "At the Table." Since, as previously mentioned, I do not get the Travel Channel, it was evidently so bad that Bourdain virtually disavows it on his own blog. Several people noted in posts, in an attempt to be comforting, that while Bourdain's show was indeed virtually unwatchable, it wasn't nearly as bad as Batali's soft porn commercial. Cracked me up.

I haven't watched it enough to have an opinion on the horndog angle, but I did see the episode where Batali and Paltrow just happened to pick up ... is it the guy from REM? Sorry, I'm so not with it, for a minute there I thought it was John Malkovitch ...

... which is classic jump-the-shark material for me, when a food show or food magazine, or anything else, for that matter (I'm thinking of, say, Runner's World way back when) stops being about the thing and starts being about the celebrities.

...classic jump-the-shark material for me, when a food show or food magazine, or anything else, for that matter (I'm thinking of, say, Runner's World way back when) stops being about the thing and starts being about the celebrities.

Very well put, indeed. Glad I missed the Michael Stipe ep - talk about Must-Flee TV!

Wait, that show is supposed to be about food and travel? Pffffftttt... who cares?

sundevilpeg wrote:

...classic jump-the-shark material for me, when a food show or food magazine, or anything else, for that matter (I'm thinking of, say, Runner's World way back when) stops being about the thing and starts being about the celebrities.

Very well put, indeed. Glad I missed the Michael Stipe ep - talk about Must-Flee TV!

Actually Batalli & Stipe are really good friends. There was an episode of Iconoclasts on Sundance Channel where they were the the subjects. They go back a long way.

Actually Batalli & Stipe are really good friends. There was an episode of Iconoclasts on Sundance Channel where they were the the subjects. They go back a long way.

But his appearance here (as well as on an an old ep of 'Molto Mario') bought nothing new or interesting to the show, from what Katie related. Bringing your ol' pal, the washed-up, aging, used-to-be rock star, on what ostensibly was peddled to and by PBS as a cooking/travel cooking show, literally brings nothing to the table.

Peg, here is an idea for you.... if you dislike the show so much, don't watch.

Not my fav show, but I do Tivo it, and fast forward thru most of if, only watching the parts that I think I would enjoy. I have been to most of the places they show shown, so for me, it is like looking at my home movies.

Peg, here is an idea for you.... if you dislike the show so much, don't watch.

Why, thanks for the sage advice! That never occurred to me.


I don't think you understand my point at all. I like Batali, and to a lesser extent, Bittman. I was looking forward to this project, as were a lot of other people, and based on a sampling of three eps, I found it to be a nearly-unwatchable disaster, as well as a huge waste of limited PBS funds. The other thing is that both men men know better, or should. That's hugely disappointing.

Sounds like you need better home movies, too. My memories of Spain seem more like the earthier images, experiences and tastes presented by Jose Andres, not those of a bunch of overprivileged dilettante prats in a Mercedes, annoying the locals.

Finally caught an episode last night (the one with Michael Stipe) and agree with most comments in this thread. I've liked Batali for a while (mostly because of his portrayal in Heat, which paints him as an epic character of huge appetites and talents), but what amazes me most is how little he talked about food. I could bear to watch only about half the show; the food talk was so superficial and non-informative that continued watching seemed fruitless; having our hosts simply remarking now and again that "the countryside is amazing" and "this food is amazing" is hardly compelling television.

Sad. Empty. Stupid.

Michael Stipe has appeared in 2 episodes, including yesterday's. I thought yesterday's, with the visit to the Dali museum, was proably the best of the series so far. which is not to say it was a great episode.

"based on a sampling of three eps,"

We have all "taken one for the team", and with something that was well reviewed by someone we respect, maybe taken two for the team, but I have to go with Albert Einstein's quotation on repetitive actions.

Someone on this board said something like: If you go to a restaurant for any thing other than the food, do not expect too much of the food.

Home movies or photos, to me, serve as a reminder of a time or place. I do not pretend to be Ansel Adams or Coppela, but take an image to remind myself of how I felt, in that place, at that time. Seeing Bilbao, a year ago, after a 20 year absence, was mind bending. Remembering a friend, with whom I traveled to Santiago de Compostela, to make good on a promise he made during an illness. Picking grapes for a couple of days, to pay for food and shelter..... so many memories. And this series helps me remember many of them.

Having said this, I have to agree with just about everyone, this show could have been so much better. Either better food prep, or better "home movies". A lot of wasted talent and money. And who in the FiretrUCK picked Willy Nelson's music?

I unfortunately have to agree with you guys. I really wanted to like it - I've quite enjoyed Bittman's "best recipes" series and Batali too. Most disappointing is that I think this show could have been great but between the constant flirting and gweneth saying "Oh Im so drunk," I think I will have to give it a pass.

Someone on this board said something like: If you go to a restaurant for any thing other than the food, do not expect too much of the food.

That would be Mike G's Law. And yes, it seems to apply here.

Not to be blatantly, butt-obviously self-promotional, but I might suggest that anyone who finds that kind of food TV too bubbleheaded and not really about food would check out this kind of food TV.