Some famous people with travel-related TV shows can’t wait to show you where they’re from, test the physical limits of their bodies, or go above and beyond to find the ideal recipe. Eugene Levy comes next, as reported by AP News.
Spirit of adventure
The “Schitt’s Creek” actor freely confesses that neither the cold nor the heat really appeals to him. He doesn’t particularly enjoy eating unusual foods, and, well, insects terrify him. To be honest, he’d prefer to stay at home.
He admits in an interview that he “not only doesn’t love travelling, but I also have a very low sense of curiosity.” “I don’t have a spirit of adventure. And I genuinely ask myself, “Well, aren’t those prerequisites for hosting a travel show?”
Welcome to Apple TV+’s “The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy,” an unusual union of a sardonic and cautious host with some of the world’s most breathtaking locales.
Exploring Costa Rica
Levy explores a jungle in Costa Rica, walks through slot canyons in Utah, and swims in a freezing lake in Finland throughout the eight-part series. Additionally, he travels to South Africa, Italy, Japan, the Maldives, and Portugal, and even goes on a safari while sipping a gin and tonic.
The show gets funny as he appears more uncomfortable. In a Costa Rican forest teeming with hundreds of different animal species, which he refers to as “all those small threats to life,” the man quips to his guide, “I’m the more Great Indoors type of guy.” He quips drily, “Hearty and resilient are two qualities that have never been used to characterise me,” when ice fishing in Finland.
Later in the conversation, he says, “I’m hoping this appeals to experienced travellers who might see this and chuckle.” In addition, I hope that those who, like me, don’t travel frequently, aren’t fond of travelling, and lack an adventurous spirit can identify with me.
The show “The Reluctant Traveler” was originally intended to highlight hotels with breathtaking vistas, but it evolved into one that really shines when Levy departs from them to immerse himself in the destination’s culture and is transformed.
While staying at a luxurious hotel in Utah with a view of the Colorado Plateau, where rooms cost more than $3,000 per night, he discovers a true feeling of spirituality while visiting the simple homestead of his Navajo guide.
Different personality
“The memorable thing for me, by and large, are the people that I’m running into,” Levy says. “I’m hoping that this is one of those shows with a nice kind of different personality.”
Levy uses a snowmobile, goes ice fishing and swimming, eats reindeer, tries husky sledging and ice swimming, and wonders “How do you say slow down in dog?” while in Finland. He believes that the reputation of being among the happiest people on Earth belongs to the Finns. I’ve never encountered anyone who was happier, and I wonder whether that has something to do with the fact that they consume a lot of vodkas.
Levy managed to talk himself out of taking the position. On a phone discussion, executive producer David Brindley and Apple executive Alison Kirkham were attempting to persuade Levy to host a trip programme while Levy was explaining why he was unqualified for the position. They were laughing so hard.
“We all have fears about certain things and we all have things that scare us and we sort of wish that we could do something about them, but we never do. And Eugene has just given himself over to this process,” said Brindley. “And, as a result, maybe he doesn’t enjoy absolutely everything that he puts in his mouth or every activity that goes on, but it’s had a positive influence and he’s come away a bit of a different person.”
A large field of celebrity travel hosts, including Zac Efron, José Andrés, Chris Hemsworth, Will Smith, Stanley Tucci, Macaulay Culkin, and Ewan McGregor, welcomes the 76-year-old actor with bushy eyebrows and big glasses.
“There’s a lot of travel shows around the world and rightly so. They’re gorgeous and they’re escapist and they’re beautiful,” said Brindley, the chief creative officer at production house Twofour. “But launching a new one, you want to find something that has a unique selling point, that has the chance to do something a tiny bit different that will just grab people’s attention and also that feels relatable.”
So in South Africa, viewers will get a kick out of watching Levy nervously reacting to wild animal noises, seeing his first warthog — “That is not a pleasant-looking thing!” — and playing golf among hippos. He collects a faecal sample from a tranquillized elephant and charmingly bottle-feeds a baby rhino. “That was a very, very cute experience,” he says.
To keep Levy fresh, he and his team would visit two locations at a time — spending one week in each — and then break for a few months before reuniting for another set of visits.
Levy consulted over the list of possible locations for the first season and says he got more adventurous each time. “As the series went on, I was kind of rolling with the punches,” he says. “We’ll see how the viewers take to it.”
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Source: AP News
