Last Call: Before Bourdain, There Was Michael Palin The Travel Host
Anthony Bourdain and his team created the greatest travel television show in history. But before Bourdain, there was Michael Palin. Who could've thought the Monty Python cast member's second act on television would be through his BBC series, which would take him around the world in 80 days, from the North Pole down to the South, and my favorite of his shows, Full Circle, which took Palin on a circuitous route around the Pacific Ocean.
So I've been dying to watch Palin's latest series for Channel 5, which took him to the hermit country of North Korea. Here's the two-part, 90-minute special from last September. Palin's interactions with "locals" are very strange and very mesmerizing.
(If you haven't seen Armando Iannucci's The Death of Stalin, which Palin has a memorable role, watch it tonight.)