Tuesday, October 28, 2008
TV Dinner The Pain in Spain
Posted by Carrington Fox on Tue, Oct 28, 2008 at 5:00 AM
Is anyone watching Spain...On the Road Again, the PBS documentary with chef Mario Batali, Gwyneth "Spain Is, Like, My Passion" Paltrow, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman and actress Claudia Bassols road-tripping through Spain? I am trying. The food looks divine, and the Spanish backdrop is stunning. But so much about the unscripted junket makes me cringe that I haven't made it through a whole episode.
It could be that half of the dialog is in Spanish, which I don't speak, so I feel like I'm back in high school watching the cool kids have a conversation that I'm not invited to join. And then there are interminable Real World-style exchanges like the one in which a positively radiant Gwyneth—with golden locks unfurling from the passenger seat of the convertible Mercedes—kvetches to Mario about how she doesn't have any spa time now that she's a mom. Gag me. No, better—gag her.
Maybe Bittman reminds me too much of the Scene's own bald curmudgeon, Jeff Woods. Either way, I'd rather watch Woods tour the taco stands of South Nashville than endure the Times' columnist ogling Bassols all the way from Galicia to Gehry's Guggenheim.
In Mario's defense, he has been pretty non-grating. In the footage I've seen, he's been mostly behind the wheel while the camera focuses on everyone else. It sort of makes me wonder if somewhere along the way the Crocs-shod chef realized that this well-intentioned culinary documentary would inevitably devolve into a prolonged self-indulgent glamour shot, so he offered to drive.
Is it just me, or is this show making anyone else green—with either envy or nausea?
Comments (8)
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I'm mostly green with envy. I've enjoyed the handful of episodes that I've been able to catch. Granted, I do speak enough Spanish to understand about 85% of what is being said (when they're in the Castillian-speaking regions, of course), so that might help. I have noticed Bittman ogling Claudia Bassols more times than I am comfortable with. Gives me the icks.
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Mr Fluffernutter wondered whether it was going to be an actual-time-elapsed travel show, but he was positively enchanted with the smoked caviar.
No, you're spot on. I've been wondering if anyone else felt the same way. I was so excited about the show from the promos. Then, I watched. It was nauseating and boring. They weren't even showing enough of the countryside or towns to make it worth stomaching. I stopped watching after the first episode.
I've caught a couple of episodes, and if I chose to comment on them, I'd wind up parroting you. Paltrow, specifically, makes me want to change the channel. Out of touch, much?
an absolute embarrassment
i hate to be a hater
and i love batali and respect ittman
but FUCK
it's a pbs debacle
mario is self serving and up gwynne's ass
bitman just wants to fuck the spanish chick and is just a clod on tv
the spanish chick has nothing of substance to say - ever, total eye candy at best.
and gwynne the rockstar just wants to go home...
we watched it with our jaws dropping lower each minute
AND THE MUSIC ???????? makes me wanta scream....
i do not understand
and they are selling the dvd
Since the blood of the Basque people run through my veins, and my fave dish has always been “chipirones en su tinta”, I have appointed myself arbiter of all-things-Iberian.
I finally watched last night's episode. And the verdict is not so good.
The basic promise is swell (like lifestyles of the rich & famous, but with actually famous people) But the whole idea of hitting the most expensive palaces in a $100K Mercedes is a bit out of touch.
The show should be a 1/2 hr. As is, it is ploddingly paced, lazy, and it manages to make the most vibrant regions of Spain look dull and lethargic. It could be due to Mario, who reminds me of someone who's heart is about to give up. I mean, he guy can't even walk without being completely out of breath. And his_slow_delivery_is_quite_annoying.
Gwyn has the most delightful and pitch-perfect Castilian accent. However, she has nothing to say in either language. Mario's accent is good, and his knowledge of Spanish cuisine is vast, but most of the time they forget to subtitle him.
Which brings me to The Man With No game, and Eye Candy. Bitman comes across as a whiney, stars-struck clod, an unfunny Woody Allen stuck in Fantasy Island. And The Babe is comes across as someone who’s only wanting to take full advantage of a really swell junket, viewers be damned.
And for $39.95, it can be yours.
