Have you ever watched a travel show and felt that the glossy representation of the destination was just a little bit too perfect? As though real travel, with all its crazy, kooky experiences, was so much more than that? That’s exactly how Zach Anner – a self-confessed goofball – felt about travel, and his passion for all things offbeat has led to his own web travel show, “Riding Shotgun.”
Zach is wheelchair bound after being born with cerebral palsy, but that hasn’t stopped the Texas-based 28-year-old from quenching his thirst for adventure and seeing the world.
Zach, who has a background in standup comedy, became an Internet sensation in 2010 after he entered Oprah’s search for the next TV star. After briefly starring in his own TV show for the OWN network, Zach turned his attention to his new project, “Riding Shotgun.”The web-based comedy travel series takes viewers on a quirky cross-country trip. Reddit readers got to call the shots on where Zach and his team would go and how they’d spend their time in each city. We’re happy to report that Zach is hosting some of his excellent show over at AolOn, our video network.
Check out the videos and get to know this fun travel host.
If you liked the REEL ROCK climbing and adventure tour, or you’re just a fan of hard knocks-style travel TV in the vein of “Man vs. Wild,” you’ll love this new TV series on Outside Television.
Produced by Emmy award winning filmmakers and backed by The North Face and Gore-Tex, this new weekly show takes footage from the 300-city tour and condenses the very best moments into a weekly TV program starting on January 23.
Each episode follows climbing and mountain adventurers as they attempt to scale the world’s most dizzying heights and scariest cliff faces – with varying degrees of success.
Shot entirely in high-definition, the show features pretty incredible scenery, including El Capitan in Yosemite, the north face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps, and the ice-strewn Helmcken Falls deep in the Canadian Rockies.
“Our mission is to bring the transcendence of the outside world into people’s living rooms and immerse them into a state of majesty unlike anything they might have experienced before,” says Rob Faris, senior vice president of programming and production for Outside Television in a release. “We not only want to reward anyone who engages in rock climbing as a personal passion, but also inspire others to embrace the magnificence that mountain adventure uniquely possesses.”
We’re pretty sure we’ll tune in, at least for the first episode. The trailer (above) looks pretty cool.
Fresh off his Golden Globes controversy, British comedian Ricky Gervais’ latest project has hit US television. An Idiot Abroad is a travel show for non-travelers, featuring radio producer and comedy savant Karl Pilkington visiting the seven wonders of the world. If you’ve seen HBO’s animated podcast The Ricky Gervais show, you’re already familiar with Pilkington’s moronic and occasionally brilliant insights. After expressing little interest in global travel, Gervais and his comedy partner Steven Merchant decided to send Karl around the world (Merchant hopes to expand his horizons, Gervais just sees it as an elaborate practical joke).
In the first episode, Karl travels to China and expresses bafflement with Chinese street food, toilets, and even the Great Wall. The show’s funniest moments come when he experiences moments of culture shock and weirdness common to even the most seasoned travelers. I’d love to see Karl’s take on general travel problems – airport security, flying, and getting lost – as well as more of his interactions with local people around the world. He seems curious and open to the world, and has written a companion book for the series, which will culminate in an eighth episode with his thoughts and impressions about his travels.
An Idiot Abroad airs Saturdays at 10pm on the Science Channel and is available for download on iTunes. The next episode takes Karl to India to see the Taj Mahal.
Did you hear the new rumor about Oprah Winfrey? No, not that one! This one says that come 2011, her daytime talk show will leave Chicago and be based out of Los Angeles.
According to Deadline Hollywood, the big O planned on calling it quits way back in 2002, then again in 2006. At that point she renewed her syndication contracts through 2011. But now, it looks like she’ll be moving the show from national syndication to her very own OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) station.
While there’s no denying that Oprah’s success is a positive force for Chicago tourism (even those who can’t get the coveted tickets for her show will make the pilgrimage out to Harpo Studios to take a tour or shop at the Oprah Store), the daytime diva hasn’t really been all that connected with Chicago for many years. Sure, she tapes the show here, she flies in for special events, and she lobbied (unsuccessfully) for Chicago’s Olympic bid, but other than that, she doesn’t spend a whole lot of time here, preferring instead her gigantic estate in Montecito, California.
For tourists and die-hard Oprah fans, I’m sure she will be missed. For residents (especially those who had their commutes disrupted when she closed down the streets for her massive season launch party), it’s sad to lose an icon, but hey, we’ve still got the Sears Tower…..oh, wait, nevermind.
According to “entertainment insiders”, Oprah’s company will make the announcement outlining her plans to move, sometime in the next six months.
Tim Ferriss has come a long way since we first interviewed him a year and a half ago. His book, The Four Hour Work Week, was released in the wild where it quickly rocketed to the top of all the Best Seller lists. So we weren’t too surprised when we learned of his new TV show, Trial by Fire, debuting tonight on the History Channel. I sat down with Tim for a quick chat about the show:
JUSTIN: Give me the quick run down on your new show: Trial by Fire.
TIM: The concept is simple: each week I attempt to master a complex skill — something that would usually take 10+ years — in one week. It debuts today, Thursday, December 4, at 11pm PT/ET on History Channel (check www.history.com/schedule to double-check local times).
I have access to the world’s best teachers to “hack” the learning curve with both traditional and experimental approaches. I then have a final “trial by fire”, when I risk life and limb to see the results of all the training in a real-world test. It’s a fun 60-minute show filmed in HD with some of the best TV folks out there; lots of humor and also hardcore training and accelerated learning techniques. People will be able to apply a lot of each show to mastering any skill in their own lives.
J: Did you personally select the skill to challenge in the pilot episode? If so, what made you want to try yabusame?
TIM: Among other things, I pitched the show concept, developed the name, and picked the first challenge: yabusame, or Japanese horseback archery. I lived in Japan for a year in high school, and once you see yabusame, you’re hooked. I’d always wanted to experience it, and this particular samurai sport is a winner-takes-all endeavor. Full gallop, no hands, no safety gear, and you land on poles and get trampled if you fall. If you’re going to film a pilot, you have to make it worth watching, right? There is no simulated danger — it’s the real deal and it’s obvious when you watch. Few non-Japanese have even seen it, and it’s a national event twice a year when riders run the gauntlet. Definitely worth checking out.
J: What are some other challenges you’d want to try if the show is picked up?
TIM: There are a ton, as this is basically what I spend my time doing anyway. Setting new landspeed world records, pulling off museum heists, free diving with Great White sharks, etc.. The list is huge, all of them will be ridiculously difficult, and I will definitely crash and burn more than once. That’s part of the thrill and challenge, I think. If I don’t fail on occasion, I’m obviously not pushing the envelope enough.
Trailer for Tim’s new show, Trial By Fire
J: How does giving yourself a challenge like this help you learn more about a place and its people?
TIM: It forces you to be aware in the present tense. In other words, it’s impossible to do what we most often do: travel in body while our mind remains preoccupied with something back home. Training for an all-or-nothing test is beautifully simple: No e-mail, no internet cafes, no traveling around the world just to IM with friends back home — 100% training with natives 24/7 or you get hurt. I like that. It’s a return to basics. A week of full-time training is like a two-month vacation; you come back refreshed and will a better radar for minutiae. As in Fight Club: the volume on everything else gets turned down. This is true whether it’s a physical task like rock climbing or a mental task like learning to calculate like a human computer. The singular focus allows you to connect with people and culture without distraction.
J: Do you think the concept of your show can be practiced among regular travelers as a way to learn more about a place and its people?
TIM: Absolutely. Use pursuit of one skill as a vehicle for connecting with the people — or a sub-culture — of a foreign culture. Argentina? Try tango. Austria? Try chocolate making or music. It could be anything. There are world-class performers everywhere. Get curious again. Rediscover that childhood desire to explore and learn new things. People will help you, and it’s easily the fastest method for learning foreign languages. 3-4 months is all you need for conversational fluency non-tonal languages.
It’s possible to become world-class in many things in relatively short periods of time. It just requires a high density of practice over those short periods. Even 1-2 weeks can be enough to become better than 90% of the world’s population at a cool skill, a skill you can retain for the rest of your life. All it takes is mindful deconstruction and a brief but intense singular focus.
J: Thanks for your time, Tim!
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Trial by Fire will air 11pm ET/PT this Thursday (tonight) on History Channel. For more show information, and a live video Q&A post-broadcast, visit www.fourhourblog.com.