[Televisionary]

I have a soft spot for travel shows that offer a twist on the now ubiquitous genre, such as the snarkiness of Travel Channel's Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations . But it's rare that any of these actually make me howl with laughter. Which is very much the case with Science Channel's new travelogue An Idiot Abroad , which launches on Saturday evening here in the States after a successful run on Sky1 in the UK. This is one show that manages to successfully fuse together pretty pictures of exotic locales, staggeringly hilarious humor, and a round-headed chap with a host of xenophobic issues. Yes, it stars Karl Pilkington. If you're unfamiliar with the premise, An Idiot Abroad recounts the globe-spanning journeys of The Ricky Gervais Show breakout Karl Pilkington, here sent around the world to the locations containing the Seven Wonders of the World by close friends Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who executive produce this series and apear on-screen (and on the ph...

Karl Pilkington traipsing around the world and checking out the Seven Wonders? Sign me up please! That's exactly the premise of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's new docuseries An Idiot Abroad , which will air this month on Sky1 in the UK and which will follow the notoriously round-headed Pilkington--the breakout star of HBO's The Ricky Gervais Show --as he makes his way around the globe to step outside his comfort zone and, well, maybe challenge himself. Here's how Sky1 is positioning the series: "Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are outraged that Karl has written off the Seven Wonders claiming they’re all “a bit s**t” having never seen any of them with his own eyes. They’ve thrown down the gauntlet to send him around the globe to force him out of his comfort zone. Stephen wants the experience to broaden Karl’s mind and change his outlook on the world. Ricky wants Karl to hate every minute of it for his own amusement. Dispatched on what many would term a jour...