Eugene Levy, voyageur malgré lui

Considering the plethora of highly rated, award winning movies and series available to watch, I NEVER thought I would prefer to watch a travel series on Apple TV! Eugene Levy shares his travel experience as only he can and that is what makes this show MAGICAL! His wry sense of humor and ALWAYS well delivered cynical communication style is nothing less than addictive! I have had many laughs with my family while watching this entertaining and educational show! I think this is a must watch and is perfect entertainment for anyone who thinks a travel show on Apple TV is the last thing they would ever want to watch. Hilarious! Culturally astute! Perfectly done!

We know Eugene Levy is comic gold, even though this eight-episode 2023 series felt like a cross between a more jaundiced "Somebody Feed Phil" and Jack Whitehall's "Travels with My Father". His observations are less cynical than Whitehall Sr.'s and more dryly relatable except perhaps for his lifelong aversion to sushi. I think having a diametrically opposite travel companion like his son Daniel, or more ideally, Catherine O'Hara, could've made this series less one-note as we rely solely on Levy for his comments which remain consistent no matter the locale or how many exotic travel experiences he has.

By now, we should all have come to realize and acknowledge the comic genius of Eugene Levy. From that prototypical, Canadian sketch comedy show, SCTV, that also gave us the late, great John Candy and also the equally incomparable Catherine O'Hara, to the faux-documentaries he co-wrote with Christopher Guest (I refuse to call anything a "mockumentary," even Spinal Tap dang it!), to his very own production company that he created so he and his equally hilarious son, Dan, could co-star (w/Catherine, of course) in the aptly named Schitt's Creek. So I am not sure who initially thought to take a home-body and confirmed curmudgeon like Eugene, who'd done surprisingly little travel (surprising to me, as somebody whose first million would be spent exclusively on it), and plop him into the widest range of cultural, geographical & gastronomical situations one could've imagined and then just trail his every move to see what happened. But it's a solid idea for comedy gold-so long as it's a lone, anxious, fish-out-of-water Eugene Levy. I think it helps if the viewer loves travel; hence, being astonished that our protagonist doesn't.

Back in 2015, I went nomad for a long time and travelled cheaply, nonstop for a few years.

So, I love travel. But...

Some angry-at-the-world chump below slammed this series as some huge entitlement thing. Whatever. You do you, man.

But here's the thing: Not everyone likes travel. In fact, it's downright terrifying to some folks.

Because if you've got anxiety, travelling is number one with a bullet for triggering that stuff.

And Eugene Levy is a man who's made an entire career out of his anxiety. It's a huge part of his comedy and persona, and it's not a schtick. He doesn't like travelling. He likes to stay home or go to restaurants or play golf.

He's a boring guy because boring works GREAT for anxiety.

This series, however, is one that Apple aggressively pursued him to make. He did so as a realization that he was 75 and staring at ending life with a lot of regrets and questions about whether he could have lived more.

As someone who now sees travel as a part of who I am, I loved seeing this guy starting "getting" what travel is about.

And yes, it's world-class luxury, as a nod to Schitt's Creek, but every time Levy has a potentially lifechanging "aha" travel moment, it's doing stuff that's accessible to every income level - it's meeting the local people without agendas. It's experiencing the simple moments.

If this series shows anyone that there is more to travel than getting off a plane to see the known sites and visit all the popular neighbourhoods, I will be delighted.

As for Levy, he is self-deprecating, charming, droll, open, and even vulnerable as he narrates and hosts the entire show.

I love the series and plan to finish the final three episodes RIGHT NOW.

But if you want a lighthearted, fun, BEAUTIFULLY-shot travel series, despite the posh locales, you won't find any pretensions here. Just curiosity from a guy who's lived an entire life dictated by his fears of everything around him... and, for once, confronting those fears to see what it does for him.

It's a show as much about growth and anxiety as it is about travel, with a lot of good humour along the way.

There are some bad reviews here, but I think from those that don't know the background. Also... Eugene Levy is Canadian, not an American. Eugene truly does hate to travel and why he was chosen for this show. He was recently on the Smartless podcast with Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes... which is where I heard about this show. He talks about why he almost turned this project down and how truly reluctant he was to do this. He is not any of the things the negative reviews say he is. In his 70's, he is facing his fears and getting uncomfortable and it's such a joy to see Eugene Levy as himself.