Tony Bourdain: TV that’s well worth watching

BTW, sitting here on a Sunday morning, with the TV on in the background, I realize that I’m still not through with my comments about critics of critics. In his post that I referenced below , Patrick Goldstein took New York Times television critic Mike Hale to task for naming “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” as “one of his favorite shows of the year.”

One of his favorite shows of the year? Look, I have enough to say about movies. Don’t get me started about television. I’ll just leave it at this: All things equal, I’d rather watch Anthony Bourdain’s show than anything else on television. Sure, Hale could be accused of geographic jingoism, since Bourdain is an unapologetic New Yorker.

But at the moment, I’m watching Bourdain’s Sri Linka show. And not only does he give us a tour of the country’s cuisine, but he gives us a bit of history (the lingering effects of the 2004 tsunami, the ever-ongoing war with the Tamil Tigers, the ways that colonialism helped shaped the country’s diverse subcultures) along with his personal, often snarky, comments on life.

There you go. Bourdain not only entertains me, but he - gasp - actually teaches me things as well. Damn. If only Simon Cowell were that good.

Excuse me, I gotta get back to Tony. We’ve moved to a new show, and he’s talking about driving in Cairo. Fascinating.

Below : Anthony Bourdain in Part One of his Sri Lanka show.