Loading...Esquire Network has a travel show called The Getaway. Oh right, there is a channel called the Esquire Network. Anyway about a year ago, I caught the tail end of an episode featuring Joel McHale wandering around Belfast. The set-up is like this: a celebrity goes to a city that they call their “getaway” and then you watch them eat, drink and shop while the locals give tidbits on their town. It’s basically The Layover With Anthony Bourdain but 
without Anthony Bourdain because he has five other shows he is doing. And no wonder it is so similar to The Layover because it turns out Bourdain is a producer on The Getaway. He’s a smartie because all he had to do was rename it and get others to do it. You may think by saying “others”, I will now slam the D-List Celebs that they scrounged up to host, right? Wrong! Sure, it’s not Clooney or Bullock but I was a fan of Community and I’d watch Joel McHale get fitted for a suit in Ireland. I think you would as well. Season One of The Getaway, which aired last year, had a pretty good roster of folks that are quite engaging when drinking cocktails in a very fancy hotel that I would not be allowed to walk past, let alone step into. If I can’t eat savory crepes for breakfast in Paris, I’m glad that Aisha Tyler could and I could watch it. It’s a nice change of pace from watching Bourdain eat. Although I still do that, too.
Season Two began a few weeks ago and I was quite excited about it. But life being what it is, I’m already behind on some episodes. I saw Christy Teigen in Thailand talking about how yummy fish-head soup is and then getting Thai Boxing lessons. I had heard her name before and knew she was a model but that was about it. Turns out she is married to John Legend! (I call this a Getaway fun fact or The Getafact ™!) She is also quite charming and someone I get the feeling cusses like a sailor. See what I’m saying? You don’t need to have Brad Pitt to enjoy watching someone ride a tuk-tuk in Bangkok.
The other Season Two ep I’ve seen was this week’s show with Jack McBrayer from 30 Rock in Oahu. I’ve never been that into Hawaii like I feel I should be. I grew up in Florida and now live in California so it’s not like the 
beach is forbidden fruit. In fact, I’m not a big beach person so my close approximately most of my life was kind of wasted. I was even fairly close to the beach of Lake Michigan when I lived in Chicago and went maybe once the entire eight years I lived there. That’s probably because most of the year I would cut myself on ice if I waded in. So that all being said, I still tuned into McBrayer’s adventures. It’s funny how beautiful Hawaii is and yet how ordinary it is in some parts. It’s not a knock on Hawaii but just a revelation that I had while watching this week. McBrayer takes surfing and ukulele lessons, of course, but then he takes a tour of a reserve where Jurassic Park was filmed (and being filmed again). That landscape is gorgeous and lush and beautiful. This scenery is quite different from the 7-11 that McBrayer went to earlier in the ep. His driver stops there to show him the typical Hawaiian snacks that 7-11 carries. A favorite is some sort of Spam sushi. It’s fried Spam slice on rice, wrapped with seaweed. Spam truly is big in Hawaii apparently. Also, Hawaiian shirts are called Aloha Shirts in Hawaii. (The Getafact ™!)
The other two shows that have already aired are on my DVR: David Koechner in Dublin and Adam Pally in Vegas. I had to look up Pally because I didn’t know who he was. Turns out he was on Happy Endings which I heard was pretty great and now The Mindy Project which is a show I feel I should be watching but I just haven’t yet. Sorry, Adam. But I will watch the hell out of you drinking and eating in Las Vegas. Koechner, as I hope you recall, was Champ in Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy. Whammy!
Besides McHale and Tyler, Season One had:
- Singer Eve in Kingston, Jamaica (only saw the first bit of this one)
- Chef Jose Andres in San Juan (I didn’t see this one at all)
- Ryan Kwanten from True Blood in Los Angeles (Saw this but still irks me that someone living in LA would call it their “getaway”.)
- Director Paul Feig in Boston (He got fitted for a custom suit, too!)
- Aziz Ansari in Hong Kong (Alright. What’s with Esquire’s obsession with custom made suits?)
- Seth Myers and his brother in Amsterdam
- Rashida Jones in London
I can’t decide which one is my favorite episode. It’s between those last two. Both are cities that I’ve been to and love. Each time I watched the London show (yes, about three times I think), I can’t help but want Rashida Jones’ life. At least her 36 hours in London. See, she has that life where she flies to London for 36 hours. She first has dinner with friends in a hot restaurant where the owner is a friend of hers. None of my friends own restaurants. What the hell? Then she says, “I’m meeting my friend, Chris O’Dowd to have cocktails.” How come I don’t hang out with Chris O’Dowd and have fancy, crafted drinks like a moss-flavored cocktail and a deconstructed Bloody Mary shot in oyster shell at The Bar With No Name? Then go to a weird curiosities shop with him where you can purchase a Kylie Minogue poo? OK, I may not need that part in my life. I do, however, need to play pool with a friend and have Ronan Farrow show up to get some dinner. I mean, really? (Side note on Ronan: there can’t be anyone left in the world who doesn’t think Farrow is Sinatra’s son, right? He looks a lot like Mia but seriously, the rest is Frank. Even if Ronan put on some chunky glasses and tried to act nebbish, people would still say, “Hey, look at young Frank Sinatra doing a Woody Allen impersonation!”) Later Rashida goes in for the kill: she says to O’Dowd, “Let’s meet your wife and ADAM SCOTT for dinner.” (Emphasis mine.) Adam Scott happened to be in London and met them for a seafood dinner. This episode gave me very specific items for my bucket list.
But is the London show my favorite? The other contender is Seth Myers and his brother Josh in Amsterdam. They both used to live there when they were in the cast for Boom Chicago, an improv show that I passed on the 
tram when I was there. I chose to go to the Sex Museum instead because I can see improv anywhere. I don’t really see animatronic flashers too often.
Seth and Josh eat Dutch pancakes, drink various drinks, play lawn bowling with a Dutch hip hop artist and ride bikes all the while being adorable. They don’t get fitted for suits, however, but they do shop for socks. All the while being adorable (The Getafact ™!).
So the contender for favorite The Getaway episode is still up in the air. Adam Scott and a Seafood Dinner or Bike Riding With Seth and Josh?
