An Idiot Abroad - Season 1

You could argue that Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have influenced 21st century comedy just as much as Lorne Michaels and the Judd Apatow crew. They gave us The Office and Extras, but they also gave us An Idiot Abroad.

It was all very amusing and should make a star out of Pilkington.

€œIn an age when reality TV is manipulated and forced and false and phony and so obviously scripted to create a narrative, this is something that is genuinely real and funny and also heartfelt.

Whatever his views, however outlandish or unfounded, [Pilkington] has a quiet certainty that almost dares you to keep a straight face. It makes for supremely watchable television.

Pilkington's simple but twisted wit is a lot smarter than you'd think.

With the additional benefit of some deft editing and a cheeky, Curb Your Enthusiasm-esque score, Pilkington can seem like the British equivalent of a Coen Brothers character, a rube dragged outside his comfort zone, to great comic effect.

With An Idiot Abroad, they've managed to pull off the impossible: reality television filled with laugh-out-loud moments.

The series is basically grumbling interspersed with picturesque aerial shots; fortunately, the more Pilkington suffers, the more entertaining it gets.

An Idiot Abroad is ridiculously funny and even when it's clear that Gervais and Merchant...are having a cruel laugh, it's nearly impossible not to fall apart laughing at poor Pilkington's fate.

An Idiot Abroad has its problems, but so much of it is hilarious and so much of it is surprisingly wide-ranging that it becomes worth checking out all the same.