Armchair travel meets reality TV meets a publishing phenomenon this week as the Travel Channel enlists a “real” couple for an around-the-world tour.
Inspired by the best-selling book of the same title by Patricia Schultz, “1,000 Places to See Before You Die” launches Thursday at 10 p.m. (Comcast digital Channel 74) with a visit to Alaska.
The images are glorious, the settings diverse, the actual travel experience is no doubt life-changing. But be forewarned: There are 1,000 commercial plugs and tie-ins along the route.
How else could the cable channel take in the five-star resort hotels, the helicopter rides, boat rentals and airfare? Without the big “Hawaiian” airline logo spread across the screen as a “promotional consideration,” for instance, it would have been impossible.
Albin and Melanie Ulle, the Colorado newlyweds picked from 900 couples, turn out to be pleasantly inquisitive and appreciative traveling companions. Their wide-eyed wonder seems genuine.
Asking relevant questions and lavishing praise on everything they see, they don’t talk too much, don’t seem too stiff on camera. You wonder how many hours’ worth of less informative gab was left on the digital equivalent of the cutting- room floor. Clearly they’ve had a certain amount of coaching and direction before each highlight is chronicled.
The pair left jobs and routines behind to take a 14-week journey to more than 13 countries for the trip of a lifetime.
There they are – in high definition – amid kangaroos in Australia, floating down canals in Venice, touring the Taj Mahal at sunset, in climbing gear in Nepal, wide-eyed at the Louvre in Paris, gasping aboard an outrigger in Hawaii, aboard the railroad in Alaska and visiting Robben Island in South Africa.
Peru, Alaska, Vancouver, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, France, Italy, India, Nepal, Cambodia, Australia and Hawaii are on the itinerary. Tourist meccas like Machu Picchu, the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal vie with less traveled sites.
You get 88 weeks of paid vacation in your lifetime, the series declares. What if you got a five-month, all-expenses-paid trip (camera crew in tow)?
And would you dare to mention on camera that you’ve never enjoyed mussels at home in Colorado, but now know how they’re supposed to taste after experiencing them fresh from the water in Alaska?
Granted, the more seasoned travelers in the audience will find this sort of whirlwind, travel-by-checklist spree a revolting idea. The concept of covering as many miles in as few days as possible went out with 1969’s “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium.” Those who subscribe to the new “slow travel” movement, which encourages dawdling appreciation to gain a deeper sense of place, will be winded by the time the opening credits conclude.
Yet for television, the fantastic imagery works well enough.
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Speaking of world travel, ABC’s “World News With Charles Gibson” launches a new Monday-night segment April 2 called “Key to the World,” designed to take viewers on reporting assignments around the globe. Correspondent Bill Weir does the honors – no word on whether he’ll be posed in front of airline logos or five-star resort hotels to offset expenses.
Weir’s first stop: Kiribati, a Pacific island nation facing the effects of global warming.
The most interesting aspect of this addition is the sponsorship. For four Mondays in April, in conjunction with Weir’s roving reports, “World News” will be presented by a single sponsor. The producers claim the reduced commercial clutter will result in more time for editorial content.
For the first three weeks it’s a “confidential” sponsor, according to the media buyer; the fourth week it’s a pharmaceutical company.
This is the first sole sponsorship deal for a network evening newscast. An old- school worry: When sole sponsors become underwriters of the news, does investigative reporting go away? Or does this ensure fiscal stability for a network newscast?
What next, naming rights? If it’s good enough for Coors Field, why not “The Procter & Gamble World News With Charles Gibson”?
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
