The biggest flaw in travel and food shows is a bad host with an inane script. Initially I was skeptical of this jolly dude, especially when I saw him making a hip hop reference, but he really grows on you.
Like a nice excitable uncle who does awesome crazy stuff on the weekends. Like eating super long worms out of dead trees with some men on a Malaysian beach, or getting a guinea pig and poisoned shrubs rubbed on his nude body before having fire spit on him, or constantly sucking brains out of the animals he's eating.
He is a likeable guy who really immerses himself in the customs, culture, food, and lives of the residents of places he visits. Plus, he doesn't gross out easily and he is good at describing what the exotic foods taste like.
We don't have to watch him hem and haw about eating guinea pig brains, or watch his hands flutter when he bites into some stomach, haggis, or bull testicles (criadillas). However, this is not a gross out show, but one that genuinely informs and makes the big strange world seem a little more accessible.
Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern is one of the most enjoyable shows on TV right now.
But what do you think?