Two months after Anthony Bourdain’s death, CNN has announced that it will air the final seven episodes of his popular travel show, Parts Unknown, in the fall.
Five of the seven episodes will feature Bourdain traveling to locations around the world, the Los Angeles Times reports, including Kenya, Indonesia, Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Spain’s Asturias region, and the area near the Mexico border close to Big Bend, Texas.
The Kenya episode with W. Kamau Bell, the host of CNN’s United Shades of America, will be the only one to feature Bourdain’s written narration. CNN says the other four will be completed by the director of each episode, using on-location audio from Bourdain as well as follow-up interviews.
This was taken moments after I first met @anthonybourdain. This was at the 2017 Emmys. I saw him from across the room. I freaked out. He walked up like American James Bond and told me that he liked #UnitedShades and I continued to freak out. He said we should work together. I couldn’t believe it. Years before I had sat on my wife’s (then girlfriend) couch watching him on the Travel Channel wishing I could have a show like his. This was way before Totally Biased. My wife took this picture of the two of us. Earlier this year we finally worked together. I have no idea what will happen with that episode now. But even before today’s tragic news. I felt lucky to have spent so much time with him. I feel so proud to have been able to have worked him. As my friend and producer Jimmy Fox said this morning, Tony was the GOAT. #RIP And if you or anyone you know needs help call 1 800 273 TALK. #SucidePrevention A post shared by W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) on Jun 8, 2018 at 9:08am PDT
“Each one will feel slightly different depending on what’s gathered in the field,” Amy Entelis, the executive vice president of talent and content at CNN, told the Los Angeles Times. “They will have the full presence of Tony because you’ll see him, you’ll hear him, you’ll watch him. That layer of his narration will be missing, but it will be replaced by other voices of people who are in the episodes.”
A behind-the-scenes episode will feature outtakes and interviews with the cast and crew, and a final episode will be dedicated to how Bourdain changed the world, using interviews with friends who appeared on the show over the years as well as fan reactions.
A premiere date has yet to be announced, but most expect the final season to air starting this September or October. Until then, you can watch the first eight seasons of Parts Unknown on Netflix.
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