Zero Stars Review: A Refreshing Take on the Celebrity Travelogue Genre
The celebrity travelogue genre often feels oversaturated and uninspired, with shows like Coastal Railways with Julie Walters and Rob Brydon's Honky Tonk Road Trip seemingly plucked from random selections. Typically, these programs exude smugness, laziness, and a disregard for viewer intelligence. However, Zero Stars emerges as a rare and delightful exception, blending a novel premise with genuinely bearable hosts.
An Unconventional Premise Focused on Tourist Exploitation
While travel is meant to broaden the mind, it is also ripe for exploitation. Across the globe, tourists encounter overpriced attractions that fail to deliver, orchestrated by unscrupulous operators viewing visitors as walking cashpoints. Zero Stars dives into this darker side of the industry, showcasing tours with grumpy instructors, restaurants serving dubious food, and tourist traps designed to leave visitors exhausted and disgruntled. If you enjoy watching people have fun, this is not the show for you.
Capable Hosts Balancing Humour and Critique
Hosted by comedians Sara Pascoe and Roisin Conaty, who bill themselves as "comedians but, more importantly, best friends", the series navigates the fine line between enthusiasm and ridicule. This balance is notoriously difficult to achieve. Lean too far into enjoyment, and it becomes just another holiday show; veer too much into mockery, and it risks outdated stereotypes about foreigners.
In the first episode set in Istanbul, Pascoe and Conaty largely keep themselves as the primary targets of humour. For instance, during a water bike excursion that nearly ends in collisions with boats, Pascoe jokes about disappointing their visibly annoyed guide. When they visit a fortune teller distracted by phone calls, they playfully compete for her attention, adding a layer of relatable comedy.
Room for More Discomfort and Commitment
Despite its strengths, Zero Stars occasionally pulls its punches. While it aims to highlight dreadful experiences, some segments fall short. For example, they stay in a five-star hotel that doubles as a feeder for hair-transplant patients, with lobbies filled with bandaged men. Yet, it remains a luxurious hotel, undermining the show's premise.
A quick search on Tripadvisor reveals genuinely awful Istanbul hotels with cockroaches, dirty sheets, broken lifts, and even harassing porters. Although such extreme cases might push the show into darker territory, the series is titled Zero Stars, suggesting a need for greater commitment to showcasing truly terrible experiences. As one might argue, you cannot call a travel show Zero Stars without at least giving someone food poisoning.
Commentary on Review Culture and Aesthetic Contradictions
The show also serves as a commentary on travel review sites, where people often complain excessively. Onscreen reviews of objectively nice places appear hysterically overwrought, highlighting the absurdity of modern critique culture. However, this sometimes feels like having your cake and eating it, as the series wants to depict bad times while featuring beautiful panoramic drone shots.
Ultimately, Pascoe and Conaty excel with their material, particularly Conaty, who, after seasons of screen-watching in Last One Laughing, likely relishes the active role. Yet, there is room to amplify the discomfort. Zero Stars premieres on Sunday on TLC, offering a witty and insightful look at the pitfalls of global tourism.
