Dear Mr. President of the Travel Channel,

As a big fan of your channel and a huge fan of Tony Bourdain, I would like a clarification. One Romanian daily started this crazy talk about the No Reservation show on Romania by implying that somehow your employees, assuming that Tony is your employee or his executive producers are your employees, were paid by the Tourism Ministry of Romania the sum of $20,000 to follow a certain route in their travels into the country, which apparently they did not.

The article is contending this very fact, that somehow there was a contractual obligation of the No Reservation to go to specific locations.
I believe that most of the discontent from Romania stems from this newspaper article suggesting that somehow Tony didn't hold his end of the bargain, by promising one thing and delivering another. There is a link to a document ([URL=http://mturism.ro/fileadmin/mturism/PublicitateAchizitiiPublice/vizita_sua.pdf[/URL]), unfortunately it is not in English, but one could see on page 2, a schedule of the daily activities for Tony and his crew of five. Some of the locations were filmed and presented in his show, like Jaristea, Bran Castle and Sapanta, others are missing, Peles Castle, Danube Delta.

It would do us a great service if you could clarify this contentious point, or maybe the executive producers, Chris Collins or Lydia Tenaglia could speak on the issue. From what I could tell from that document, it only requests quotations from local travel companies to organize a trip for Tony and his crew in Romania. We would like to know if there is any truth to the newspaper claim that somehow the Romanian government paid all the expenses for this trip and/or the trip was supposed to follow their schedule.

A big fan of your work,

Michael Roman

Just as a matter of information, the article Michael refers to is http://www.cotidianul.ro/index.php?id=18268&art=44040&cHash=fecaa1a14a (in Romanian only).

The most hilarious (in a cynical way) part refers to the reaction the Romanian officials had when facing the scandal, and I quote from the article: State Secretary Lucia Moraru (responsible for Tourism), did not want to talk to Cotidianul's reporters, rather sending them to the Press Officer of the ministry that is in charge of tourism (among others). Press Officer Marius Nedeleanu said that Romanian officials "do not consider Bourdain's show as one that recommends not visiting Romania". He also blamed the American team for not following the program they had previously agreed with the Romanian counterpart. The route and program was designed and proposed, according to Nedeleanu, by the Romanian Tourism Board in New York (namely by Camelia Negoita). "As far as we are concerned, the Ministry did all it could do. But there is always room for better results", concludes Nedeleanu. Even though Camelia Negoita is mentioned in the show as local coordinator, the Ministry denies this: "Mrs. Negoita was not a co-ordinator. She only joined the crew at the producers' request, to make sure everything goes according to the initial program", says Nedeleanu. Concerning the fiasco with the Halloween party at Bran, he says that this was part of American crew's proposal. Nedeleanu also says that Jaristea was chosen because it was the only restaurant serving traditional dishes and allowing filming in the kitchen.

If someone joins a group of tourists or journalists on a set tour, on behalf of the organizers, what is his / her job? The show is not quite positive on Romania, but they say it can be better, and that they did everything... And Jaristea is the only one to allow filming in the kitchen. According to the same article, the Romanian organizers tried to avoid the mici grill scene as much as possible (it was not part of their "plan", with or without a coordinator). Curiously enough, that is possibly the best part of the show, because that shows real, unstaged life and real people having a good time. As for the crew's not following the initial program, Ceausescu himself could not have come with a worse program, so no wonder that the crew got angry at a certain point.

You, american fellows, coud image a show about US with some New York satellite pictures, and then a trip in the ugliest places in Bronx and Harlem , with a afghan taliban guide who don't speak english.You will see drugs,poverty, violence,misery, guys eating hamburghers, hot dogs and drinking coke.The comentary : this is the mode in which americans are livig and eating in U.S.

And the cook will say you : "But to describe U.S. as particularly friendly? Not really. I’ve been all over the world. Over 50 countries. On the friendly scale? U.S. not exactly in the top 40. The food--on camera, off camera? Didn’t matter. It was mostly pretty primitive."

Afer you will pay him with 20,000 $ from the naive citizens tax payers ( how did the Romanian Govt.)the cook will finish : "At the end of the day? That’s what happened. That’s what it felt like. Period. Frankly? I think it’s a pretty .funny show."

Enjoy it ?

About AB ? He is not Hemingway nor Brilant Savarin,he is just a simply cook , specialist in carrots and onion.

Like traveller , he IS MAKING MOVIES FOR MONEY, no for pleasure. Maybe , in Romania, his KGB russian guide extrapaid him to make this disgusting propagandistic show.

About his atitude is very suitable the Plinius de Old words :"Ne sutor ultra crepidam".(sorry cook, is in latin )

It would really be nice if someone from Travel Channel would come out and say if Tony was paid by the Romanian government (hard to believe) or this is their usual crap when things don't go their way. It is so funny yet sad that some countries have to pay you to go in and others pay to keep you out.

Hey, the show wasn't all that offensive lalz, plus if you can't take some offense it means you feel defenseles. I live here and i can't compare this country to what it's leaders make of it. It was interesting that the visit programs were only Bucharest favored places. Why not come to the western part? See Timisoara? The Ardeal part of the country? Good thing they at least got you guys to the north a bit. Besides, The Carpathian Mts preserved some of the real traditions, not the turk and russian influenced areas:">. Well, cheers and have fun ppl. I am 23 yo btw.

P.S. Should be interesting to see how some travel agencies from several parts of the country handle requests and i wonder what firm it was that won the "licitation"

To whom it may concern,

I have attempted to find an address to which to send a letter of complaint. I have not even been able to get an email address. Thus I am forced to try to communicate with the producers of this show through an online forum, hardly the most formal setting for a serious discussion. I mean no offense to the users, yet I believe Travel Channel should show respect to its viewers and provide additional venues for communications.

I am writing in order to express my disapproval of the way Mr. Anthony Bourdain has portrayed Romania in his documentary. As a Romanian citizen studying at an American university, I am well aware of the cultural differences between our two countries, as well as the many problems that our country still faces in developing a tourist industry. I also understand the difficulty of Mr. Bourdain's position, in attempting to make a genuine travel documentary while being confronted with the pressure of the authorities and the lack of cooperation from certain individuals.

However, I would just like to point out that it was a mistake to take money from the Romanian ministry. I do not know what the normal procedure for Mr. Bourdain is, but it strikes me as elementary that, should you accept money from the authorities, you can expect that they have certain opinions and demands on how you will represent the country. Mr. Bourdain and his team should not have taken any money from the government, and then they would have been free to film whatever they liked.

Moreover, if Mr. Bourdain had done just a little more research, he would have easily found that the government in general is not held in very high esteem by the population. He would then have been able to infer that, potentially, there is a good reason for that: they are mostly incompetent. I am ashamed that the Tourism Ministry tried to rope Mr. Bourdain into visiting kitsch and completely not genuine locations. I am ashamed that they proceeded to claim that the ensuing documentary has not shown Romania in a negative light. This, however, is my problem as a Romanian. The fact that Mr. Bourdain relied on these incompetent people to show him the "true" Romania is his problem. And, as far as I am concerned, in making his documentary, Mr. Bourdain has shown equal incompetency.

He owes us all an apology.

Yours truly,
Raluca Toma
Kenyon College
Gambier, OH

<<<The debate may continue on the Travel Channel boards and beyond. However, as the head of the network, we stand by Zero Point Zero, the Romania episode, the No Reservation series, and of course Tony – as he is the reason all of us tune in each and every Monday night.

For those of you reading this response out of context, tune in for the repeat broadcast on Monday, March 10th at 8PM E/P, to see what all the fuss is about.>>>


Why bother to watch that travesty yet again?

Wow, very shocked that the President of the Network is getting involved. Since you are reading the posts Sir, maybe, MAYBE, I might be able to explain what the uproar is about. At first I wasn't going to respond, but for two days now I just can't seem to let it go.

Zero Point Zero did not do their homework on planning this trip. I wouldn’t jump so fast in standing by their integrity, blah, blah, blah. If they had done their homework, they would have scraped the show – “nothing to eat or see in this hellhole of a country”. Instead they went in unprepared, they brought along a DRUNKEN MONKEY for a guide, and when things went wrong they blamed a country as primitive, and a people as a-holes because they had nothing to show at the end of the day.

A pathetic party at Halloween, a 30 year old car, and a freak show restaurant does NOT make a country or a people. When things fall apart, go for the old stand by: your prejudice. All they knew about Romania was “blood sucking Dracula” and never even tried to get past that stereotype. The only thing missing were the Gypsies picking fleas out of their hair and making a meal out of them.

I can assure you Sir, that there is plenty to see in Romania, I am from there, have been living in the United States for 25 years, and have recently made a visit there last June, so imagine my shock when watching the episode.

I will also be the first to raise my hand and say, it is not a perfect country, any population that has suffered the abuse of power and shortages that it has suffered, will not be a walk in the park, but again, IT IS NOT, the hellhole depicted in this episode.

I live vicariously through the Travel Channel and with each episode that I watch, I am ready to pack my bags and travel. I have read Samantha Brown’s blogs, and the troubles she had while filming her Rome episode. Did she portray Rome as a wasteland? Nope, she did her job as a professional, and by the end of the show, as usual, I wanted to travel to Rome and be her b.f.f. forever.

Tony and the crew knew they made a mistake and turned around and dumped it all on a country, and for you to come and “stand by them” is really another insult. None of you seem to “get it”. The one episode done on this country on your channel, was an absolute farce, it was shameful, short sighted and downright prejudiced. But somehow it’s all OK with you. Doesn't your audience deserve better?

BTW, please do not send Tony back, there is no point, you and his producers have made your point loud and clear.

Dear Mr. President of the Network,
A. B. show about Romania is like this bulgarian lady sings Mariah Carey’s “Ken Lee” song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQt-h753jHI&feature=related

Maybe, to increase your audience, should be better to employ her.

I was ready to write off the Romanian episode of No Reservations as one of the less than great episodes; another Iceland as it were. But after reading the postings on this board, I've come to believe that Bourdain's and crew's depiction of some aspects of Romanian culture, i.e. the corruption, the cheesy tourist industry, must have more than a grain of truth in them. And by showing that truth, Zero Point Zero seems to have struck some kind of collective nerve. What I'm reading here are posts from people desperate to manage what others think of their country and culture. This jives with Bourdain's and Zero Point Zero's posts about the "help" they received from their Romanian hosts. What I took away from the No Reservations episode was that it was a bad shoot. What I take away from this board is that some Romanians are humorless and insecure.

I saw today again your show in Russia and I feel again that in Romania Bourdain and his close KGB friend Zamir have made a disgusting manipulation and a dirty propaganda.

Let's face it, if Anthony Bourdain did a show on France and had encountered the same problems as he did in Romania - he would have somehow found a way to salvage the show and show France (where his family came from) in a good light.
If HIS family had come from Romania instead, you'd better believe that he would have tried harder to show Romania in a more positive way. Talk about a snob....

The truth is the truth.

I am a romanian journalist and I want to ask a few questions to the travel channel network president. Of course, about the romanian episode, and to be more specific about a very controversial agreement made by zeropointzero.
What is very odd is that I have a hard time even reaching the PR department of the channel, not to mention the president.
I understand that he is a busy man, but when the image of the channel is shaken by serious accusations it is perhaps the time to be a bit more open to "dangerous encounters" with the press.

This being said, perhaps an admin can direct me (via PM) to the channel's PR. Thank you.

The Romania episode was a tragic comedy! I loved it. Keep on keepin' it real Tony.

I didn't have a problem with that episode, I don't understand why so many didn't like it. I've had travels that didn't go the way I wanted them to , but I still made the best of them, and I still learned something from them. So Kudos to Tony for Keepin it real and showin the world!

Romanians are not humorless and insecure, what bothered us about this episode was how insulting and incredibly prejudiced it was. And even more so, it was the Russian guide that got us so hot under the collar.

If you are ignorant about history, then don't make comments about us being insecure.

If Tony had taken a German dressed in Nazi uniform with him to Israel as a guide to show him the country and the cuisine, I assure you everyone would have been fired top to botton.

That's how we feel about the Russians. But, somehow it's ok for that DRUNKEN MONKEY to show the worst there was in Romania. That is what was so intolerable about that show.

So we are not just some crying babies on this board, it was an OFFENSIVE episode from top to bottom

Damn, and I was looking forward to this episode, not seen it yet, but from the sound of things I'd be better of skipping. Or maybe I shouldn't. Not having seen it, I can only respond to the comments I see here. To the Romanians, I'm an American living in NL and have been to Romania on holiday twice. One of my favorite countries. Some of my favorite people, and I think everyone makes incredibly valid points. A Russian tour guide? That's pretty bad. Now had he taken the Russian to Sighet Prison, that would make for some interesting viewing.

Certainly Romania has some serious issues but I've seen other episodes of NR where AB was perfectly gracious. When traveling in a country with very little tourist infrastructure one has to plan for some frustrations and roll with it.

quote:

Originally posted by coco:
Romanians are not humorless and insecure, what bothered us about this episode was how insulting and incredibly prejudiced it was. And even more so, it was the Russian guide that got us so hot under the collar.

If you are ignorant about history, then don't make comments about us being insecure.

If Tony had taken a German dressed in Nazi uniform with him to Israel as a guide to show him the country and the cuisine, I assure you everyone would have been fired top to botton.

That's how we feel about the Russians. But, somehow it's ok for that DRUNKEN MONKEY to show the worst there was in Romania. That is what was so intolerable about that show.

So we are not just some crying babies on this board, it was an OFFENSIVE episode from top to bottom

Well for the record, I said SOME Romanians, but OK, OK, I stand corrected. Some Romanians are NOT humorless and insecure. They're just still nursing a grudge. Got it now. Thanks.

If Zamir's mere presence offended and got a lot of doors slammed in Tony's face, then Romanians helped, in part, to shape the show that some Romanians find so offensive.

Tony swallowed a wart hog's anus to bring us good TV. Maybe some Romanians could have swallowed their pride and resentment for a day or two if they truly wanted their country seen in it's best light.

Some Romanians are not acting in their best interests, then or now.

Please get angrier now and call me names, because that's really, really working.

I have several question for for the Travel Channel Network president (in case he bothers to read this):

You state that

quote:

"We always listen to what they have to say, and consider what they are suggesting, but the final decision as to what we broadcast ALWAYS rests with us. That's 100% non-negotiable. We maintain 100% editorial control."

On the other hand, Chris Collins & Lydia Tenaglia, the directors and executive producers of Zero point zero (by whom you declare you stand) basically put the blame on the Romanian authorities:

quote:

For the record, we DID hire a number of Romanians to assist us with this production and looked to them for guidance and scene suggestions. However, our attempts to set up authentic experiences and off-the beaten path locales typical of No Reservations were, more often than not, foiled at every turn. It was a source of frustration that our requests for “everyday, working class food-related” scenes were again and again either discouraged or seemingly impossible to arrange. The prevailing wisdom was that “the best French restaurant in town” or patently “set up” scenes were preferable to what most Romanians would recognize as reality. Although certain commentators would assert that we ignored their suggestions in favor of our own agenda, this was certainly not the case. If anything, we worked more closely with official tourism entities than we usually do. Most scenes and locales were strongly recommended by them. The scene at the “mici” joint, which we shot against the explicit wishes of our minders, remains an example of a show that for good or bad, might have been.

My question is, plain and simple: who is responsible for selecting the locations and the "authentic" Romanian experiences? Zero point zero blame the Romanians, on the account that they were discouraged or "seemingly impossible to arrange." From your declaration, though, it seems that the crew, and therefore the channel you preside, is solely responsible for making the selections and taking the decisions. And I tend to believe that this is (and it should be) true. Romania is not a totalitarian dictatorship like North Korea anymore, where you cannot "arrange," on you own, as a tourist, experiences that are authentic and true. By standing by Zero point zero, Mr. President, you stand by a contradiction.

My second question follows; your channel's stated policy is that "the Travel Channel is a dedicated and trusted window on the world, bringing knowledge, insight and information to a community of people who want to experience their world and satisfy their curiosity." In my understanding, this statement is translated in that that your channel strives for true and representative information, insight, and knowledge. Is my understanding correct and if yes, did Anthony Bourdain's show stand by this statement? Did he bring back from Romania an authentic experience, knowledge and especially insight? Nota bene, "honest" and "insight" are not necesarily synonymies. You do not promise "honesty" in your stated policy, you promise knowledge and insight.

The authorship and editorial independence policies do not excuse an organization (whose stated policy is, again, to bring insight and knowledge) to become the supporter of an inexcusable and badly managed comedy about a country and its people.

If nothing else, Mr. President, you and your organization owe us, Romanians, an apology.

I hope next season Travel Channel runs a two hour Romania Special. In the first hour they could re-broadcast the Romania episode and in the second hour Tony could read the comments from this site. Comedy Gold, baby!

Ya'll don't even know what a "bad" visit to Romania is until you've watched Peter Brady (Chris Knight) and Adrian Curry visit. I'm just sayin'