These are the dog days for the Brownheads. There are no new episodes of Passport to Latin America. There are not a lot of showings of PTLA at all right now. Samantha is who-knows-where. Recent sightings place her in a panda reserve in China, a sidewalk cafe in Florence and a yurt in Outer Mongolia. Did I just make that last one up? Only Samantha knows for sure. In another age, Paul Simon might have changed the lyric to, "Where have you gone Samantha Brown, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Woo, woo, woo. What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson, Smilin' Sam has left and gone away. Hey, hey hey."

What we do know, as far as I know, is this. Samantha signed a long-term contract with The Travel Channel in 2007. She is said to have a new show in the works about weekend getaways. Have you noticed how hush hush everything seems to be right now? Just because The Travel Channel and Samantha have been quiet doesn't mean we have to be.

In the spirit of getting the discussion going, I throw out the following toss-up question: What type of new show do you want Samantha to do? Where do you want her to take us?

My answer. I do not want her to do "Disgusting Foods of the World that I Will Never Eat." I don't want her to live with the Kombai. Mother O and I want her to do "Passport to Great North American Cities." She can start in her own backyard, New York and sleep in her own bed while working. This show would not be tied to a Great Hotel. It would be tied to a great city and its character, people, food and attractions.

Your ideas?

Father O

To go along with Father O's NYC idea, I'd like Sam to do a show about all the cultural neighborhoods of New York City. It would be perfect, given Sam's international experience and the fact that she actually lives in New York. In the show she could sample different foods, talk to locals, and maybe participate in festivals or some such. I don't know if you could make an entire series out of it, but maybe an hour-long special or a mini-series.

Taking a cue from Girl Meets Hawaii,Sam could do Girl Meets Pennsylvania,Montana,California...

How about a tour of celebrity homes with a talkshow type interview on the side. I think she will outshine most celebrities with her wit and personality. Picture it: Samantha Brown pays Angelina Jolie a visit, tours her house and stays for dinner while discussing their favorite movies.Samantha has Angelina in stiches with her jokes. Not bad, huh?

I posted this a little over a year ago and I still like the idea. I was going to copy and paste it in here, but then I remembered that this is the one post I've made that landed in jail, so I decided that a link would be a lot safer. Here it is http://discussions.travelchannel.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8811993295/m/1141915838.

These are some pretty good ideas, but I don't know about sending her into outer space, davidschneidman. I think she would find it scarier than swimming underwater with sharks.
I liked panurse's idea, as there are quite a few states Samantha has neglected in her travels, such as those in the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest, Vermont, etc. And then there is all of Canada. States and provinces have big tourism budgets.
Personally, some day I'd like to see how she does at tap dancing. She could do that anywhere.

This thread is only mildly lively after one day out here, so keep the ideas coming! It would be nice to see all the lurkers start posting. We know you are out there. How can there be over 300 members on the wiki and hardly anybody ever posts anything? I don't understand it.
Mother O.

I'm out of ideas but it'd be nice if Passport to Latin America aired more often than say poker games. What do poker games have to do with travel anyway?

Texas Hold'em Poker is all the rage right now. I suspect that it's on the Travel Channel to appeal to those people and to bolster the ratings. I agree it's a bit out of place but money talks.

I don't believe we have to worry about poker on the Travel Channel very much longer. This Orange/Cruiseluver idea about a New York City miniseries actually would have great potential in my mind. It could be done regionally, the different boroughs, for example, or cut right across the whole city by thematic topic, much like the Hawaii series was more or less done. Right off the top of my head I could see different half hours devoted to Cultural New York (museums, theaters if they ever open again, concerts, etc.), Architectural New York (from Old Trinity Church by Wall St. to the cast iron buildings, St, Patrick's Cathedral & St. John the Divine, the Dakota Apartments, early skyscrapers like Flatiron, Chrysler, Empire State to the newest now just beginning again), Financial New York, Shopping New York, Domestic New York, Diverse New York, Avante-Garde New York, Children's New York, Culinary New York, Legendary Tales of New York... I'm not even that huge of a fan of New York but I would watch a series that really explored the city like it could be done with Samantha's eyes as our guide.

I'd personally love to see great houses of America as a series (Bob Villa did a pompous version a few years back on another cable network that used to actually have quality shows on it), but I suspect Samantha wouldn't want to get too architecturally entangled. She would be very well qualified to do Great Airports, but I seriously doubt she would want to (nor would many people want to watch). But I do look forward to her next series, wherever it may take place. I hope she has a fascinating time in making, writing, and living it.

I suspect how much travel SB cares to endure has become part of the formula for upcoming programs; but she's shown no aversion to aviation fuel of late. How about Passport to the Americas?

The Irish, Germans, Italians (etc., etc., etc.) have left indelible marks on North America and cultural remnants remain from Boston to Hawaii. Instead of going to France to see the French, how about searching them out in New Orleans? Or maybe a trek to Montreal? Does the Scandanavian settlement of Minnesota 100 years ago have reach to today? So what's the draw to television viewers??? Local festivals, of course - jillions of 'em all over the continent that celebrate our melting pot heritage. [And we sure can't forget our Native American festivals too!!!]

Just a thought. Might keep our heroine at home for awhile and resting up for her new adventure: "Passport to Antarctica." SB: Get the funnel cake, stay away from the cotton candy.

Cheers!

Intl Doc

While outer space may be a little bit scary, I hear the view more than makes up for it. I have another show idea, one that would appeal to Samanthas’ love of travel and her love of eating and fine wine. How about a show featuring the top rated restaurants of the world according to the Zagat Survey, with maybe some chocolate shops and wineries thrown in where possible. It certainly would be better than that bizarre food show.

Passport to Airports... ROTFLMAO

While Sam admitted to loving a good airport (and I agree--great place to people watch) I'm not sure how many people feel the same! It would be so funny to see that as a demo show: "And this gift shop is said to have the best coffee mugs..."

I think that Samantha ought to host a special with all of us faithful Brownheads as guests. Wouldn't that be fun? We could all talk about our faverite episodes. It's nice to dream anyway.

Haha, yes it is.

A lot of great ideas!
Weekend Getaways would be great....

Geography (in the fullest meaning of the word) is what I enjoy/learn from her show.

Please, no "celebrities"! Nothing to learn there!

Samantha is why I watch....

Well, *reading past posts* I like the idea of a restaurant thing, though I don't know about a whole series... one can only take so much gourmet food while maintaining a figure.

But I'd flip to see Sam on Check, Please!, a Chicago show where three people (different each episode) pick their favorite Chicagoland restaurants, and the other two go to the restaurant and give their opinion on the show. I know Sam's not from Chicago, but surely she's eaten during her various stays there. I'd be interested to see what she picked and how she'd rate the other restaurants and discuss them with others.

The host of the show is a bit robotic, so Sam would liven things up, at least for an episode.

Father O

If you feel like you haven't been seeing or hearing from me believe me, it's just the calm before the storm. In September I was in China for a month Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu-all to be one hour specials to gear up for the Olympics. In October we began our three weeks in Europe shooting for the Weekend series. Florence for the weekend? SURE WHY NOT! let's just say that one would fall under the four day weekend. I just got back from Disney World where we are shooting the new Holiday special to air December 11th, I believe-but don't hold me to that because i didn't know they removed the Latin America series until I read it here from my Brownheads investigative team. Thanks Again guys for keeping me informed. The rest of the year and most of 2008 will be spent shooting the weekend series in the United States. YAHOOOO. I love traveling but being abroad for three years leaves its marks and this year I just really wanted to stay stateside. It's so strange taking two hour flights, I barely get my computer going before we start the initial decent. It's also VERY strange having people recognize you whereever you go. Being abroad I never got much response but it's a different ballgame here-very flattering, a bit overwhelming but so wonderful to see how many people watch these shows we put on. Anyway, I apologize for my long absence and of course when I went on-line to say hello last week the entire forum was down and instead of being able to post it automatically directed you to the Discovery fansite. I was like listen I Love Mike Rowe but does he really need more fans?

It's really great to see that you are all still out there and I promise you THIS IS GOING TO BE AN AMAZING YEAR!

quote:

Originally posted by samantha_brown:
I was like listen I Love Mike Rowe but does he really need more fans?

LOL! I agree... my dad watches him all the time and is obsessed with The Deadliest Catch. I'll watch a bit but I prefer watching you do your job over watching Mike Rowe get covered in filth.

Nothing like having Samantha returning and answering our posts to make it a really lively new thread. It's like Christmas morning. Yippy !!