For years, Anthony Bourdain was considered one of the most influential chefs in the world. He has been credited as an impactful connoisseur of food and travel, who many looked to for inspiration and ideas. Due to his talents, passions, and no holds barred persona, he became a widely popular TV personality.
Throughout his television career, Bourdain served as the series host of four different TV shows. His first show, in 2002, was A Cook’s Tour. The show ran for 35 episodes and showcased his unique recipes and worldwide adventures. In 2005, Bourdain premiered another show, No Reservations, which was vastly similar to A Cook’s Tour. No Reservations lasted until 2012 and was met with much more applause than the initial show. In fact, one episode was nominated for an Emmy as Bourdain and crew were filming an episode when the Israel-Lebanon conflict broke out.
While still hosting No Reservations, Bourdain also began hosting The Layoveron the Travel Channel. The series aired a total of 20 episodes and featured Bourdain exploring a city in 24 to 48 hours, allowing individuals to determine the best ways to explore a city during a long airport layover. Finally, in 2013, Bourdain left the Travel Channel and hosted Parts Unknownon CNN. Rather than focus solely on travel, the show focused mostly on the cultures, politics, and cuisines central to the countries in which Bourdain and his crew explored.
Between 2013 and 2018, Parts Unknown filmed 96 episodes over eleven. Unfortunately, while filming the twelfth season, Bourdain died by suicide in France, while filming the show. Throughout his tenure in his many hosting roles, Bourdain’s voice became truly iconic. At the time of his death, the show had only finished filming one episode. As a result, the twelfth season will not be narrated by Bourdain entirely. Episode one of season twelve will be the final original piece to air with his iconic voice.
For the remainder of season twelve, CNN and the crew of Parts Unknownwill be working together to piece episodes together and continue the show. In the final episodes, there will still be many appearances by Bourdain, as much of the footage was shot prior to his death, but his narrations were not yet recorded. Thus, his layer of narration will be missing and will be replaced by another voice.
In addition to finishing the twelfth season as planned, two special episodes will be produced and broadcast on CNN. First will be a behind the scenes episode featuring the cast and crew discussing the series and the final episode will be devoted to Bourdain and his impact on the world. In the final episode, many of his friends, crew members, and sidekicks throughout the year will discuss his impact and reflect on his life.
