—
From 1955 to 1975, the US Army used its own soldiers as human guinea pigs in research involving powerful, mind-altering drugs. Told through exclusive footage and first-hand accounts, this is the true story of one of the darkest chapters in US history.
Premieres June 9th, 2022, on Discovery+
—
Phil Rosenthal has one of the best jobs in the world: as the creator and star of the hit Netflix series, “Somebody Feed Phil,” Rosenthal travels almost everywhere, and eats just about everything. “We go to fabulous places on the Earth, and I try to get you to come there by showing you the best places there to eat,” Rosenthal told CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook.
“There’s no more mind-expanding thing we can do than travel,” he said. “It literally changes your way of thinking. It changes your perspective.”
Rosenthal’s buddy, actor Ray Romano, had some high praise for his friend: “Wherever I am in the world, if it’s time to go out to eat with my wife and we don’t know where to go, I text Phil.”
The two met in 1996 when Rosenthal created, wrote and was executive producer of “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Romano said, “They took me from New York and they had set up ten meetings with potential showrunners. And let’s tell the true story: you were the second one. But the first guy turned it down! So, I went with Phil.”
“Yeah, isn’t that nice?” Rosenthal laughed.
The show ran for nine seasons on CBS, which is how the idea for Rosenthal’s current travel show began 25 years ago, while they were making the sitcom.
Rosenthal recalled: “I can honestly say it’s his fault. I asked him: ‘What are you going to do on your hiatus,’ that break between season one and season two? And do you remember?”
“The Jersey shore, like we always do,” Romano said.
“Right, right! And I said, ‘Oh that’s nice. Have you ever been to Europe?’ And he said: ‘No.’ And I said, ‘Why not?’”
“I said, ‘I’m not interested in other places,’” Romano laughed.
Art imitated life. Rosenthal said, “A light bulb went off. We’ve got to do that episode. We’ve got to do that episode where we send him with that attitude.”
Rosenthal wrote two episodes that explored Romano’s stated lack of desire to travel beyond his beloved Jersey shore, and his eventual transformation.
Raymond first notices a beautiful flower stand, and then, while walking alone, runs into two kids kicking a soccer ball. “Comes my way, and I kind of give it back to them, and then they actually engage me to play with them. Kick it around with them,” Romano said.
For Rosenthal, “It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever done on the show.”
And finally, Raymond buys a slice of real Italian pizza.
Ray: “This is like the best pizza I ever had, man!”
Vendor: “You like more?”
Ray: “Hell yes, I want more!”
“I love it so much,” Rosenthal said. “It’s everything I love about travel, how your mind literally gets changed.”
LaPook asked, “We know what happened in the episode, but what happened in real life?”
Romano said, “We stayed in Italy, and we flew to Sicily to visit my wife’s hometown. So, we spent a week in this little village in the mountainside. The stuff we did in that episode, I was living in real life. We were in a car this big. They were feeding us from the food they grew. You know, it’s just seeing goodness from people who don’t look like you, sound like you. You know, there’s like this common denominator that you realize people are good all over.”
“So, I see this happen to him,” Rosenthal said, “and I think, what if I could do this for other people?”
Rosenthal held onto the idea, and started his travel and food show in 2018. He says he never asks to taste something before filming: “Nope, I just jump in like an idiot. And when something’s amazing, yeah, I share it with everyone. It’s also the secret to why I’m not 400 pounds. It’s because I taste everything, I finish nothing. Share everything.”
He is especially fond of a chef he met in Thailand. “It’s a Michelin-starred shack. Unbelievable! A crab omelet. There’s like a pound, a pound-and-a-half of freshly-shucked crab. It’s probably the most expensive street food in the world. I think it’s fifty dollars for this omelet. and it’s so frickin’ delicious. You never see it in America, because it would be prohibitive, it would be two to three hundred dollars here.”
Rosenthal has just finished a book, published by Simon & Schuster (part of Paramount, which owns CBS), to document his travels and the best recipes he’s discovered.
He said, “It’s these artisans, these craftsmen who take such care and pride. It’s their national heritage, their personal family history that’s in every bite of the food you’re getting. And I swear to you, you can taste it.”
As for Romano, since “Everybody Loves Raymond,” he has continued to act in comedies and dramas, including Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.”
And he’s just finished directing and starring in a dramedy called “Somewhere in Queens,” which he also co-wrote, once again drawing on memories of his family. “Do they yell? Do they scream? And are they loud? Yeah. There’s that love underneath it. You can’t deny it. There’s a bond that can’t be broken.”
… Which also perfectly describes Ray Romano’s bond with Phil Rosenthal.
“Pretty humbling now for me to go to dinner with him,” Romano said. “And when people come up for to talk for an autograph, it’s for this guy now.”
“Crazy!” Rosenthal laughed.
“Somebody Feed Phil,” Season 5 debuts May 25 on Netflix
Story produced by Jay Kernis. Editor: George Pozderec.
—
This Sunday at 10 p.m., CNN will premiere the new travel docu-series Nomad With Carlton McCoy. Produced by Christopher Collins and Lydia Tenaglia, the team behind the network’s much-loved Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, the new six-episode culinary travel show follows McCoy, the president and CEO of Heitz Cellar and a celebrated trailblazer in the wine world, through the banlieues of Paris, the South Korean countryside, Washington, DC, Ghana, Toronto, and the Mississippi Delta on a journey of discovery—connecting the dots between art, music, food, and culture.
One of the youngest people and only the second African American to achieve Master Sommelier status in 2013 at 28-years-old, McCoy, who is also a classically trained chef, is the first Black CEO of a Napa Valley winery.
Fast Company caught up with McCoy recently in New York ahead of a fundraising charity auction for The Roots Fund, a non-profit organization he co-founded, which is dedicated to providing resources to “Black and Brown scholars interested in the wine industry” through financial support and mentorship. We talked about travel and filming during the pandemic, personal growth, and how McCoy finds time to do it all.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I love to travel, and not being able to travel for over two years, it was like working old muscles—it felt familiar, but was also a little bit odd being in different places and around foreign languages. The [production] team made it very easy, but with protocols changing daily, every country had its own thing, so we were very careful. We were optimistic that once this thing was actually going to air, we would be in a much better place in the world.
An old man in Athens taught me early on that disappointment has a direct correlation to expectations, so I always try to manage that part of it. I definitely went in with intention, but very little in the way of expectations. I used to think that was a hard way to live, but actually, you’re delighted by a lot more things than you are disappointed.
I wanted to ensure that I was never scripted or trying to act—I wanted to be myself, whether it sounded better or not. I’d say I’m very optimistic. And we intentionally went to places where there was controversy and some turmoil—and we were able to touch on those things without, I think, creating a divide between people. We were able to celebrate the culture there while simultaneously discussing [history]. Sometimes, under the veil, there are still a lot of political issues—but does that mean you can’t celebrate the cultural result of a dark time?
I think the ability to interact in a civil manner with people who have different opinions has been lost—and on the show, we do intentionally interact with people who probably, politically, in some values do not align. Hopefully we can be civil about those things and learn how to interact, and also celebrate people who are not often celebrated.
I was like: Look, I would love to go to Paris, but I don’t want to do business. So we took a deep dive, deeper than I’ve ever gone into it. We wanted to celebrate the real Paris of today versus the idea [of Paris] on a poster. The French lady who hangs out, like, smoking cigarettes is not the only thing that exists. Places are defined by the people who occupy it. Even our crew was incredibly diverse—that was important for us. A lot of the directors and producers were people of color and female. All of it was really intentional.
What were some of your biggest takeaways from the experience?
All these places are incredible. People are awesome and I needed a reminder to engage. [During the pandemic] I got caught up in that whole social media thing—and you forget that we’re all human. Everyone is capable of going down the wrong path, being convinced of something, taking a side. [Media] is a business, they need to keep you looking, I get it, it’s the way the world is, people don’t want to watch the news if it’s showing all positives. But most people are pretty good and the world is rich and awesome.
I have clinically diagnosed ADHD, and it’s a real thing, but I think it’s actually, like, power. What it allows me to do is to harness it and go from one thing to another very simply—stop, drop, and move onto something else completely and with extreme intensity. It’s what helps me go from meeting to meeting and be very present and able to focus on the next call—and then go back. It really is extremely helpful.
I also think very quickly, although there’s a downside to that—my therapist says, “You cut people off because you already know where they’re going. But out of respect you should let them finish.” I still do it. I think in this job, in what I do now, it’s the first time I’ve been pushed to this level of intensity. I’ve worked hard my whole life. I don’t waste time. I really believe in being efficient—but really more than efficiency, I like optimizing my time.
Nomad With Carlton McCoy premiers on CNN at 10 p.m. on May 1.
—
No other food bridges borders, languages, and tastes more than the humble but delicious fried potato. From three Michelin star kitchens in Paris to the street carts of Hong Kong, you can always find a savory fry. Taking the audience on a joyous and mouth-watering journey around the world, best-selling authors Malcolm Gladwell and Chrissy Teigen join an international cast of characters to better understand the globe’s obsession with the french fry. With humor and reverence, Fries! The Movie shows its titular food as the ultimate connective tissue: a singular food with the unique potential to reflect the human condition, act as a source of corporeal comfort, and provide an avenue for creativity and expression.
Through personal stories and enlightening discussions with historians, connoisseurs, scientists, chefs, and obsessives, the history of the humble fry comes to life, while the potential for its future is pondered in new and exciting ways. Fries! The Movie unequivocally proves Gladwell’s assessment that “the world would be a dark, miserable place without french fries.”—Shayna Weingast
No other food bridges borders, languages, and tastes more than the humble but delicious fried potato. From three Michelin star kitchens in Paris to the street carts of Hong Kong, you can always find a savory fry. Taking the audience on a joyous and mouth-watering journey around the world, best-selling authors Malcolm Gladwell and Chrissy Teigen join an international cast of characters to better understand the globe’s obsession with the french fry. With humor and reverence, Fries! The Movie shows its titular food as the ultimate connective tissue: a singular food with the unique potential to reflect the human condition, act as a source of corporeal comfort, and provide an avenue for creativity and expression.
Through personal stories and enlightening discussions with historians, connoisseurs, scientists, chefs, and obsessives, the history of the humble fry comes to life, while the potential for its future is pondered in new and exciting ways. Fries! The Movie unequivocally proves Gladwell’s assessment that “the world would be a dark, miserable place without french fries.”—Shayna Weingast
—
DEADLINE Senior Managing Editor
February 24, 2021 9:56am
EXCLUSIVE: Longtime The Profit and Streets of Dreams host Marcus Lemonis is getting into business with Zero Point Zero Production. Lemonis has made an investment in ZPZ, a leading film and television production company founded by Lydia Tenaglia and Chris Collins, and also will serve as ZPZ’s chairman.
Zero Point Zero is behind Streets Of Dreams, a five-part docuseries hosted by Lemonis, aired earlier this year on CNBC.
Under the partnership, ZPZ will expand its non-fiction portfolio with content focusing on lifestyle (home, food, travel and fashion), business (corporate branded work, custom corporate content, entrepreneurship, investing, personal finance and wealth management) and a 360-degree approach around sports and the business of sports. Additionally, it aims to provide a creative environment for smaller and underexposed production entities who could benefit from such synergies.
“We had a wonderful opportunity to work with Marcus on our new critically acclaimed series, Streets of Dreams, last year”, Tenaglia said. “We began discussing the prospect of a deeper partnership that would leverage our respective expertise. Marcus’ business acumen and creative sense for content coupled with our production expertise is a powerful combination. And Marcus holds in high regard ZPZ’s core mission: to empower visionaries, inspire action, and connect humanity.”
Zero Point Zero is known for its award-winning content spanning film, documentaries, television and branded corporate work. The company has received over 50 Primetime Emmy nominations and 15 wins, along with 33 Daytime Emmy nominations and 14 wins, 12 James Beard Awards nominations and 6 wins, a TCA and Peabody award, among others.
Lemonis has hosted CNBC’s business investment show The Profit since its launch in 2013.
The Lemonis/Tenaglia/Collins partnership is repped by Lance Klein at WME.
—
Congratulations to Connected and Pandemic for taking the #2 and #3 spots in this great ScreenRant Article!!
Timely given the outbreak of COVID-19, which was declared a pandemic in March 2020, it’s no surprise that this docuseries was watched by a lot of subscribers. It talks about various pandemics in history, like the Ebola outbreak in Africa, and looks at the possibility of new pandemics, including influenza (the series was released in January, just as the existence of COVID-19 was becoming a public concern).
There’s also talk of research into a universal vaccine as well as controversial topics like anti-vaxxers. It’s one of many TV series and movies released during the pandemic, but remains one of the best.
How are we all connected to one another? This docuseries, released in August while most people were in lockdown due to COVID-19, follows science journalist and host Latif Nasser, Director of Research at the New York Public Radio show Radiolab as he explores the answer to this question.
There are just six episodes that look at not only how people are connected to one another but also to the world and universe as a whole. He looks at concepts from surveillance and people feeling like they’re being watched to numerical probability and how it applies to everything from classical music to tax fraud.
—
The veteran TV host is back with more episodes of his Netflix interview series and a perspective that has been altered by the coronavirus pandemic.
TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — A few days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, David Letterman sat behind his desk at CBS’s “Late Show” and shared the story of a rally in Choteau, Mont., to raise money for New York. Getting choked up, he told his viewers, “If that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about the spirit of the United States, then I can’t help you.”
Nineteen years later, with the country in the midst of a monthslong pandemic, Letterman found it difficult to conjure up any similarly inspiring anecdotes. One morning last week, this veteran late-night host, broadcaster and comedian, now 73, was sitting in a park here, contemplating the Hudson River and cracking wise about the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.
“It looks kind of unfinished,” he said through a fabric mask that barely held back his unruly beard. “Doesn’t it look like the new kid got to design it?”
But truth be told, Letterman was in a more melancholy than mirthful frame of mind. Though he, his wife, Regina, and their son, Harry, have remained safe, he knows several people who were stricken by coronavirus, some of whom died from it. And he is deeply frustrated by what he feels have been inconsistent, nationwide efforts to inform people about the pandemic and mitigate its spread.
While hardly its most devastating casualty, the coronavirus also nearly put a halt to Letterman’s Netflix interview show, “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction,” which returns on Wednesday. He had recorded two episodes, with Kim Kardashian West and with Robert Downey Jr., before the pandemic, and believed the season — if not the series — was finished.
Instead, he was able to produce two more episodes over the summer, under substantially different circumstances: one with Dave Chappelle, which was recorded at an outdoor pavilion in Yellow Springs, Ohio; and one with Lizzo, at her home studio in Los Angeles, which had no audience at all.
For Letterman, each of these episodes offered him a further education in the evolution of entertainment and deeper insights as an interviewer and observer of human nature. Even so, he found himself yearning for what he called “the carefree days of nonsense” when he could “bring people into a theater and talk to them for an hour, and when we were done I would go out into the crowd and shake hands, and everybody would want to tongue-kiss me.”
—
We are proud to announce that our series Somebody Feed Phil won a Critic’s Choice
Check out the acceptance speech below!
—
As a CIA analyst in Shanghai and Pakistan during America’s “war on terror”, Amaryllis Fox was familiar with drawn-out, intractable conflict. She’d studied the compounding effects of redoubling on failed policies, of redundant good versus evil arguments peddled into a quagmire, costing billions and an incalculable loss of life. But the situation in America’s longest military war, now nearing two decades, paled in comparison to the subject of Fox’s post-CIA project for Netflix: America’s costly, decades-longer engagement known as the “war on drugs”.
The Business of Drugs plays like a condensed, updated version of the popular National Geographic series Drugs, Inc (also on Netflix), moving from America’s voracious consumption of illicit substances to the global network of supply evading, or dwarfing, interlocking attempts at enforcement. The series’ six segments are delineated by substance – cocaine, synthetics (such as MDMA, also known as ecstasy), heroin, meth, cannabis and opioids – and explore substances of wildly varying levels of addictiveness, use and geography. Together, the chapters form a loose condemnation of prohibition as both policy and moralistic stance.
—
Somebody Feed Phil: The Third Course follows Phil as he travels to Marrakesh, Seoul, Montreal, Chicago and London. New episodes streaming May 29 on Netflix.
Read more on Entertainment Tonight
