Best of the World With Antoni Porowski overview – the Queer Eye host’s journey present is daftly pointless | Tv

Antoni Porowski is waving to us from the highest of the Shard. “If sightseeing is your thing, London doesn’t mess around,” he shouts because the digicam swoops previous his custard-yellow cagoule. “Go beyond the postcards and this city goes deep!”

What might this imply, we marvel, as we watch our hexagon-jawed host whoop cautiously behind a security barrier. We watch for Porowski to elaborate. He doesn’t. The former mannequin merely waves once more, and the soundbite drifts off, bewilderingly, into the clouds. But then, Best of the World With Antoni Porowski is not any place for elucidation. Clarity would solely muddy the four-part journey present’s vibe; the vibe, or “message”, primarily being “stop asking questions and just enjoy this decontextualised shot of Antoni Porowski embracing a yorkshire terrier in a gilet”.

Still, if aimless encounters with small canines and snappy however successfully meaningless idioms delivered from a string of unconnected vacationer locations are your bag, this National Geographic-produced collection has, in our enthusiastic host’s phrases, “got you covered!”

The premise: Porowski – who was as soon as Queer Eye’s meals and wine knowledgeable – journeys to 4 of the world’s zingiest cities seeking … effectively. There’s a query. In lieu of a coherent reply, right here’s Porowski with some extra soundbites: “I’m on a quest to find the best” is one. “But what makes something the best?” he asks, earlier than failing to reply and as a substitute simply machine-gunning a succession of phrases and query marks over a breakneck montage of coming points of interest: the Eiffel Tower (“sights?”), a nightclub (“sounds?”), an previous lady spray-painting a wall (“people?), soup (“a meal so good it makes you wanna cry?”).

While later episodes absorb Paris, Mexico City and New York, the bewilderment begins in London, the place Porowski, 42, guarantees “six experiences across the city that showcase its complex mix of influences!” This encompasses flying visits to Kew Gardens, the Shard, a family-run bagel store in Brick Lane, an open-water swimming membership in Canary Wharf, Big Ben, a Dalston drag membership and a gastropub that serves Indian-influenced Sunday roasts. The extra mathematically alert amongst chances are you’ll discover that that is, actually, seven experiences. But what’s numerical accuracy once you’re as much as your nostrils in a salt beef bagel? “Mmmph,” gurgles Porowski amid gobfuls of dangling beef shreds. “’S’good.”

We’re given an attention-grabbing potted historical past of the bagel store’s 50-year historical past however the clock is ticking and, consequently, the modifying is as brutal as the meat is floppy.

A shot of the proprietor’s laughing face dissolves right into a split-screen montage of taxis, yorkshire puddings and Henry VIII, via which Porowski strides in his denims, like Moses parting the Red Sea in distressed Levi’s.

Then it’s off to Big Ben and thence to The Shard, the place a hauntingly massive caption informs us that “AFTERNOON TEA FOR TWO COSTS $200”.

There is a definite air of “destination marketing” to all of it, the lavish drone photographs and closeups of muffins recalling these promotional movies they present on planes, during which ageing native fashions information us stiffly across the costlier elements of our vacation spot whereas we chomp via our fourth packet of complimentary path combine.

All of which might be completely insufferable had been it not for Porowski, whose unaffected interactions with contributors are every thing the vacuous voiceover shouldn’t be. He’s in his ingredient when gossiping with the cheery Kew gardener who as soon as dreamed of turning into a singer, or the explosively moustached clock mechanic on the Elizabeth Tower who confesses that, sure, he has taken his girlfriend on dates to Big Ben. On a go to to the Shard’s preposterous resort suite (a snip at £14,000 an evening), he’s extra within the supervisor’s yorkshire terrier, an imperious beast in a satin physique hotter who responds to Porowski’s coos by ignoring him and peering pointedly out of the window. We can solely assume she’d learn his script.

Who all that is geared toward is a thriller. Moneybags searching for a curated information to a dream vacation vacation spot? Too arbitrary. Locals eager for a “deeper dive” into their house metropolis? Too fleeting. For all however essentially the most devoted Porowski fan, the pointlessness goes deep.