So the idea travel to a country, pick a shitty guide, go to shitty places, and make fun of them, this dickhead walked out of the Egyptian museum because he found"nothing to do here", dude!!!

This became one of my favourite travel shows very fast. It is very refreshing to actually see something different. Karl Pilkington goes around the world, on adventures which he think he will like, but Ricky Gervais, and Steve merchant tries to make it hell for him. I think the writing and the adventures are well thought out and Karl always delivers with the perfect English pessimism. Its a fun twist for an everyman to go on general bucket list adventures, not enjoying it.My only real problem with the show is, even though Steve and Ricky are excellent writers, and I love all of their other work, and their humor, I think the phone calls, and the parts where they speak in person, are just too forced. While Karl is just himself, Ricky is trying to play a character whose only trait is to disagree with everything that Karl says, which is a bit old after the first few time. All in all this is a great show, and in my eyes it could have been perfect if Ricky and Steve are a littlebit less forced.

The first season is entertaining enough to merit a viewing. You sympathise with Karl when you see the way Merchant and Gervais belittle him and parade him for their own amusement, and overlook some of the more annoying aspects of his personality. While Karl has a lot to say and is sometimes amusing and funny, he's definitely no adventurer.However, the more you watch the show and the more you get to spend time with him, the less and less sympathetic Karl becomes. In Season 2, his antics and comments become more annoying than anything else, and you realise why Gervais and Merchant act the way they do. Not only does the man whine about almost every single event in the entirety of human history, he's also pushy and completely certain of his own opinion all the time, attempting to rationalise his transparent insecurities and excuses. Most repulsive of all is the way he often treats the locals, outwardly channeling his personal frustrations and worldly ignorance at them, often mocking, confronting or offending his hosts. At this point, somewhere in the second season, you realise that Karl's opinionated perspective usually just detracts from his present surroundings and the possible entertainment value of the show.This is why Season 3 (three episodes, really) functions so well. Warwick Davis joins Karl on his adventures, providing his own critique and a much needed balance to Karl's ego. As always, Karl becomes hostile when things don't proceed the way he likes, but Warwick's presence and their ensuing confrontations and disagreements become the most entertaining part of the show. Warwick is the balancing Yang that Karl's Ying so desperately needed, substantially raising the show's entertainment and travel elements. Wish there was more of this.Recommended: Seasons 1 and 3. There are many interesting and unique places on show in Season 2, but none of them are enhanced by Karl's presence or perspective.

It has been a long time since I have laughed at a show so much that I cried. This is just absolutely brilliant. I ended up watching Series I and II back to back over a few nights via iTunes. Karl Pilkington is clearly not an idiot in the slightest, and over the course of the series it is very easy to get to like him through all his moaning. To be fair he does have a lot to moan about. I know plenty of people, myself included, who would not only have complained - but refused to go through the various tasks set for them. That Karl actually goes through with half of this stuff shows, to me at least, that actions speak louder than words. Ricky Gervais actually is far more annoying with his hyena like laughing than Karl is with his constant moaning. Personally I felt that the second series is much stronger than the first, as the original format was starting to get a bit stale. Giving Karl the opportunity to choose some of his own adventures certainly made it a bit more interesting. Ricky Gervais certainly knows when he's on to a good thing though, I would love to see more of Karl in future. I'd like to have him read the news, do the weather, and narrate sports!