The world certainly doesn’t need another celebrity-led travel series. It often feels as if the genre, which has produced shows like Coastal Railways featuring Julie Walters and Rob Brydon’s Honky Tonk Road Trip, is created by randomly selecting names and destinations from a hat.
Celebrity travel shows tend to come off as self-satisfied, lackadaisical, and often underestimating the audience’s intelligence. Therefore, it is with a mix of surprise and apprehension that I report that this particular series, titled Zero Stars, breaks the mold, presenting an intriguing concept alongside its engaging hosts.
The central idea revolves around a critical view of travel. While exploring new places is typically seen as an enriching experience, it can also be a playground for exploitation. Travelers frequently encounter overpriced attractions that promise much but deliver little, established by unscrupulous individuals who regard tourists merely as walking ATMs. Zero Stars delves into this darker side of tourism, showcasing unenthusiastic tour guides, questionable dining options, and commercial traps that leave visitors feeling frustrated. If you prefer to watch cheerful experiences, this show may not be for you.
Hosting the show are Sara Pascoe and Roisin Conaty, who present themselves as “comedians but, more importantly, best friends.” They navigate through the less-than-stellar tourist sites across the globe, skillfully balancing humor with critique. This delicate act is trickier than it appears; leaning too much toward one side could simply present a pleasant holiday, while veering too far the other way risks falling into outdated stereotypes about foreign cultures.
In their inaugural episode set in Istanbul, they mostly succeed in keeping the focus on their own antics. During a chaotic water bike adventure where they struggle to avoid colliding with a flotilla of boats, Pascoe humorously reflects on how disappointed her guide must be with her performance. They also visit a fortune teller who spends much of her time on the phone, leading to playful competition between the two for her attention.
However, there are moments that expose some flaws in the show’s execution. While it’s entirely possible to have a miserable experience in Istanbul—or anywhere else for that matter—it seems that Zero Stars sometimes holds back. For instance, they find themselves lodged in a five-star hotel that serves as a staging ground for hair-transplant patients, with a lobby full of men wearing bandages.
This scenario would be acceptable if it were truly a bad hotel experience, but it remains a nice establishment overall. In comparison, a brief search on Tripadvisor reveals hotels in Istanbul with serious issues like cockroaches, unclean linens, non-functional elevators, and even a porter who allegedly refused to leave a guest’s room without a kiss. While such experiences might push the narrative beyond lightheartedness, the series is titled Zero Stars, raising the question of its commitment to that premise.
Alternatively, the show could be interpreted as a commentary on the nature of travel reviews, where individuals often find something to criticize. Some of the reviews that appear onscreen for otherwise pleasant locations are so exaggerated that they elicit sympathy for the reviewers. Yet, within the context of Zero Stars, this sometimes feels like an attempt to have it both ways.
The series aspires to depict people having miserable experiences while also showcasing beautiful, sweeping drone footage of picturesque locations. I contend that achieving both simultaneously is challenging. Admittedly, the hosts excel at their roles—especially Conaty, who must be delighted to have engaging material after two seasons of watching footage on a screen in Last One Laughing—but there remains a potential to increase the level of discomfort. To truly earn the title Zero Stars, one must be willing to portray the more unpleasant aspects of travel, even to the extent of depicting food poisoning.
Zero Stars premieres this Sunday on TLC.
