Anthony Bourdain · standalone article
Back to archiveCNN Tried to Censor Tony, in Vain
Two pages from In the Weeds by Tom Vitale that neatly show how uncompromising Anthony Bourdain remained, even when CNN would have preferred to sand down the sharper edges.
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A small, sharp example of why Bourdain often pushed travel TV and culture journalism further than the network broadcasting him could comfortably handle.
Two pages that say everything
A hilarious passage from In the Weeds: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain (2022) by Tom Vitale, who from as early as 2002 became the regular director and producer behind Bourdain's travel programmes.
It is exactly in fragments like these that you see what authentic rebellion looks like inside television: uncompromising, reckless, witty and often just a little too honest for the corporate environment around it.
The scans
Tom Vitale as a close witness
Vitale was already there when Anthony Bourdain made his television debut in A Cook's Tour, broadcast on The Food Network from 2002 to 2003. He then remained a key figure in Bourdain's production teams for years, from No Reservations through Parts Unknown on CNN.
That is what makes his book valuable: not as a polished hagiography, but as the account of someone who knew both the television industry and Bourdain's own uncompromising attitude from the inside.
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