Directed by: Krishnendu Majumdar, Luke Campbell
Starring: Karl Pilkington, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
Distributed by: BBC Worldwide Americas, Inc.
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
No. of episodes: 8
Running Time: 347 minutes
Series: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3 out of 5 stars
Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington are just such a great team. They could sit in a white room and they could make it funny. In this series, they decide to send Karl Pilkington all over the world and have him experience different cultures. Karl Pilkington is just so clueless and over the top funny. Whether or not he is joking is meaningless since almost every word out of his mouth is magic. Ricky Gervais’ laugh is also infectious. He just cracks you up every time if you don’t find it funny. A friend of mine suggested that his laugh should be a ringtone and I couldn’t agree more.
In this first series of 8 episodes called: “The Seven Wonders”, Karl gets sent to the following places: China, India, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Egypt, Brazil and Peru. In China, he visit the Great Wall of China. In India, he visits the Taj Mahal. Episode 3, while in Israel we see Karl visit a few places like East Jerusalem for the Western Wall, the Palestinian territories Bethlehem, The Dead Sea and Petra in Jordan. In Mexico he explores Chichen Itza, the city built by the Maya 
civilization. In Egypt he visits the Great Pyramid of Giza. In Brazil he meets the statue of Christ the Redeemer. Lastly in Peru, he visits the 15th-century Inca site, Machu Picchu.
I think the special features are a little lacking but overall still decent if you are a fan of the trio. “The Preview Show” has a sit down with the group and it definitely get a few laughs. There are about 8 deleted scenes totaling about 15 minutes, which are great. Then the only extra left is a 3 minute slideshow of stills. I would have loved to have more hands on features from Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington and perhaps some commentaries or featurettes. I wish this was also released on Blu-ray in the States. I know for sure that I am really looking forward to season two.
An Idiot Abroad: Season 1 now available on DVD at http://bit.ly/zQOTWr!
With friends like these, you’d be better off alone! In this hilarious travel series the co-creators of The Office and Extras, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, send their mate Karl Pilkington (The Ricky Gervais Show) around the globe- against his will-to visit the Seven Wonders of the World. Along the way he’s forced to endure camel rides, dine on toads, search for a clean bathroom and worse!
Karl Pilkington is hilariously entertaining, especially in this series. The cameos from Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais throughout the show (via phone calls and text messages) are great as well.