CNN will air another season of “Parts Unknown” this year, including episodes that Anthony Bourdain filmed before his death in June, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Only one of the episodes, a trip to Kenya, is completed with Bourdain’s writing and narration.
The other episodes will be finished by the directors who filmed them for Bourdain’s Zero Point Zero production company. Each episode will be stitched together with audio recorded in the field and follow-up interviews.
The final season of “Parts Unknown” will include episodes filmed in Big Bend, Texas; the Mexican border; Asturias, Spain; Indonesia; and New York City’s Lower East Side. The season will not include footage from Strasbourg, France, where Bourdain was filming when he committed suicide.
“Each one will feel slightly different depending on what’s gathered in the field,” Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent and content at CNN, told the Los Angeles Times. “They will have the full presence of Tony because you’ll see him, you’ll hear him, you’ll watch him. That layer of his narration will be missing, but it will be replaced by other voices of people who are in the episodes.”
The season will also include an episode featuring reflections from the “Parts Unknown” cast and crew, outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage. A final episode about “how Tony affected the world” will air with footage from fans and those that appeared alongside him on screen.
CNN will not continue “Parts Unknown” with a different host. “What Tony did was inimitable,” Entelis said. However the network is searching for another show that would examine global social and political issues through a strong lens, similar to “Parts Unknown.”
The network has not yet announced an air date for the new season of “Parts Unknown,” however it will likely premiere in September or October.
