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Somebody Feed Phil

I was so excited when I saw that Netflix now has the third season of this food & travel show. It combines two of my favorite things and the host, Phil, is just wonderful! Funny, sweet and charming. He was the creator of the series Everybody Loves Raymond ( which I have never seen). Check it out and let me know if you are a fan too!

Posted by
4 posts

One of my favorite shows! The first two of this new season are both excellent.

Posted by
945 posts

Just watched the first two episodes of season 3 last night. Phil is delightful. A nice blend of food and travel.

Posted by
539 posts

I love this show, too. He's so positive and upbeat. I like that he talks about other things, like the culture and architecture of the place he's visiting.

Posted by
23178 posts

And then he always checks in with mom and dad.

Posted by
11056 posts

We loved his “Chicago” episode and thought it was so well done.

Posted by
279 posts

Thank you for posting this! My husband and I enjoy watching travel related shows, and neither of us had heard of this one. We LOVE Everybody Loves Raymond (just watched 4 reruns this morning), so we are looking forward to watching this show! Just added it to our list. Thanks again!

Posted by
1259 posts

There is a second show called “I’ll Have What Phil’s Having”. More of the same remarkable adventures.

Posted by
427 posts

It's interesting how different folks respond to different people.

I was OK with the first few episodes of the show. But my wife has refused to watch any more. She finds him extremely annoying. I can understand -- he is annoying. But to me, not so annoying that I wouldn't watch any more episodes. But to her, that's asking too much.

Posted by
10120 posts

It’s exactly the same in our house as in Sammy’s, except my husband is the one who reacts more strongly. We were in Morocco for two weeks in 1977 and choose to turn off this episode. Some of it was the gesticulating but there was also discomfort watching some of his cultural insensitivity.

Posted by
3183 posts

@bogiesan-I’ll Have What Phil’s Having is not a separate show. It’s actually season one-after they changed the name of the show.
@Sammy-I guess I can see how some might think he is annoying. He is very animated!
@Bets-curious what you felt he did that was culturally insensitive?

Posted by
3940 posts

I find Phil very - excited - about trying new food. Man - I wish I had his adventurousness. We watched the London episode - we usually save them for when I have my mom up for supper and we watch an episode after - we know it's not going to have anything offensive and she gets a kick out of him. We've been to London plenty but will rewatch before our next trip and take a few notes.

When we were in Venice last year we passed one of the places he visited in his Venice episode - I believe it was the gelato place - we didn't go in (we'd prob already had a gelato that day, or were heading for another I had heard about) but they had a few signs in the window saying 'as seen on...'

Posted by
3938 posts

Before our trip to Italy last year with the teenaged granddaughters we recommended they watch the Venice and Florence episodes. They found him to be too corny and whiny for their tastes. They especially hoped they wouldn’t react like Phil did during his gondola rowing lesson, and they didn’t.

Posted by
10120 posts

To be exact Tammy, in the Morocco episode at the Berber home when, trying to be funny, he asked if he could finish the mound of food in the couscous platter and at his chic hotel being served breakfast, first he cuts off the server's description trying to be funny then asked the server to sit down at his table. Ouch. I'll delete culturally and just say insensitive because we wouldn't do those anywhere. He put the waiter in an uncomfortable position: follow his job code or his wealthy, powerful customer.

However, I thought the Tokyo episode was very good.

Posted by
3874 posts

Some time ago, I watched the Barcelona episode at the behest of an American colleague. Being from Barcelona, I was happy they showed the Festival de Sant Joan, which is a very local celebration in Barcelona that I have fond memories of.

While I can certainly see the charm and fun of the show, unfortunately, I was not a big fan of the presenter Phil (I had not heard of him before). It's hard to describe what puts me off in English, but in Spain we would have a word for this kind of person, "Agobiante", there is no direct English translation, but it's somewhere between stressful and overbearing.

Posted by
1259 posts

From the Hollywood Reporter:

The series ran for one season in 2015 on the public broadcaster and was warmly received by critics. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the show was not cost-effective for PBS, and deep-pocketed Netflix — which is expected to spend upward of $6 billion on originals in 2017 — swooped in to pick up the series. A new title is expected to be announced (the video message ended with the clever hashtag #NetflixAndPhil) and an episode count as well as premiere date have also yet to be determined.

Posted by
548 posts

We watched 2 episodes last night, Lisbon and New Orleans, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Looking forward to more.

Posted by
3777 posts

I also found him extremely annoying. I watched 3 episides before i couldn’t take anymore. Too many better travel/food shows out there.

Posted by
2599 posts

I'm glad to hear there are more episodes--I am firmly in the camp of finding him utterly delightful.

Posted by
1113 posts

I would say he is “delightfully annoying”. I enjoy his shows and his wide eyed appreciation of his surroundings even though it’s someplace he’s been multiple times before. I also enjoy his rotation of guests/friends on the show and learning about their connection like the actor who went with him to Borough Market who had lived in London when he played the wizard on Wicked.

Posted by
372 posts

we watched his Lisbon show before our 2018 trip to Portugal. We were so taken by the views from the restaurant Ponto Final that we added it to our "to do" list in Lisbon. Took the little commuter ferry across the river, walked about 15 min along the seaside, and there it was. We ended up with the best table on the jetty, and had an amazing seafood meal while we enjoyed the view back across the river to Lisbon. Would do it again!

Posted by
21 posts

I really enjoy his shows. I’m in the camp of finding him a delight. My husband and I watched his Barcelona episode before our trip there and had the best meal at El Quim in the Boqueria Market because of the show. I especially enjoy his banter with his parents. I hope he’ll be able to film new episodes in the near future.