Save for one fascinating stand-out episode, Apple TV+’s The Reluctant Traveler felt somewhat like a waste of the sure-fire premise of sending Eugene Levy to fabulous places and watching him be somewhat miserable at all of them, but now the streaming service is taking another swing at it: As announced today in a press release, The Reluctant Traveler has been renewed for a second season that will supposedly be “even bigger” than the first one.
In a statement, Levy said that he has realized that “it’s true what they say about travel broadening the mind,” but that his mind could apparently “still take some broadening.” So, with “a healthy dose of trepidation,” he’s heading off for “whatever adventures lie in store.” He ends his statement by saying, “Here’s to trying new things—well, within reason,” which is basically the whole vibe of the show. If you think it’s funny to imagine Eugene Levy saying that with a shrug while, say, on the moon, then this is the show for you (though, unfortunately, there is not a moon episode yet).
Though the first season cruelly forced Levy to visit amazing places all of the world (Tokyo, the Maldives, Costa Rica, etc.), the aforementioned press release specifically notes that season two “follows Levy through Europe as he visits some of the continent’s most beautiful and intriguing destinations.” Levy definitely plays up his reluctance some of the time, but we can’t help but wonder if limiting this next season to one continent was a concession to make him happier… like maybe Apple wanted to do more, but he only agreed if he could do slightly less reluctant-traveling. That’s a totally baseless assumption, but it would give season two some new energy if Levy carried a little more resentment toward Apple for forcing him to do all of this against his will.
There’s no word on when eason two will premiere, but if you’re currently in Europe, keep an eye out for the dad from Schitt’s Creek and American Pie! He’s there even though he doesn’t want to be!
