Television series

The Trip

Name: The Trip
Genre: Comedy, Food, Travel
Released: 2010
Cast: Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Johnson, Claire Keelan, Marta Barrio

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, playing lightly warped versions of themselves, drive around beautiful countryside eating extraordinary food and needling each other into oblivion. Impressions duel, egos bruise, restaurant reviews get filed almost as an afterthought. It's improvised, gently melancholic, and very funny about male vanity and the fear of being the less successful one at the table. For fans of scenery, sparring, and dry British wit.

TVMaze rating

7.8

If you liked this

Curb Your Enthusiasm2000

Larry David improvising as an even more insufferable version of himself is the same trick The Trip runs — real performer, exaggerated ego, no script to hide behind.

But Meaner and more claustrophobic, no scenery or food, just half-hours of pure social catastrophe.

A Cock and Bull Story2005

Coogan, Brydon and director Michael Winterbottom essentially rehearsed The Trip here, riffing on ego and rivalry while pretending to adapt an unfilmable novel.

But Messier and more structurally chaotic, built around Tristram Shandy jokes that assume you know the book.

Sideways2004

Two mismatched men on a wine-country road trip, one smug and one quietly falling apart, laughing right up until it stops being funny.

But American and more plotted, with a romance subplot The Trip never bothers with.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

My Dinner with Andre1981

It's arguably the ancestor of The Trip's whole method: real performers playing versions of themselves, talking through a meal until something true slips out.

Two men talk for nearly two hours over one dinner, drifting between whimsy and existential dread, and somehow it never drags.

But Static and dialogue-only — no scenery, no impressions, nothing to look at but two faces across a table.

I'm Alan Partridge1997

The Coogan performance The Trip is quietly in conversation with — vanity, self-delusion and desperate charm from the same comic engine, just louder.

But Broader sitcom farce, studio-bound, none of the gentle scenery or food.

Extras2005

Ricky Gervais gets real celebrities to play grotesque versions of themselves — the same showbiz-vanity trick, aimed outward instead of at two friends.

But Sharper and crueler, and you lose the ongoing two-man relationship that anchors The Trip.

Somebody Feed Phil2018

All the restaurant-hopping travelogue pleasure of The Trip, minus the barbed banter — Phil Rosenthal is just thrilled to be there.

But No comic friction at all, much sweeter and more sentimental than Coogan and Brydon's sparring.

An Idiot Abroad2010no page yet

Same era, same odd-couple-on-the-road British comedy DNA, forcing two incompatible personalities into close quarters for laughs.

But Cruder and meaner-spirited, with none of the improvised wit or actorly one-upmanship.

Documentary Now!2015

A mockumentary anthology that shares The Trip's fascination with blurring performance and reality, just aimed at parody instead of friendship.

But Anthology format means no relationship to invest in, and the humor leans on spoofing specific docs.

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown2013

Bourdain's restaurant-hopping travelogue shares the structure — eat, talk, move on — but swaps competitive banter for melancholy and curiosity.

But Much more serious and solo, with almost none of The Trip's comic sparring or impressions.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi2011

Same preoccupation with craft, ageing and what you leave behind, stripped of irony and impressions entirely.

A quiet, exacting documentary about an ageing sushi master obsessed with perfection and legacy — the anxieties Coogan jokes about, played completely straight.

But No comedy whatsoever, meditative pace, and it may feel slow after The Trip's constant chatter.

The Comeback2005

Both use the fictionalized-celebrity-playing-themselves trick to dissect ego and fading status, but where The Trip is affectionate, this one is merciless.

Lisa Kudrow's mockumentary about a fading actress clawing for relevance is cringe comedy with the charm removed — the same vanity Coogan plays for laughs, played for horror.

But Excruciating rather than wistful, with barely enough warmth to make the humiliation bearable.