NBC’s Better Late Than Never is much better than expected

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I have to admit, when I first heard the concept and saw the first teasers for the new NBC reality series Better Late Than Never, I thought it was one of the worst ideas I had ever heard. Who would think putting William Shatner, Henry Winkler, Terry Bradshaw and George Foreman together (along with some guy named Jeff Dye) and send them traveling around the world would be a good idea? Not this guy.

But …

After watching the first episode I can state with utmost humility that I was wrong, dead wrong. So the concept for this show is these four friends, with Winkler as the ringleader of the whole shebang and Dye as their sort of chaperone to keep them on track and out of trouble, decide to explore the wonders of Asia, experiencing the culture, food and scenery. Now the first episode almost matched my expectations for sheer fakery as the whole set up is very over-produced. It’s unlikely that cameras were at the ready when Winkler called everyone to go on this journey, so I was afraid the entire series was going to be like this.

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Even when arriving in Tokyo and trying to navigate the train station and Shibuya Crossing (the busiest intersection in the world), it all seemed a little forced. But there were glimmers of spontaneity there as Winkler was recognized in the train station by tourists and locals, posing for pictures and signing autographs while the others, particularly a disgruntled Shatner, waited for him to rejoin the group.

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Once at their capsule hotel, Shat and Winkler had a very candid conversation about the adventure ahead and it seemed very real, very genuine, and that finally allowed me to let my own guard down and enjoy the show. The group’s adventures included trying authentic Japanese cuisine (at Shatner’s insistence, even though he’d never been to Japan but he did his homework), hitting a bar for a few beers, and just enjoying each others’ company (I have no idea if these men are actually longtime friends, but they do have great chemistry, particularly Shatner and Winkler). While some of the situations have obviously been set up, the conversations and interactions between the men and those around them is very real and it’s great to see how they can make each other laugh (and get under their skin).

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Jeff Dye seems to be the one in charge of setting up the adventures, and at one point they tell Shatner they’re going to be on the Japanese version of the Today show. It’s not, it’s a wacky Japanese game show that completely flummoxing The Shat, but he eventually joins in on the fun when they have to play an Atomic Wasabi Sushi Roulette game. The men also want to visit Mount Fuji without realizing you can’t actually get to Mount Fuji easily from Tokyo, and that it’s not really a tourist destination. So Dye gets them on a tour bus to what the show humorously calls Mount Fuji Adjacent … and then they have to climb 800 stairs to be able to view the active volcano (and one of them though flip flops would be good footware to visit a mountain).

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On the way back to their capsules, they engage in some karaoke with the other bus passengers cheering them on, and you realize that you’ve had just as much fun watching their journey as they must have had taking it. The gentle ribbing, the genuine emotions, the camaraderie the men share make Better Late Than Never a refreshing addition to summer reality programming that pretty much the entire family can enjoy. Future episodes will find the men in Seoul, Hong Kong, Phuket and Chiang Mai before heading home … and Bradshaw is betting Shatner will never make it out of Thailand. We’ll have to tune in to see who wins that bet.

Will you be watching Better Late Than Never? Tell us what you think of the show!

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