Nearly eight weeks have passed since CNN broke the news on the morning of June 8 that Anthony Bourdain killed himself in France while filming his hit series Parts Unknown. The good news in the short term for Bourdain’s legion of fans is that CNN has enough material to create a final season of Parts Unknown, which will premiere this fall. (LA Times / Company Town)
The episodes will be completed by the directors who filmed them for the show’s production company Zero Point Zero, said Amy Entelis, evp of talent and content at CNN who oversees the network’s original series and films. (TVNewser)
One episode had been completed prior to Bourdain’s death—a trip to Kenya with W. Kamau Bell, host of CNN’s United Shades Of America—and will be the final episode to have Bourdain’s narration. (THR)
Other episodes in the series’ final season will rely on archival footage and memories from crew members. The new episodes will see Bourdain visit Manhattan’s Lower East Side, an area of Texas close to the U.S. border with Mexico, Spain and Indonesia. (Variety)
CNN has not announced if the Paris episode Bourdain was filming at the time of his apparent suicide will be completed. The final episode of Parts Unknown will be an hour-long tribute to Bourdain’s life and career. Crew and cast interviews as well as behind-the-scenes footage will be used to reflect on “how Tony affected the world.” (Mashable)