Bad news for any fans of Stanley Tucci out there. It has been revealed that the Academy Award-nominated actor’s travel show, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, has been canceled by CNN after two seasons. The Emmy-winning series was reportedly canceled due to CNN canceling all its original programming.
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy followed the actor as he traveled across Italy. He would visit different cities and regions in the country to experience all it had to offer with cuisine, culture, and history. While at first Tucci may seem like an odd choice to host such a show, he was truly in his element. While the actor is known for films like Spotlight and The Hunger Games, he is also an accomplished chef. Tucci has published two cookbooks and his memoir is titled “Taste: My Life Through Food.” He also made his directorial debut with the movie Big Night, about a pair of brothers running a restaurant, and starred in the “foodie” movie Julie & Julia. Tucci’s wealth of knowledge about cooking mixed with his natural charm and charisma made Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy a pleasant show to watch.
Tucci made the announcement of the cancelation himself on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He told the host:
“Unfortunately, CNN has canceled all of their original programming, so hopefully we’ll end up on another streamer, network, we don’t know. But yes, I have plans to do season three and more.”
Unfortunately, CNN cutting all its original programming is not much of a surprise. CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which has been famously ruthless in cutting programs that it deems to not be profitable recently. The Batgirl movie was canceled while in post-production last August and this week the HBO Max comedy Minx was canceled with just days left on the shooting schedule for Season 2, just to name a few. However, Tucci does give the fans hope that the series could find a new home somewhere else and get a third season, so not all hope is lost.
This move will be an end of an era as CNN has produced many fantastic original programs. From the iconic travel series by the late Anthony Bourdain, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, to The Sixties and the other decades' documentary miniseries. The one shining light is that it is being reported that CNN is committed to still releasing the original content it already had ready for 2023.
Stay tuned to Collider for any possible updates on Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy. Check out an interview Collider had with Tucci below: