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TV Media Weekly | January 27 - February 2, 2018 By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: What can you tell me about the actor who plays Otto Ganz in the new season of "Berlin Station"? He's great, and he looks really fa- miliar. A: Thomas Kretschmann is a haushalt name in his native Ger- many (see what I did there?), but over here he's still just com- ing to people's attention. And he's still mostly being typecast as the villainous German. Kretschmann was born in East Germany and was actually a competitive swimmer in that Olympics-crazy country before fleeing to the pre-unification West to become an actor. "Berlin Station" is a hit show on a rising network (Epix, which used "Berlin Station" to get into the premium scripted-drama game), so it's a good profile- raiser, though there's a chance of getting lost in the large en- semble cast. Of course, that's nothing compared to his highest-profile role in North America, in the fa- mously overstuffed casts of two of the recent Marvel movies. He played Baron Wolfgang von Strucker in 2014's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and reprised the role in 2015's "Avengers: Age of Ultron." That role gives a good sense of the sorts of roles he's being given over here — supporting, usually villainous, but highly im- pactful. Next on his list of notable American roles is 2004's "Resi- dent Evil: Apocalypse," in which he played the central villain in entry number who-knows-what of the ongoing action-horror se- ries we've all lost count of. He had a smaller but slightly more prestigious part the fol- lowing year in the megabudget remake "King Kong," co-star- ring Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody and Andy Serkis in a motion-capture suit. Of course, he's also appeared in foreign films that were big enough to break into the Ameri- can market. Here I'm thinking particularly of 2002's "The Pia- nist," again opposite his "King Kong" co-star Brody. His turn in "Berlin Station" is not his first foray into American TV, and it's actually a smaller part than his last one. He played none other than Dr. Abraham Van Helsing in NBC's 2013 se- ries "Dracula," but it was a criti- cal and ratings flop that didn't get a second season. Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Personal replies will not be provided. Hollywood Q&A By Andrew Warren TV Media I n a television landscape that's bursting with culinary programming, it isn't hard to find something that can sat- isfy almost any taste. Like cook- ing competitions? Boy, do you have a lot of choices. Maybe some more traditional instruc- tional programs? Cooking Chan- nel has you covered. For me, one of the greatest gems is "Bizarre Foods" on Travel Channel, which premiered a new season last week and continues on Tuesday evenings. The long- running series has evolved over the years, but at its core, it's still all about host Andrew Zimmern visit- ing exotic and not-so-exotic lo- cales and sampling the local spe- cialties that, to a traditional Amer- ican palate, may seem a bit, well, bizarre. This season's seven episodes are all about culinary history and its impact on culture. In last week's premiere, Zimmern was in a less-than-exotic locale — Min- nesota — where he sampled the foods that lumberjacks would have feasted on when the legend of Paul Bunyan first took hold, in- cluding duck stew, bear pastrami and muskrat with gravy. "This season's adventures proved to be some of our most epic," Zimmern said in a state- ment, and considering some of the places he's been and the foods that he's eaten, that's a bold statement to make. This sea- son, he heads to Europe and fol- lows Napoleon's footsteps through Poland in one episode, and in another he makes the trip to Mexico City, where he dives into the culinary history of the Aztecs and their contemporaries, checking out how their cuisine has influenced that of modern- day Mexico. The locations and the foods are pretty great and all, but it's really Zimmern who makes the show. The four-time James Beard Award-winning chef and TV per- sonality is full of passion for new foods, cultures and traditions, and that enthusiasm oozes through the screen. His wry humor and good-natured charisma accompa- ny him everywhere he goes, and they're the real keys to the show's watchability. Get a dose of history with your meal with the latest season of "Bizarre Foods," currently airing Tuesdays on Travel Channel. From Minnesota to Mexico: 'Bizarre Foods' goes historical 10 | Cooking this week Sunspot 2 x 2" Vicker's Graphics 2 x 1.5" Tech Repairadise 2 x 1.5" Andrew Zimmern hosts "Bizarre Foods"

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