LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- Science Channel has acquired the broadcast rights to "An Idiot Abroad," a travel documentary series featuring Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington.

The eight-episode series, which bowed on the U.K.'s Sky1 earlier this year, will be highlighted during the Discovery sibling's portion of the TCA Winter Press Tour next month in anticipation of its premiere, tentatively set for Friday, January 21.

"Abroad," in the vein of HBO's "The Ricky Gervais Show," tracks "idiot" Pilkington as he travels to famous sites around the world - Chichen Itza in Mexico, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, the Giza Pyramid Complex in Egypt, the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu in Peru, Petra in Jordan and the Taj Mahal in India - with Merchant and Gervais monitoring his progress back in London.

Here's the original trailer from Sky1: