The summer season is often the dead zone for the four major television networks.

Maybe not so much for NBC, as Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, recently averred that his network is on track to win its sixth summer in a row.

Chairman Greenblatt bolstered his argument to the nation’s gathering of television critics for its summer press tour by boldly claiming that “we will definitely win the two weeks of the Olympics.”

NBC’s winning streak may continue with another limited series that gets launched on August 23, which by the predetermined calendar should occur two days after the Olympics closing ceremony at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

For better or worse, the new comedy event series “Better Late Than Never,” in an odd sort of way, just might fit the global Olympic spirit, in that its setting of touring four countries in Asia offers an international cultural experience.

It would be more accurate to call this experiment in travel, having assembled four old guys well known in the popular culture for the tour, a matter of a culture clash with the curious customs on the Asian continent.

Based on a popular Korean series with which absolutely no one on this side of the Pacific Ocean is familiar, “Better Late Than Never” has a much better chance than its origin source of “Grandpa Over Flowers” to connect with viewers. 

The primary reason this four-episode romp on foreign soil should resonate with an American audience is that it places four legends into an intercontinental excursion with no limousines, no lattes, and no fawning publicists. Hence, a great fish-out-of-water scenario happens.

The quartet of senior citizen adventurers includes cultural icon William Shatner, Pittsburgh Steelers football legend Terry Bradshaw, boxing Hall of Famer George Foreman and actor and Hollywood insider Henry Winkler.

“Better Late Than Never” has the feel of a reality travel show since the participants play themselves in what looks like unscripted dialogue, or more likely, they are so discreetly prompted in such minimal direction that all the scenes have the sense of spontaneity.

Apart from the four renowned celebrities, the group has a tour guide, loosely speaking, in standup comedian Jeff Dye (maybe best-known for hosting on MTV’s “Money from Strangers”).

As the sidekick, Dye, whose age is roughly a fraction of even the youngest member of the quartet, is tasked with steering the group into unfamiliar turf so as to disrupt everyone’s comfort zone. 

The first stop is Tokyo, Japan, and Dye has secured accommodations at a place fittingly-called Capsule Hotel, where the rooms are the size of a large refrigerator, but with barely enough creature comforts.

Basically, the sleeping quarters are cozy, tight spaces which seem slightly roomier than an MRI chamber.

While Shatner exclaims the cramped hotel “looks like a kennel,” Bradshaw and Foreman, both taller than 6 feet, would have the best reason to complain.

The maiden episode in Japan’s largest city offers frequent educational tidbits about the Japanese culture and life in Tokyo. For instance, Tokyo has more neon signs than any city in the world. Las Vegas simply isn’t big enough to compete.

Japan also has more pets than children, but there are 35 million residents in Tokyo, so one must imagine, given the frequent scenes of mass congestion on the subway system, that the country is overpopulated.

Culture shock is most evident not just in scenes involving the language barrier that turn even the most temperate of individuals into mildly amusing ugly tourists, but in culinary settings where the food options would cause even the most audacious gourmand some trepidation.

I’ll bet that Guy Fieri would never find the Japanese delicacies at any of the diners, drive-ins or dives that he has documented in books and TV shows. The group has to contend with a meal of the cooked private parts of cows, pigs and chickens.

The Louisiana-born Bradshaw gamely plays up his Southern heritage, remarking in a humorous monologue that he’s “been to New York, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and everywhere” but he’s never seen anything like Japan.

NBC only made the first episode available for review, but the series travels to South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand for the one-hour episodes to follow.

The trip to Japan made the type of favorable impression that whets the appetite for the misadventures that are sure to come.

The humor comes from this fun group of travelers navigating their way through each country, communicating with the locals, immersing themselves in local traditions and enjoying, or at least trying, exotic food.

“Better Late Than Never” could be the short-term hit for NBC that keeps the summer programming worth watching right up to the start of the new fall season coming later in September.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.