Discovery's "Planet Earth"

[Fazor]

Anyone else catch that new discovery mini-series "Planet Earth" last night? I only watched the first hour and tivo'd the rest, but it was really cool. I thought the narrator was a bit cheesey at times, but perhaps I just miss the good old "National Geographic" days.

It'll be a challenge to watch the rest of the series though; after two baby animals falling prey to preditors and one baby elephant getting lost in the desert and wandering to it's sure death, the misses won't watch it anymore. Oh wait, three victims of preditors I forgot about the seal and the shark shot shot with an extreemely high-speed camera. Awe-inspiring, IMHO.

[jamini]

It was narrated by Sigourney Weaver. They produced some of the best imagery I've ever seen. They compiled footage taken at over 200 locations, over a course of over 5 years, with more than 2,000 shooting days. I was impressed! It airs again on Wednesday and the rest of the series continues next Sunday at 8pm est.

[parallaxicality]

Why oh why does the Discovery Channel hate British voices? Every time they do a coproduction with the Beeb they always sub a British voice (Kenneth Branagh, Sir David Attenborough) with someone American. This show's been in eternal cable repeats in the UK for months now; have they shown the bit with the snow leopard yet?

[jamini]

Yes, they showed the Snow Leopard last night. Amazing footage!

[parallaxicality]

The swimming elephants are cool too.

[Fazor]

The swimming elephants are cool too.

I couldn't figure out how they shot the swimming elephants; it seemed much too dangerous to have a diver down there, but it was panning and tracking them flawlessly. I wouldn't imagine they could have been too far away w/ zoom lens or something because the water would have hindered that, i would think. But yeah, that was really cool.

And they way those hyenas coordinated that hunt was just spooky! could you imagine being stalked by that?

[Rue]

In canada it's narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/planetearth.html

[Swift]

I watched most of episode 2, the one with Mountains. I can't say I really liked it. The video was amazing and very beautiful, and some of the individual stories were interesting. But the story was really choppy and seemed to be really broken up by the commmercial breaks. I never could quite find what the theme of the episode was, other than "Mountains". And the stuff that was interesting, like the bears way up in the Rockies, kind of left you hang with "hey, I want to hear more about this".

It really makes me appreciate that much more programs like "Nature" on PBS, without all the commercials.

[novaderrik]

Why oh why does the Discovery Channel hate British voices? Every time they do a coproduction with the Beeb they always sub a British voice (Kenneth Branagh, Sir David Attenborough) with someone American. This show's been in eternal cable repeats in the UK for months now; have they shown the bit with the snow leopard yet?

maybe because a British accent just sounds too- umm- "British" for the tastes of the American audience?
i suppose they picked Sigourney Weaver for the US because she was in that movie about the woman that lived with the gorillas in the mist, so people here associate her with nature.
or something.

[hhEb09'1]

or something.We love Sigourney Weaver, we don't hate Sir David Attenborough :)

[Maksutov]

We love Sigourney Weaver, we don't hate Sir David Attenborough :)Plus Attenborough has never possessed a major appliance that displayed unusual behavior. Some of his clones did, but they weren't appliances, except for how they were viewed by the attorney. That was an open-and-shut case.

[Jason Thompson]

I watched most of episode 2, the one with Mountains. I can't say I really liked it. The video was amazing and very beautiful, and some of the individual stories were interesting. But the story was really choppy and seemed to be really broken up by the commmercial breaks.

Bear in mind that that is the fault of the channel, not the production. It was made for the BBC, which is a commercial-free channel, and believe me in a complete episode it looks so much better.


I never could quite find what the theme of the episode was, other than "Mountains".

Er, that was the theme of the episode.


And the stuff that was interesting, like the bears way up in the Rockies, kind of left you hang with "hey, I want to hear more about this".

Good, that's what these things should do. There just isn't the time to be exhaustive in such shows. If it prompts you to want to find out more then it's fulfilling one of its objectives.

Just out of interest, when the show is broadcast on channels with commercial breaks, does it include the 'making of' featurette at the end of each episode? Here in the UK, when it was shown on BBC 1, it filled the hour slot by having a ten minute featurette, usually concentrating on one aspect of the making of that particular episode. The snow leopard one, for instance, had a video diary that showed just how long they spent trying to find one. I'm wondering if that was put there as something to fill the hour on a commercial free channel, but that could be excised for commercial channels without removing the main narrative of the episode.

[jumbo]

Its a fantastic series. Wathcing it on a big hi definition tv was great. The flamingos footage in one episode was stunning as was the shark footage (How they managed to get footage of the thing nabbing its prey mid air was quite a feat)

The featurettes were great too. Of those i have to say im glad i wasnt one of the guys filimg the polar bears!

[Swift]

Originally Posted by Swift
I never could quite find what the theme of the episode was, other than "Mountains".
Er, that was the theme of the episode.

Ok, then that wasn't enough of a theme. Look, here are a bunch of animals that live in mountains. Maybe it is just too big a topic.

For example, I like Attenborough's series on birds much more.

[Fazor]

Its a fantastic series. Wathcing it on a big hi definition tv was great. The flamingos footage in one episode was stunning as was the shark footage (How they managed to get footage of the thing nabbing its prey mid air was quite a feat)

The featurettes were great too. Of those i have to say im glad i wasnt one of the guys filimg the polar bears!

Yeah, it's shows like these that make me really love my 52" plasma set :dance:

[Jason Thompson]

Ok, then that wasn't enough of a theme. Look, here are a bunch of animals that live in mountains. Maybe it is just too big a topic.

For example, I like Attenborough's series on birds much more.

I think you've missed the point entirely. The series aims to give an indication of the variety of habitats and life found on the whole planet, and mostly in areas that we have only recently had the means to film in great detail. It has, by title and definition, a very broad scope.

Attenborough's series on birds was just that: a whole series on birds. It was created with the intention of being more in-depth. With more episodes and a narrower scope it could achieve that.

Planet Earth is not setting out to be an exhaustive and detailed documentary, but to convey the magnificence of the world around us. That's its purpose, and I think it succeeds marvellously.

[Doodler]

We love Sigourney Weaver

We do?

[ToSeek]

We do?

Have you seen Galaxy Quest?

[parallaxicality]

Have they shown Lechuguilla cavern yet?

[allenwench]

I have to agree with Swift. I saw the first two episodes and was blown away by the pretty pictures (we just got a new big-screen HD TV). But, as a whole, it was very choppy and didn't have any flow from one scene to another. I would like more coherence.

[parallaxicality]

That's what happens when you adapt a public service broadcast for commercials. I can't imagine how they butchered it.

[tofu]

I would like more coherence.

me too, but I think they were aiming for a wider audience. Everybody gets bored with something - for some reason, I can't stand to watch bears, they just bore the heck out of me - but by jumping around they kept everyone's attention.

Given the choice, I'll take a more in-depth show about something I'm interested in (Attenborough's NOVA episode on bauer birds was awesome!) but if you want to bring the big advertising dollars, I think you have to generalize.

[Fazor]

I think it wasn't about big advertising dollars (well, EVERY show is about making the most money they can...) but I don't think that's why it's "choppy" and lacks depth. The point was to caputre stunning visuals on the whole range of the life on the planet (hence the name, "Planet Earth" and not "Planet Rubyback Eastern Gobbswabbler" or something ;)).

I personally love the series. And as stated near the beginning of the post, I just know some of these segments are going to spark my interest enough for me to go investigate certain aspects further on my own.

[HenrikOlsen]

Part of the choppiness is exactly because it wasn't written to constant ad interruptions, so there's no mini recap every time you come back to bind segments together.

On the other hand, watching a nature show that's been written for ad interruptions without those interruptions make it sound like it's written for particularly stupid goldfish.
Which may be part of the reason why people abroad sometimes get the impression that American TV viewers are stupid.

[Fazor]

Part of the choppiness is exactly because it wasn't written to constant ad interruptions, so there's no mini recap every time you come back to bind segments together.

On the other hand, watching a nature show that's been written for ad interruptions without those interruptions make it sound like it's written for particularly stupid goldfish.
Which may be part of the reason why people abroad sometimes get the impression that American TV viewers are stupid.

Ah, I've noticed this phenomenon if you will with these rediculous "America's next top" whatever shows the misses watches. there's about 12-15 minutes between commercial breaks, but when you get back from brake the first 2-3 minutes is basically a recap of what just happened before they went to break.

Or course I hate those shows, so the 2 min long recaps would be more than enough for me. condense the hour-long ordeal into 5-6 minutes, i'd be happy with that.

[Doodler]

Have you seen Galaxy Quest?

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/50621866/Bra_Pads.jpg


Yeah, I have. :p

I've also seen Alien, and know when I'm being hornswaggled. ;)

[JonClarke]

It was narrated by Sigourney Weaver.

That's disgusting! Sir David's voice is as much a part of these magnificent productions as the ever more amazing photography!

This was an amazing series.

Jon

[CJSF]

That's disgusting! Sir David's voice is as much a part of these magnificent productions as the ever more amazing photography!

This was an amazing series.

Jon
What? I happen to LIKE Sigourney Weaver. And Sir David's voice, while awesome, is getting a bit cliche and sterotypical for some American viewers (at lease ones I've spoken with). I think she did a splendid job.

CJSF

[Jason Thompson]

Sir David's voice, while awesome, is getting a bit cliche and sterotypical for some American viewers (at lease ones I've spoken with).

Cliched and stereotypical?! You know there's a reason why he is Sir David, and there is a reason why he was the narrator for this show. Attenborough virtually is BBC wildlife. Virtually every landmark wildlife documentary from this country has been one of his.

[parallaxicality]

On another forum I once made a list of all various lines of evidence which incontrovertably proved that David Attenborough was God. (He's immortal, he's omnicient, he greenlit Monty Python etc.)

[Jim]

Frankly, I don't care who narrates. The series is visual. I just want a narrator who speaks audibly and understandably, and lets the pictures do their thing.

Beautiful visuals, btw.

[Fazor]

I agree Jim; altho I can't compaire it to the Brit's version as I haven't seen it. I will however say that in the one episode I caught so far "from pole to pole" there was two or three small parts where the narative detracted from the visuals and kinda annoyed me but it was nothing major. Not enough for me to say it was "bad". (off the top of my head, the part whith the bird that was "cleaning" his area for his mating dance, and she said something like "oops! you missed a spot").

[CJSF]

Cliched and stereotypical?! You know there's a reason why he is Sir David, and there is a reason why he was the narrator for this show. Attenborough virtually is BBC wildlife. Virtually every landmark wildlife documentary from this country has been one of his.

That's my point! In the States he is a GENERIC voice of BBC wildlife! I happen to like Sir David; I was just relating to you what I've heard some people say. In any event, I still think Ms. Weaver did a great job.

CJSF

[Jason Thompson]

In the States he is a GENERIC voice of BBC wildlife!

Maybe I'm just picky, but I'm just not happy with the terminology. Your use of the term 'generic voice' suggests that's all he is: a voice. He is one of the real driving forces behind the whole production of these shows. It's his passion for the subject that makes some of the programmes. That's why he crops up so often in the BBC shows. He makes half of them!

He is anything but a generic voiceover or presenter.

[CJSF]

Sorry to have offended you; but again, those aren't MY views, just what I've heard people tell me. You may not like it, but that's the way it is. I know why he "crops up," and I know who he is... so calm down!

CJSF :(

[Doodler]

Maybe I'm just picky, but I'm just not happy with the terminology. Your use of the term 'generic voice' suggests that's all he is: a voice. He is one of the real driving forces behind the whole production of these shows. It's his passion for the subject that makes some of the programmes. That's why he crops up so often in the BBC shows. He makes half of them!

He is anything but a generic voiceover or presenter.

Another Cousteau-like figure that evokes the 'Oh, its him again.' response.

I'll bet dollars to donuts he was probably in on the decision to replace himself in the US airing of it. Somehow, if he's that involved in it, I don't see too many people at the Beeb or TDC having the backbone to stand him down.

[allenwench]

Maybe I should elaborate on what I meant by coherence. I didn't mean that each segment should be done in more depth. I wanted the pieces to flow from one to the other more smoothly. There were times when I wasn't sure which hemisphere we were looking at. Visuals are spectacular, but context makes them better, in my opinion.

[ciderman]

I'll bet dollars to donuts he was probably in on the decision to replace himself in the US airing of it.

I don't think it's a safe bet, I wouldn't be suprised if he had nothing to do with it.
Of course Sir Dave is highly respected & his opinions carry a lot of weight, but he is in his eighties now & he has reduced his involvement in the infernal complexities of programme production quite a lot in the last decade(s!) or so. For some (smaller) productions his involvement may involve just collaboration on the script, & then recording of his frequently first take perfect narration.

Being a co-production with Discovery I don't think it would be unusual for Discovery to have negotiated the rights to change the narration & perhaps other stuff in their own broadcasts, as part of the original co-production agreement (I've seen quite few of these in my time, umm, did I mention I used to work for the BBC NaturalHistoryUnit :whistle: ).

[CJSF]

I saw an AWESOME Sir David episode on Nova about DNA and amber, orginally from about a year ago.

He even made a way-cool comment about "the man [his] brother played," referencing Jurassic Park.

CJSF

[SkepticJ]

Great series, and I like Sigourney Weaver, but I'd rather Patrick Stewart or Paul Reubens had done the narration for the American version.

[Gillianren]

That may be the only time in history those names appear in the same sentence.

[HenrikOlsen]

That may be the only time in history those names appear in the same sentence.
You're probably right.
Steward and Weaver where both in the movies Jeffrey and Walls of Glass, Rubens and Steward appeared in the same episode of Video on Trial (#2.8), but Rubens and Weaver hasn't been in anything together.

[NEOWatcher]

It must be good, It's being endorsed by Oprah (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/06/11/100060530/index.htm?cnn=yes).

Besides the fact that this happened over 2 months ago, and is just hitting the news now...



"A lot of people used to believe that the only thing that would be successful on TV had to be out-and-out celebrity or entertainment shows," says Jane Root, Discovery Channel's president, describing how Planet Earth's success validates the channel's return to its roots as a "knowledge network." Advertisers want in.

Let us hope that this is a trend... But; I see some irony in this statement when the news is that Oprah endorsed it.