Discovery Channel's Planet Earth

It seems that recently, Discovery Channel has been showing nothing but TV shows. All of these TV shows revolve around learning, but they are still TV shows. The Discovery Channel has always been about documentaries and learning, but with recent series like Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, and Man vs Wild, Discovery seems to have lost it's roots.

They recently have found their roots again with the biggest documentary series ever, Planet Earth.

Planet Earth is an 11 part series. Each part of the series is a documentary on one type of environment on Earth and a look at the weirdest, most endangered, and most interesting animals in that environment. Each part of the series can stand alone, or be part of the series. Planet Earth focuses on conservation efforts and is trying to show people what we have to loose if we continue like we have been.

Discovery started making this series in early 2002. It took them 5 years to shoot the 11 hours of television! Most of this time was taken up waiting and looking for certain rare animals. There was one cat in the episode "Mountains" that took 2 years to find and get good footage of! There were 2,000 days of filming in 204 different locations all around (and under) the planet, from the Arctic and Antarctic to caves and the top of the world, Mount Everest. Most of these locations are in the remotest places on Earth.

I can't imagine how much these 11 hours must have cost to film. It must have cost a lot, because Discovery is trying hard to sell DVDs of the episodes, at $11.99 each for 2 or 3 episode on each one. Also, they created 3 more shows on how the documentary was filmed.

The episodes (I don't include all animals shown):

1) Pole to Pole (March 25th):
A look at the entire earth and the effects of gradual climate change. Also looks at seasonal transitions around the globe. This episode features penguins, caribou, leopards, great white sharks, elephants, etc.

2) Mountains (March 25th):
This episode is about the mountains and the creatures that live in them.This episode features the gelada (only primate that lives off of a diet of grasses), wolves, pumas, grizzly bears, snow leopards, etc.

3) Ocean Deep (March 25th):
This episode explored the most unexplored region of the Earth, the deep ocean. It shows sharks, tuna, floor crabs, sailfish, dolphins, whales, and all those really weird animals that live at the bottom of the ocean, thousands of leagues below the sea surface.

4) Deserts (April 1st):
Shows desert environments including the Gobi and the Sahara and how the creatures that live there survive. This episode features, the dromedary, elephants, lions, kangaroos, foxes, lizards, locusts, etc.

5) Ice Worlds: (April 1st):
This episode takes a look at the Arctic and the Antarctic and the creatures that survive there. This episode features: humpback whales, krill, penguin, oxen, foxes, wolves, polar bears, walruses, etc.

6) Great Plains (April 8th):
Takes a look at the grasses and animals in treeless areas. This episode features gazelles, carillon, wolves, bison, yak, elephants, lions, etc.

7) Shallow Seas (April 8th):
This episode is devoted to the 8% of the world's oceans that hug the coastline.Most marine life lives in this part of the ocean. Featured animals are: humpback whales, goatfish, dolphins, sea lions, stingrays, seals, etc.

8) Jungles (April 15th):
Looks at the 3% of the land that is covered with jungles, but has half of the world animal species. Features birds of paradise, monkeys, tree frogs, crab spiders, forest elephants, chimpanzees, orangutans, etc.

9) Fresh Water (April 15th):
Shows how all life is ultimately dependent on the 3% of Earth's water that is salt-free a.k.a., fresh.Features salamander, salmon, otters, wildebeest, etc.

10) Seasonal Forests (April 22nd):
This episode shows about life in coniferous and deciduous forests around the globe. Shows us moose, wolverine, redwood trees, squirrels, owls, mandarin duck, cicadas, leopards, monkeys, and tigers.

11) Caves (April 22nd):
Shows some of the odd life that lives in caves. Features bats, cockroaches, a species of crabs, glow worms, etc.

There are also 3 shows where the film crews tell about how they got some of those great shots.