Documentary Archives - Page 19 of 63

Interview: Simon Majumdar of Nat Geo’s EAT: The Story of Food

November 22, 2014 Lori Acken

Most viewers know outspoken Englishman Simon Majumdar from his frequent Food Network appearances as a judge on series like Beat Bobby Flay, Cutthroat Kitchen and The Next Iron Chef, and from his critically-acclaimed gastronomic adventure Eat My Globe: One Year to Go Everywhere and Eat Everything. Now Majumdar is adding his signature wit and insight to National Geographic Channel’s epic exploration of food and food history, EAT: The Story of Food, which airs its second and third installments tonight at 9/8CT. And the timing couldn’t be better for the brand-new American citizen, who set off across his newly adopted homeland […]

Preview: Nat Geo’s ‘EAT: The Story of Food’

November 21, 2014 Lori Acken

National Geographic Channel’s three-night event is a tasty treat that’s good for you, too! It’s the most food-centric time of the year, and to celebrate (and give viewers a long overdue break from the myriad cooking shows and competitions that make up food TV) National Geographic is serving up a tasty dish of its own. Yes, National Geographic Channel. And no, it doesn’t entail eating weird things in order to survive the wild. Well, mostly. On Friday, the network debuts its frequently funny, endlessly fascinating six-part miniseries EAT: The Story of Food, from the same folks who brought you Werner […]

For real? Man gets eaten by snake in Discovery’s new “Eaten Alive”

November 20, 2014 Barb Oates

Say what? Let me rewind that promo trailer I just saw (which millions of others also saw during Nick Wallenda’s Chicago skyline walk) in which a man gets eaten by a snake in Discovery Channel’s new Eaten Alive airing on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 9pm ET/PT. How is that possible? The idea of a human willing to be consumed by a 20-foot-plus anaconda in an attempt to gain more knowledge on the majestic creatures sounds downright crazy. I mean, couldn’t we just study them from afar? When you talk with Discovery’s executive producer Mike Sorensen, who is behind the two-hour […]

Sleepless In America — NGC Reveals why the “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” mentality can kill you

November 13, 2014 Lori Acken

Did you know that at this very moment there exists a single, enormously effective weight loss aid, chronic disease fighter, mental health booster and student achievement enhancer — and it’s available to everyone and free for the taking? All you have to do to reap these benefits is get eight hours of uninterrupted shut-eye. You just groaned, didn’t you? We humans are the only species that willfully deny ourselves sleep and — cellphones, remotes and tablets in hand and in bed — Americans are experts at it. Forty percent of the nation’s adults and a whopping 70 percent of its […]

AHC special looks at the “Rise of the Berlin Wall”

November 6, 2014 Jeff Pfeiffer

This month marks the 25th anniversary of when the notorious Berlin Wall fell, in 1989. While many may recall the amazing scenes, not as many may remember the beginnings of the Berlin Wall in the 1960s. American Heroes Channel (AHC) will take a look back with the special Rise of the Berlin Wall, airing Nov. 6 at 10pm ET. From AHC: “On the morning of August 13, 1965, the citizens of Berlin woke to a chorus of pneumatic drills and tanks, only to discover that their capital had been physically divided by a barbed wire fence. While the majority of […]

Esquire Network documentary series to chronicle Clay Aiken’s congressional campaign

November 5, 2014 Jeff Pfeiffer

Clay Aiken, perhaps the most famous second-place finalist on American Idol (he was runner-up to Ruben Studdard in Season 2), came in second once again yesterday when North Carolina voters chose not to elect him to the House, opting to stick with incumbent representative Renee Ellmers. Had he won in the predominantly Republican 2nd Congressional District, Aiken, who ran as a Democrat, would have been the South’s first openly gay representative in Congress. The drama of Clay Aiken’s improbable congressional campaign will be chronicled in a four-hour documentary series for Esquire Network, set to premiere on the cable channel in […]

ABC special looks at history of Marvel Comics

November 4, 2014 Jeff Pfeiffer

After filing for bankruptcy in the 1990s, Marvel has had a renaissance in recent years, largely thanks to its enormously popular Marvel Cinematic Universe of overlapping films featuring some of the most popular superheroes in comic-book history (which made big news last week with the announcement of Phase 3 of that film universe, with a number of titles slated over the next several years). It took a long time — 75 years, to be exact — for Marvel Comics to reach this point, but it’s a fascinating history, and one that will be explored in the one-hour ABC special Marvel: […]

BTN’s “The Journey: Big Ten Football 2014” premieres Oct. 22

October 22, 2014 Ryan Berenz

BTN’s The Journey series returns for the 2014 football season with profiles of some of the Big Ten’s top players. The new season premieres Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 7pm ET with a look at Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah, Michigan State wide receiver Tony Lippett and Indiana wide receiver Shane Wynn. Viewers will get to see the personal side of the players as student-athletes and learn about their backgrounds and lives off the field. “The best part of The Journey is that each year, new characters emerge on the scene,” says BTN Originals coordinating producer Bill Friedman. “Our talented and […]

NOVA’s “Surviving Ebola” episode informative and relatively scare-free

October 8, 2014 Jeff Pfeiffer

Earlier this week, PBS NewsHour science reporter Miles O’Brien slammed U.S. media’s generally breathless and panic-stricken coverage of the Ebola outbreak that he feels “borders on irresponsibility.” He singled out Fox News Channel coverage in particular as having a “racial component,” especially considering the disease’s initial outbreak in West Africa, and as reflecting “a level of ignorance which we should not allow in our media and in our discourse.” Following that, PBS has a chance to change the discourse in tonight’s installment of NOVA called “Surviving Ebola.” Discussing such a deadly disease as this, it is probably impossible to get […]

Syfy docuseries “Town of the Living Dead” follows one town’s undying effort to make a zombie film

September 23, 2014 Jeff Pfeiffer

Zombie films and TV shows are hot right now, but the folks in Jasper, Ala., may have been ahead of the trend — six years ago they began efforts to make a zombie movie (called Thr33 Days Dead; don’t ask us how it is supposed to be pronounced) based on a town urban legend. It remains unfinished, and their attempts to finally complete the film are chronicled in the new Syfy docuseries Town of the Living Dead, which is a nice complement to the network’s ongoing scripted zombie series Z Nation, airing on Fridays. Thr33 Days Dead itself sounds like […]