Documentary Archives - Page 60 of 63

“Shark Week” Adds Bite To Summer TV

June 11, 2009 Jeff Pfeiffer

By Jeff Pfeiffer (aka RabbitEars) First of all — yes, yes, it’s true. RabbitEars is really me. I’ve hidden long enough! But be honest with yourself. You’re not too surprised, are you? After all, have you ever seen RabbitEars and me at the same place, at the same time? But now to the main business at hand. Discovery Channel has announced the return of its summer favorite, Shark Week, in August. Just as many sharks need to keep swimming to survive, so this ratings juggernaut has moved ever forward since its debut back in 1988. And as in previous years, […]

Preview: Nature’s Most Amazing Events

May 29, 2009 Jeff Pfeiffer

By RabbitEars Don’t forget this weekend to tune in to Discovery Channel‘s great new miniseries Nature’s Most Amazing Events. Discovery co-produced the series with the BBC, their production partners on Planet Earth. That series set the bar for natural history programming so high that I wasn’t sure if this new series would be quite as awe-inspiring. While Planet Earth remains on a level of its own, this series comes very close to it and is still the best nature show — or any show period — you’re likely to see this year. And it is unique in that each of […]

Ken Burns’ Walk Through The “Parks”

May 6, 2009 Jeff Pfeiffer

I just had a chance to screen an hourlong preview of Ken Burns’ next project following his amazing film The War from a few years back. Premiering Sept. 27 on PBS, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea continues Burns’ obvious fascination with American history, and both the everyday and well-known people who lived through it, but also adds splashes of a larger, colorful canvas to the intimate archival photos and film footage he has been so masterful at presenting in the past. It’s the story of the history of America’s national parks — which the film describes as an idea […]

EWTN Chronicles Pope’s Holy Land Visit

April 30, 2009 Jeff Pfeiffer

EWTN Global Catholic Network will be airing complete coverage of Pope Benedict XVI’s historic visit to Jordan and Israel May 8-15. The network will follow Benedict across the region as he visits such sites as Bethany Beyond the Jordan; the Grotto of the Annunciation; the presidential palace in Jerusalem, where he will meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres; the Caritas Baby Hospital, the only baby hospital in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that cares for poor children; the Aida Refugee Camp near Bethlehem, where he will deliver an address; and more. Coverage also includes Pope Benedict’s meetings with other […]

Nice To Eat You

April 23, 2009 Jeff Pfeiffer

By Jeff Pfeiffer You have to hand it to Animal Planet. They can do “cute and cuddly” better than anyone else, with shows like Puppy Bowl, Growing Up … and Cats 101. But they do realize that the animal kingdom is vast and varied, so they also don’t shy away from the types of creatures that you will never see featured in “365 (fill in the blank) a Year” calendars, like the ones in these current and upcoming series:

“Green Porno” Is Back On Sundance Channel

April 20, 2009 StayTuned Staff

by Karl J. Paloucek Tomorrow, one of television’s more bizarre series starts up again — Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno on Sundance Channel enters Season 2. If you don’t recall, Season 1 had Rossellini presenting herself in various amusing costumes emulating the peculiar mating habits of various insects, arachnoids and annelids. This time, she’s taking things underwater, exploring reproduction of whales, starfish, anglerfish and others. Each episode lasts only a couple of minutes at best, but in those precious seconds, Rossellini does her best to succeed where biology class might have failed you. She’s not afraid to look utterly silly, and […]

The Hilarious Hillstrand Brothers

April 13, 2009 StayTuned Staff

On Land, “Deadliest Catch” Fishermen John And Andy Hillstrand Are Every Bit The Characters You Think They Are. By Karl J. Paloucek You know things have gotten wild in the world of television when Alaskan crab fishermen become TV stars. But as unlikely as it may be, it’s also undeniable: The captains of Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch (Season 5 premieres April 14, part of Discovery Channel’s “Alaska Week”) have attained household-word status in many households across America. We recently caught up with Captains John and Andy Hillstrand while putting together a spread in our print edition of Channel Guide Magazine […]

Ghost Hunters Draw Scary-Good Ratings; Head For Star Island

March 13, 2009 Jeff Pfeiffer

By RabbitEars The fifth season premiere of SCI FI Channel’s Ghost Hunters on March 11 drew in great ratings for the network. The episode, which featured visits to the historic Betsy Ross home and Hannum House in Philadelphia, delivered a 1.9 Household rating, 2.7 million total viewers, 1.6 million adults 18-49 and 1.7 million adults 25-54. The show also outperformed the season premiere of South Park, and new episodes of The Real World, Dog the Bounty Hunter and MonsterQuest, making it the No. 1 cable telecast for the day among adults 25-54. Additionally, in the show’s 9pm ET hour, SCI […]

Jason Hawes And Grant Wilson Of “Ghost Hunters”

March 10, 2009 Jeff Pfeiffer

By Jeff Pfeiffer At a press conference call last week, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, leaders of TAPS — The Atlantic Paranormal Society — discussed various topics relating to the upcoming Season 5 of Ghost Hunters, which premieres this Wednesday, March 11, on SCI FI Channel (see our preview). Here’s some of what they had to say.

Preview: “Ghost Hunters” Scares Up A New Season

March 9, 2009 Jeff Pfeiffer

By RabbitEars America’s favorite ghost-hunting plumbers are back to flush out more phantoms in Season 5 of SCI FI Channel’s hit series Ghost Hunters, beginning this Wednesday (March 11) at 9pm ET/PT. Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, who head up The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) team, explain that this season will see a return to a lot of residential cases in addition to continued explorations of the higher-profile historical sites. This plan is evidenced right away in the premiere episode, a two-investigation show in which the team travels to Pennsylvania to visit a terrified family just outside of Philadelphia, and […]