Day: April 17, 2023

Stories

Elephants, friendly and feisty, get an epic profile

By now, we might figure we know elephants – big guys, big noses, pleasantly ponderous lives.
But that’s just the start. “Secrets of the Elephants” — 9-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday (April 21-22) on the National Geographic Channel, then on Disney+ – shows that they, like us, vary by location.
“Forest elephants are particularly interesting,” Paula Kahumbu told the Television Critics Association, “because they’ve only recently been discovered as a different species.”
She searches for them in the third hour (9 p.m. Saturday), which falls on Earth Day, part of a cascade of nature shows during the weekend. But finding them isn’t easy. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 17, 2023
Daily Best Bets

Best-bets for April 19: gorgeous waterfall, gloomy “Snowfall”

1) “Nature,” 8 p.m., PBS. Every second, we’re told, 3,000 tons of water – enough to fill an Olympic pool — pour down Niagara Falls. The falls themselves (shown here) are fascinating, but this terrific film also has glimpses along the way. We see people nurture a tree that’s been there for 13 centuries and help a snapping turtle whose ancestors go back 90 million years. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 17, 2023
Stories

Busy Earth Day(s): Here’s a round-up

On rare occasions, the calendar co-operates with our needs.
That’s true this year: Earth Day, always on April 22, falls neatly on a Saturday. That’s a good day for people to get out and enjoy (and even help) nature … and to watch nature shows on TV, from “Big Beasts” (shown here) to kids’ cartoons.
There will be a lot available, because this has is a key subject for many filmmakers. “We need to fall back in love with nature, the way we (did) as kids,” director-producer James Cameron (“Titanic,” “Avatar”) said to the Television Critics Association.
By now, there’s more urgency involved. Climate change “is perhaps the biggest and most awesome challenge human civilization has ever faced,” said Julia Cort, of PBS’ “Nova.” Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 17, 2023