Friday, March 23, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Like Some New Romantic Looking for the TV Sound
The vampire squid compels you with his hypnotic eye to watch Planet Earth. Discovery/Stephen Downer
Is it worth spending $1000 or more to watch a single TV series? I'm generally as tightfisted as the next TV watcher, but if I hadn't already loosened my deathgrip on my purse strings to buy an HDTV, Discovery's Planet Earth might just have been the show to convince me.
Made in 11 parts, this nature series--which debuts Sunday on Discovery HD--takes advantage of new camera technology and a seemingly limitless budget to capture scenes that (it claims, at least) have never been recorded before: a cameraman stakes out a freezing mountainside for days, for instance, to catch a snow-leopard hunt that has never been filmed before. The series' focus is very broad--episodes include Jungles, Mountains, and Deserts--with a sweeping global range and an emphasis on the most extreme and visually dramatic examples of each habitat. It's the TV equivalent of a coffee-table picture encyclopedia, not dense with text but staggering in its images, full of aerial shots and intense color. I brought home screeners for the Tuned In Jrs.--it's about time the boys started earning their keep--and the episodes left them staring transfixed like opium fiends.
I say all this, by the way, without having actually seen the show in HD yet: Discovery sent the screeners on ordinary DVDs, which are spectacular enough on my crap 20" 4:3-ratio office TV, but I plan to HDTivo at least some of the shows to get the full effect. The show will also replay on plain-old Discovery Channel for the HD-less but really, this may be the time to go out and make some Asian flat-screen merchant very happy. I currently have the Deep Sea episode playing, and as it pans over luminous invertebrates and phantasmagoric jellyfish, I have a feeling this show is going to be watched in a lot of college dorms, accompanied by a smoke haze, an exhaust fan blowing hard out the window, and a whole lot of Doritos.
So the show looks great: Are you actually going to learn anything from it? Yeah! I guess! I dunno! Whatever! What do I look like, a friggin' zookeeper? I'm always a little amused when TV critics try to assess the educational value of documentaries in subjects they know nothing about. I learned a thing or two from Planet Earth, but what I really got from the show was slackjawed, uncynical awe, and that's the most important thing a good nature documentary can deliver.
Still don't believe me? Then it's time for me to shut up and make with the pretty pictures:
Discovery/Fred Olivier
Discovery
Discovery/Gavin Newman
PS: Yes, it is lame '80s music reference week here at Tuned In! Thanks for playing!
33 Comments to “Like Some New Romantic Looking for the TV Sound”
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About Tuned In
James Poniewozik writes TIME magazine's Tuned In column, about pop culture and society. Tuned In, the blog version, is about the stuff we used to call "TV," whether it's in your living room, on your computer or -- once the networks figure out the technology and line up the advertisers -- in your dreams themselves. Read more
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Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 9:47 pm
word
Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 9:59 pm
wow
Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Anonymous shows no mercy!!!
Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 10:42 pm
i'm so excited
i just can't hide
i'm about to loose control
and i think i like it!
wait is that 80's?
in any case i've been looking forward to discovery's planet earth for weeks, i guess that makes me a nature nerd...
i wish, i think i need to read a bit more on nature to accomplish that title
Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Now I know what to splurge on !
Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 10:48 pm
incredible and mind staggering
Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 10:49 pm
....be nice to have someone do an article instead of a repetitive ad for television purchases...........
Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 10:56 pm
One of the worst articles EVER.
Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 11:21 pm
Saw it from BT after shown on the BBC. Stunning imagery, but little new knowledge discussed. Amazing, amazing series though.
Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Btw, nice Duran Duran reference....
Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 11:47 pm
is this the BBC version, or a new Discovery version?
HD sure beats xvid.
Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 11:51 pm
How much did he get paid for this?
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 2:26 am
"New Heights in Nature Porn". Really Time Inc. Is that the best teaser you could come up with for this article?
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 2:53 am
很好ï¼å€¼å¾—欣èµï¼
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 9:57 am
Terrible article. Did he spend more than five minutes of thought on this? It was dismissive and not in the least bit witty.
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 10:02 am
I've seen the series already and it's one of the best out there! Nature is so awesome.
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 11:07 am
I'm with RedDruid on this. C'mon TIME!
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 12:26 pm
An embedded link to an electronics manufacturer's site? In what was once a respectable publication?
Time has hit a new low in the best-journalism-money-can-buy department. Did Ziff-Davis Media Inc. buy Time Inc.?
No doubt the series is visually stunning, and it's too bad its reputation has been besmirched by James Poniewozik and Time.
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 12:46 pm
This guy should see a doctor!
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 1:16 pm
"Nature Porn"?
Classy headline, Time.
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 1:57 pm
TOTALLY agree with you RedDruid !! It is really despicable when some writers try to supplement their talent shortcomings using bait and switch tactics..
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 2:10 pm
"This is Planet Earth"
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Truly bad taste in the title.
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Best commercial ad for HDTV I've ever wasted my time on. Thank God, others noticed it too...there's hope for mankind yet! And, I agree; what's up with the title...'porn'? Is that what it takes to get attention these days?
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 3:37 pm
whatever happened to the Pointer Sisters and Billy Ocean?
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 6:05 pm
breathtaking view
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Sunrise Earth on Discovery HD proves how great the picture is. It's nothing but sunrises and yet it's a popular show!
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 7:33 pm
i got a hdtv,
so i might go and watch it
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 8:28 pm
How come there was not one word about the fact that this is a BBC production, bought and re-pachaged by Discovery. Credit where credit is due, please.
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 9:20 pm
What is with this journalist? His efforts to seem hip are so painful that it hurts to read his article. His writing is the equivalent of Avril Lavigne calling herself Punk.
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 11:56 pm
éžå¸¸ç²¾å½©çš„节目，最少我这么认为。
ä¸çŸ¥é“大家看ä¸çœ‹å¾—懂ä¸æ–‡å‘¢ï¼Ÿèµ«èµ«
Monday, March 26, 2007 at 12:08 am
nice
Monday, March 26, 2007 at 2:06 am
This is a blog entry, not an article. For those of you who don't understand the difference, please get with the times.
And anybody who was offended by the porn reference really needs to get a life.