Animal Planet to air "Investigative series"

Animal Planet is launching a quarterly series of investigative documentaries, beginning with a January special on dogfighting.

Cabler decided to create the "Animal Planet Investigates" banner following the success it had with "Animal Witness: The Michael Vick Case" in 2008.

The Vick special gave Animal Planet its most-watched telecast of the year among adults 25-54 (616,000 viewers.) Another investigation-minded special, this April's "Puppy Mills Exposed," also did well for the net.

"We thought the Michael Vick special would do well, but we were blown away by how well it did out of the gate," said Animal Planet president-g.m. Marjorie Kaplan. "We looked at those, as well as the success of something like 'Whale Wars,' and were moved the the passion our audience has for these kind of things. Rather than do them on an adhoc basis, we decided to curate a series of specials."

Animal Planet plans to announce the "Animal Planet Investigates" programming strand on Thursday, during its portion of Discovery's TV Critics Assn. press tour presentation.

Kaplan said the channel hopes to eventually increase the frequency beyond just quarterly.

First up, "Dogfighting: An Animal Investigates Special," from producer Anglia (a division of ITV Studios), will bow in January.

Future editions will look at issues such as animal testing, the exotic pet trade, gang dogs, cloning and slaughterhouses. Other producers already involved include Teale-Edwards/Working Dog Productions ("Death on a Factory").

"We're casting a wide net, and looking to both acquire and produce content in this space," Kaplan said. "We're comfortable with controversy. We want to be in the conversation. It's the controversy that makes these stories interesting."
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=14&cs=1

And look who it is going to be featuring,
http://www.humanesociety.org/about/d...es_120309.html

**Sigh**

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"We're comfortable with controversy. We want to be in the conversation. It's the controversy that makes these stories interesting."

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Well, there went my hope for anything worth watching. :(

Anyone old enough to remember when factual nature programs were all about the facts and the nature?

If they want controversy so badly why aren't they showing PETA and HSUS putting healthy animals down to spare them from suffering under the care of people like the audience who unknowingly paid for them to do so.

There's a controversial program I might even pay to see.

Or perhaps we can fight fire with fire and throw carrot juice and plant sap over PETArds who dare to eat and wear our vegetative brethren.

Schmucks.
[/totally unexpected rant]

Errr sorry that post seemed to get away from me a bit there. :oops:


dr del

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Originally Posted by dr del

If they want controversy so badly why aren't they showing PETA and HSUS putting healthy animals down to spare them from suffering under the care of people like the audience who unknowingly paid for them to do so.

There's a controversial program I might even pay to see.

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Penn and Teller's BS (abbv) is a show where they did an episode on PETA. It's probably the best episode of any TV show of all time. I suggest looking it up if you haven't already.

I remember when the Dicovery channel and animal planet both had quality shows. However, that was a few years back. Might be a good thing I stopped watching them both.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

Penn and Teller's BS (abbv) is a show where they did an episode on PETA. It's probably the best episode of any TV show of all time. I suggest looking it up if you haven't already.

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ITS A FANTASTIC SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God I loved watching it.

Yeah, sadly, the Discovery Channel, History Channel, and Animal Planet have gone downhill a ton in the past five to ten years.

do we really need to see this on tv?
is it going to be like steve wilkos?:rofl:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Anyone old enough to remember when factual nature programs were all about the facts and the nature?

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I'm only 19, and even I remember the good educational days. Maybe that's because I've been watching the Discovery Channel since I was four. I preferred that channel over "Teletoon" or "Family" or whatever other kiddie crud was on, believe it or not. I grew up on that stuff.

*Sigh* Then it died. So long, Discovery Channel - we shall miss ye. :tears:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eventide

Yeah, sadly, the Discovery Channel, History Channel, and Animal Planet have gone downhill a ton in the past five to ten years.

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I still watch the discovery channel from time to time, but Animal Planet makes me want to go read a book (and I hate books) or go out and do something stupid that could get me in trouble. Maybe that's my problem but I loved Animal planet when I was little. History Channel, ehh, I'm not a history person but it had some okay shows in the past.

Ugh...I cannot watch stuff like that .....the dogfighting...etc. I get all worked up and want to go hunt them down. And don't even get me start on Michael v-!! PPl are so ridiculous....they just forget about what he was involved in...as long as he plays good football. ARGHHH :mad::mad:

We were watching some program the other day....I don't even remember what it was...and it showed this idiot getting bitten by a burmese and how "dangerous" that was blah blah blah. Apparently they were taking care of the snake for someone else and they were feeding it a rabbit. Well the idiot puts the rabbit in....and then grabs the snake with the same hand. ARE YOU KIDDING ME...:O...of course the thing is going to bite you and coil. UGH!! Needless to say I got pretty worked up over it and my calm husband just stares at me...ok honey!!:rolleyes:

Ok...I will just stop right there....

I miss Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. *sigh*

Oh I remember that show from when I was a little kid...every Sunday!!

The only nature shows I will watch are those by Jeff Corwin, Steve Irwin, and David Attenborough.

Most likely, HSUS gave a boatload of cash to Animal Planet to do this show. So they can pretty much say whatever they want on the air, because Average Joe Shmoe Dog-lover that watches that channel won't know jack about the reptile trade, and won't be able to tell that they're full of crap. :(

Actually, I thought the segment with the Burmese was ok. The snake WAS large enough to be potentially dangerous to someone handling it alone. The person who was taking care of the animal made a common feeding mistake--virtually everyone is going to make one at some point. He paid the usual price for it. He had someone else present, the snake was not injured--they even made mention that the method used to remove it was not the safest idea for the snake, and made a different recommendation (albeit not one I would have used).

They correctly identified the reason the snake made the mistake, and why it could be dangerous with large constrictors. The guy who was bitten did NOT blame the snake, and the snake was fine and was maintained in good health afterward.

I was actually pretty please with the whole thing--it's a good caution to those maintaining giants, it was barely oversensationalized, and the end result was the guy had a few cuts that healed up fine--no big deal.

I think the reptile community should propose a show on reptile and exotic pet care to Animal Planet. They have shows on cat and dog breeds, shows on dog training, etc. Why not a show on how to care for reptiles, amphibians, birds, and small exotics?
It needs to be well-written, it needs to be interesting and informative, and if it were accepted, it would be great for us as a community. It would allow us to get OUR side of the story out there, and it would help to reduce some of the problems that really DO exist in the reptile nation--such as under-informed people buying animals at pet stores, and then neglecting them due to ignorance of their needs.

Just one national show on how reptiles should truly be cared for would demonstrate how easy it is, and it would reduce abuse and neglect of these animals by magnitudes. It would refute the claims of HSUS and other AR groups about reptile keeping. Animal Planet MAY carry the show, because it's an opportunity to show off some interesting animals being handled up close--people like to see close-ups of critters they may not have seen before.