Thanks to Margaret’s helpful reminder last week (and “aided” by the unexpected appearance of a fever that nearly wiped me out for the entire weekend), the boys and I were able to catch up on the first four episodes of Life – Challenges of Life, Reptiles and Amphibians, Mammals, and Fish – airing on The Discovery Channel on Sunday afternoons. My quick reaction to the series thus far:
Oprah Winfrey is no David Attenborough. I know I may have harped on this particular short-coming before, but I was really struck by it again last night. She seems neither engaging nor engaged, whereas Attenborough is the master of drawing in his audience, in no small measure through his obvious love and enthusiasm for the subject matter. I suppose Discovery needed the Oprah name to bring in significant advertising dollars, so I’ll put up with the change for the sake of the series itself. But I’m not going to be happy about it.
The commercial interruptions (and I mean that word as strongly as possible), while certainly to be expected in a Discovery Channel presentation, are very poorly timed. Each segment from the previous Attenborough/BBC gems (The Blue Planet and Planet Earth) felt like self-contained stories. Here, they are given the “20’s/30’s Serial Cliffhanger” treatment, leaving the audience feeling as though Discovery is shouting “DON’T YOU DARE SWITCH CHANNELS!!! STAY RIGHT HERE, AND FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS TO THE CUTE LITTLE FROG NEXT!!!” at every commercial break. One is left feeling slightly deaf, and more than a little unconvinced that the channel is actually sold on the power of the series’ material…
Orthodox. Faithful. Free.
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…which is significant, and no mistake. Once again, the cameras have captured a number of extraordinary events never before captured on film – or, in Discovery Channel-speak, “NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN FOOTAGE!!!” – and the visuals on display are spell-binding. For those of you (like myself) not particularly good at “waiting for the DVD,” one could do much, much worse than suffer through the Oprah-deadened, commercial-infested program. But for those with a bit more patience (and liquidity), I might wait for the Attenborough version to appear on this side of the pond.
Still, it did provide me with the most amusing exchange of the weekend.
Fresh off the “Reptiles” episode, SEAN looks at DOMINIC.
SEAN:
You are a mammal.
Next, SEAN turns his attention to DAVID.
SEAN (cont.):
You are a mammal, too.
SEAN, heading on down the line to MARK.
SEAN (cont.):
You are a…
DAVID interrupts, waving his arms frantically.
DAVID (breathlessly):
Guys, guys! Wait!
I’m not a mammal.
DAVID (pausing for dramatic effect):
I’m…a LIZARD.