Chris Higgins
Discovery’s “Life,” Coming This Sunday
by Chris Higgins - March 18, 2010 - 6:34 PM

Here’s a quick teaser to a larger post tomorrow. Discovery and the BBC are about to release Life, their followup effort to Planet Earth, the massive nature documentary from a few years back. Like Earth, Life is shot in HD with lots of slow motion, bizarre locales, and — the focus this time — unusual living creatures. In the clip below, check out the stalk-eyed fly, an insect that inflates its own head with air. Super-weird, super-awesome.

More details tomorrow — suffice it to say you may want to clear your schedule this Sunday evening (March 21) at 8pm for the first two hours of Life goodness.

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Comments (14)

  1. I can’t even express in words how excited I am for Life. I usually use squeals and squeaks but seeing as how this is a comment thread… anyway, Planet Earth was amazing and I know this will be too. Sunday nights just got way less sucky.

    posted by BorgQueen on 3-18-2010 at 6:41 pm

  2. For what it’s worth, this fly clip appears in the first episode at 8pm (“Challenges of Life”). I’ve watched the first three hours so far, and it’s very much like Planet Earth, except more animal-focused. Which is awesome.

    posted by Chris Higgins on 3-18-2010 at 6:43 pm

  3. Rather bizarrely, this video has been blocked in the UK considering the program was made by the BBC. Anyhow, should still be a wonderful view on the delicate intricacies of Life here on Earth. Although I am a little sad original narration by Sir David Attenborough wasn’t left in.

    posted by Ryan on 3-18-2010 at 6:56 pm

  4. I’ve had a chance to see a few episodes, and this series is truly awesome. And I don’t mean that in the way that everything nowadays is “awesome”. It was actually awe inspiring. The photography is amazing both in clarity and precision.

    Watch it. Somehow, someway, watch this series and prepare to be dazzled.

    posted by Steve on 3-18-2010 at 9:02 pm

  5. With Planet Earth, they used the Attenborough narration on one of the sister channels (I think Animal Planet). He was so much better than whatever celebrity they used. I hope they do the same thing with Life.

    posted by CamilleR on 3-18-2010 at 10:36 pm

  6. I’m really looking forward to seeing this. Planet Earth was wonderful, and I’ve since won (yes, won!) a big-screen tv that is amazing with nature programs.

    posted by Shelly on 3-18-2010 at 11:21 pm

  7. I’m really excited about this, but I’m disappointed they changed the narrator from David Attenborough who does it on the BBC version to Oprah Winfrey. Really, Oprah? They did the same thing with Planet Earth, changing it from David Attenborough to Sigourney Weaver. When I caught the Weaver version on television I have to say it lacked some of the gravitas the BBC version had. I have to be honest I might wait until I can get the BBC version of Life.

    posted by funkylovemonkey on 3-19-2010 at 12:34 am

  8. I’m sure I’ll love this as much as I love Planet Earth…but I’m disappointed Oprah narrates it. I enjoyed Sigourney’s narration. She has such a relaxed, casual quality to her voice and it works well for a documentary, kind of like Morgan Freeman. Oprah’s voice doesn’t have the same effect.

    posted by Cara on 3-19-2010 at 1:07 am

  9. I’m hoping the DVD version will have David Attenborough narrating. until then, I’ll have to suffer through whatsername.

    posted by Scotty A on 3-19-2010 at 11:07 am

  10. looks like a great series! can’t wait to see it in HD :D

    posted by Sarah Chino on 3-19-2010 at 1:19 pm

  11. Chris, the first episode is kind of an overview of the series (as Planet Earth did as well)…this Stalk-eyed fly has a longer scene in the ‘Insects’ episode (sixth episode released in UK). If you want a sneak peek at some of the most amazing shots from LIFE check out http://www.NotYourNature.com , where some Brooklyn-based video kids have remixed some of the scenes already.

    posted by Dan S on 3-19-2010 at 5:44 pm

  12. What doesn’t Discovery get about telling a story? What a waste of Oprah’s voice. The photography is absolutely fantastic but the narration is just a series of uninspired facts about what we’re seeing. Very disappointed. It could be so much more.

    posted by barry p on 3-21-2010 at 8:37 pm

  13. this show is so amazing so much better than planet earth although i loved that one too! the one thing i hate is oprahs narration sucks its like shes trying too hard to pronounce the words

    posted by Jualio Richardo on 3-29-2010 at 11:09 pm

  14. you can see the entire life series as narrated by david attenborough in 720p HD divx video on ninjavideo.net enjoy

    posted by flittydub on 4-2-2010 at 12:13 am

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