Planet Earth - The Series

Has anyone been keeping up with this series on Discovery Channel? It has absolutely been blowing my mind. My grandson mentioned it to me and my first thought was, "Yeah, yeah, another National Geographic ripoff". National Geographic wishes it could get images like this.

A while back, we decided to get a high definition TV. One of those 42-inch flat panel jobs. The picture was cool and the hi-def channels were nice but I really wasn't that impressed until I watched an episode of "Planet Earth" on Discovery HD Theater. The images were like really excellent 3D.

This series is not for everyone as it largely concentrates on animals and has many scenes of bug animals eating small animals. It's not really gory but young kids might have a problem with it. It is also sad. The episode exploring life at the North and South Pole featured a vignette about a male polar bear. Since the Arctic ice pack has receded so far due to warming, polar bears can no longer find seals by waiting by holes in the ice as there are now huge expanses of open water even in winter. Therefore, this polar bear swam 60 miles to an island where there were walruses. He had to rest for an entire day before he could try to attack one. He could not deal with an adult walrus because they are huge so he tried to break through their protective front to get at a calf. He tried and tried to no avail. Exhausted and wounded by walrus tusks, he finally gave up, walked a distance away, lay down and, over a period of time, just died. I am afraid that, unless something changes, my great-grandchildren will never see a polar bear.

Anyway, watch an episode and see what you think.