The BBC's 2006 documentary series Planet Earth is currently being rebroadcast on the US Discovery Channel cable network, and it is worth every bit of Tivo memory, if not actually reorganizing your life to watch it with your family.
We watched "Ocean Deep" together last night for a little while before bedtime, and it was absolutely breathtaking. Our three-year-old didn't utter a sound as she watched dolphins leap and sharks lurk, and our four-year-old issued a running commentary the likes of which I've never heard: "Is that a shark? What kind of shark? What's it doing? Where's it going? Oh wow, is it eating that fish? Are those DOLPHINS! There are so many of them! And they jump so high! And LOOK AT THE BABY TURTLES MAMA OH MY GOODNESS THEY ARE SO CUTE I WANT ONE LOOK AT THEM SWIMMING OH MY GOODNESS TURTLES". And you know, it wasn't even annoying, because as she asked questions, narrator Sigourney Weaver answered them and we just carried right on. Although at one point, the kid turned to me and said "This lady talks a lot. Like Rachael Ray".
There are certainly parts that are difficult to watch, but we're watching it together and answering questions as they arise, and because it's on Tivo we can skip or pause if we need to. Parents of older children might not even have to do that, but if you've got younger or more sensitive kids and no way to pre-record the show just in case you want to control the content a bit, or if you don't have cable, you won't have to wait long for DVDs. The BBC aired a version with narration by David Attenbrough, and that version will be released in the US on DVD later this month. Meanwhile, the Discovery Channel will market its own Weaver-narrated DVD set in the same timeframe.
