TV: Planet Earth

Nature documentaries have long been popular, but the advent of HDTV has afforded the home viewer with some truly jaw-dropping views of the natural world. The flagbearer for this new wave of high-fidelity documentary is "Planet Earth," a series originally developed by the BBC:



Each episode focuses not on a specific animal, but a portrait of a particular type of habitat on Earth. Like most nature shows, "Planet Earth" is educational in nature, with the explicit message that humanity's actions could wreck the environment and everything that you see on-screen. It's one thing to hear about the melting polar ice, and it's quite another to see a polar bear struggling across an endless tract of ocean because there's no solid ice to hunt seals.

Still, the focus is on the pretty pictures, with some truly astounding camera work (including views from orbit). The laconic narration (in the U.S. version of "Planet Earth," Sigourney Weaver takes over narrating duties for David Attenborough) isn't obtrusive, so the show never gets too preachy. If you need a way to show off your shiny new HDTV, "Planet Earth" is a good bet.