Planet Earth

[buckdutter]

atreides said:

Ah, I didn't know that there was an 'original' narrator. So, they started with Attenborough and then changed their minds?? Maybe he got ill? He's pretty advanced in years, right? Being an American, I rather doubt difficulty in understanding a British accent would be a problem, unless it was someone like David Beckham.

Nope, he did the complete narration (and the BBC version is longer than the U.S. version). I suspect the U.S. brass didn't like hearing the British pronounciation of "zebra" and things like that.

So, there's a whole different version of the series? How many hours is that version? Did it include commercials? The commercial interruptions in the DC version are really distracting, imo. I still very, very much doubt that a British accent would be a problem. I watch a lot of tv documentaries and British narrators are pretty common with their "al-yoo-MIN-ee-um" and "Him-ALL-yuz", yet we still manage to follow the main points pretty well. ;D

I, too, am curious about the British pronunciation of "zebra".

[hobocamp]

Zee-brawr?

[Atreides]

British "zeb-ra" versus the American "zee-brah"

So, there's a whole different version of the series? How many hours is that version?

The BBC version includes an additional three 60 minute films that focus on broader issues like conservation, extinction, and man's impact on the environment. The episodes also aired in a slightly different order and have been re-edited (there's an extra 90 minutes worth on the DVD).

And this isn't the first time this has happened. In BBC's excellent Walking With Dinosaurs series, Kenneth Branagh was replaced by Avery Brooks in the U.S. version. In Walking With Beasts, Branagh was again replaced by Stockard Channing. Clearly, the U.S. network execs have a problem with those oh-so-posh Brit accents.

[buckdutter]

atreides said:

British "zeb-ra" versus the American "zee-brah"

So, there's a whole different version of the series? How many hours is that version?

The BBC version includes an additional three 60 minute films that focus on broader issues like conservation, extinction, and man's impact on the environment. The episodes also aired in a slightly different order and have been re-edited (there's an extra 90 minutes worth on the DVD).

And this isn't the first time this has happened. In BBC's excellent Walking With Dinosaurs series, Kenneth Branagh was replaced by Avery Brooks in the U.S. version. In Walking With Beasts, Branagh was again replaced by Stockard Channing. Clearly, the U.S. network execs have a problem with those oh-so-posh Brit accents.

Or maybe they just have a problem with Kenneth Branagh? Come on! WHO leaves Emma Thompson for Helena Bonham Carter?!? He's clearly a horse's ass and that's probably why those U.S. network execs have joined forces to keep him and his posh accent down.

So zebra rhymes with Debra? Or would that be Dee-bra in posh-speak? I feel like Marty Feldman.

[Atreides]

Rhymes with "Debra." Someone correct me but I think only Americans (and the Canadians who forgot what they learned in school) pronounce the letter "z" as "zee."

I don't know if I could be wildlife documentarian. I think I'd try to save the doomed animals like the baby elephant, despite the whole survival of the fittest, circle of life thing.

[katyzz]

Ok this is not the right time of the month for me to be watching this show. We recorded all of the episodes that came on last Sunday and have been spacing them out through the week.

Last night we watched the one with the group of baby penguins lost in a blizzard and the starving polar bear. I wept like a baby and am still an emotional wreck today.