Category: TELEVISION_NEWS

Stories unite us, inspire us and persuade us, and this month one of the biggest modern storytellers is betting on the power of story to move the world to action. Ahead of the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Netflix released a new curated collection of television shows, documentaries, and movies aimed at instilling an appreciation for nature and galvanizing action to protect it.

On Wednesday night, the country’s Funniest People™ will deign to make jokes about the climate crisis for a full night of hilarity. Seven late-night shows across five networks hosted by James Corden, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Trevor Noah, and Samantha Bee are teaming up to feature climate change on their shows in honor of Climate Week, in what Dateline calls “a rare show of unity across the genre.”

“Streaming” sounds like something that would make the transcendentalists proud. Though our blue-lit reality is far from the streams and babbling brooks that inspired Walden and Self Reliance, recently, streaming services and the studios attached to them have been putting the nature back into the “stream” and setting an example for the rest of the industry to forge a carbon-free, sustainable future.

Thursday, April 22 is Earth Day — a time to demonstrate our support for, and appreciation of, our planet. In its own way, television is heeding the call to action with an array of programs dedicated to climate change, the environment, wildlife and other issues. Here’s a rundown of offerings from networks and streaming services. All of these programs premiere on Thursday, unless otherwise noted:

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Cher embarks on a journey to help relocate an elephant who’d been living alone in a Pakistani zoo for years in the new trailer for Cher and the Loneliest Elephant. The documentary is streaming now on Paramount+ before airing on the Smithsonian Channel May 19th.

Earth Day may exist to help protect the nonhuman environment from our determined efforts to destroy it. But if you want to get an Earth Day television documentary made, it helps to have the name of a well-known human, or two, attached.

If you watched news about climate change on TV last year, chances are you saw a white man on-screen. According to an analysis published this week by Media Matters For America, a nonprofit media watchdog, people of color made up just 8 percent of guests interviewed or featured in the major broadcast networks’ climate coverage in 2020 — we’re looking at you, ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox Broadcasting Company. Women were also less likely to be in front of the camera, comprising 28 percent of guests.

ARLINGTON, VA; February 15, 2021– PBS, in partnership with BBC Studios’ Science Unit, announces a new three-part documentary series following teen environmental activist Greta Thunberg as she seeks to raise awareness of the accelerating climate change. GRETA THUNBERG: A YEAR TO CHANGE THE WORLD premieres in its entirety as a special presentation on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22 at 8:00-11:00 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS stations nationwide. Encore airings of all three episodes air Wednesdays, April 28 – May 12, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET (check local listings).

In a new, five-episode series What’s Eating America, award-winning chef and TV personality Andrew Zimmern explores the most provocative social and political issues impacting voters through the lens of food. What’s Eating America premieres Sunday, February 16 at 9PM ET on MSNBC with a special two-hour long episode featuring fellow award-winning chef and humanitarian José Andrés.