Smallscreen News

Discovery channels best offerings on DVD for 2010, the list

By April MacIntyre Apr 12, 2010, 4:21 GMT

Mythbusters debunks myths, tall tales and urban legends and gives them  scientific tests to determine their validity. Myths are proved true, probable, possible, improbable or busted. Often after the real-world practical tests have proved or debunked a Myth, the team will take the experiment to the extreme in their quest for truth. ...more

Fans of the Discovery networks that include TLC, Animal Planet, Military Channel, Science Channel and Discovery can stock up on new releases for 2010 that include some of the most popular award winning shows on the smallscreen.

Gaiam has an exclusive home video license agreement with Discovery Communications. The two latest titles they have released are Discovery Channel's "MythBusters Collection 5" and Animal Planet's "Into the Pride" starring Dave Salmoni.

These new releases will be available wherever DVDs are sold, including online at Amazon.com.

April 2010

MythBusters Collection 5

One of the most popular Discovery Channel shows, MythBusters follows special effects artists Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, and Tory Belleci, Kari Byron and Grant Imahara as they use the scientific method and more than 30 years of field experience to find out the truth behind common rumors, myths, movie scenes, internet videos and news stories in popular culture. In 10 entertaining episodes, the team once again mix science and fun as they investigate the myth of “beer goggles” and whether drinking makes the opposite sex seem more attractive; the mysterious world of ninjas; the truth behind survival and what is actually bulletproof; and much more. The two-disc MythBusters Collection 5 set carries an SRP of $19.98 and runs 430 minutes. Street date: 4/6/10

Into the Pride

In this five-part Animal Planet series, zoologist and large predator expert Dave Salmoni puts his toughness, training, and experience to the test as he attempts to survive six months in the Namibian bush to save a rogue pride of lions from elimination. In a quest that immerses both Salmoni and his production crew in the dangerous and unpredictable world of these fearsome predators, Salmoni must somehow gain the lions’ trust-- so that two species can harmoniously share the land they both depend on for survival. Into the Pride carries an SRP of $14.95 and runs 215 minutes. Street date: 4/6/10

March 2010

Toddlers and Tiaras: Season 1

Each week viewers tune in to watch miniature beauty queens vie for the coveted crown and sash. Toddlers and Tiaras will captivate and enthrall viewers everywhere with its endless preparation for the competition, managing stage mamas, emotional outbreaks, and more.

Hunting the Lost Symbol

A compelling and provocative companion to Dan Brown’s #1 best-selling book The Lost Symbol, this Discovery Channel special explores the fact and fiction around Washington DC’s most famous symbols, images, and legends. Using dramatic recreations of pivotal moments in American history, Hunting the Lost Symbol takes viewers on an exciting journey through Capitol crypts, mysterious locations of historical significance, and hidden monuments.

Special Ops Mission

Using all his skills as a former Army Ranger and Air Force Pararescueman, Special Operator Wil Willis must complete a complex series of military objectives—while a highly trained opposition force uses everything in their arsenal to stop him. First aired on the Military Channel.

Early 2010 releases:

18 Kids and Counting: Season 2

Millions of people tune in each week to TLC to follow the lives of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, their ten sons and eight daughters. Each day brings new wonders as the family juggles music lessons, studying, quality family time, chores, and everything in between, all the while proving that family is everything. The 18 Kids and Counting: Season 2 three DVD set.

Jockeys Season 2

What does it take to win the Kentucky Derby? How fierce does the competition get for the right to race for a Triple Crown victory? Millions of people across the country turned to Animal Planet’s hit docudrama Jockeys to find out. Season two introduces two new competitors pursuing their dreams in the most dangerous yet prestigious two minutes of American sports.

T-Rex: A Dinosaur in Hollywood

On October 5, 1905, paleontologist Barnum T. Brown uncovered the remains of a new breed of dinosaur, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, and in the last century Hollywood has made his discovery a star. Featuring commentary from paleontologists, docudrama reconstructions, and interviews with stars from King Kong and Jurassic Park, this Animal Planet special is a tongue-in-cheek look at the movie career of the world’s most famous and feared dinosaur.

Medicine Men Go Wild

Are natural cures as effective as modern medicine? Can meditation help manage intense pain? Doctors Chris and Alexander Van Tulleken, identical twins from Britain, investigate these and other questions as they travel the world, immersing themselves in the medical practices of some of the most remote cultures on earth. Originally aired on Discovery Channel, this four-part documentary uncovers the mysteries of tribal medicine.

Who Was Jesus?

In Who Was Jesus?, viewers get an in-depth narrative of the most famous man in history. From his childhood and his preachings, to his eventual persecution, this exclusive DVD examines the historical reality of the greatest story ever told. Who Was Jesus? originally aired on Discovery Channel.

Jon and Kate Plus 8: Season 5

Millions of people all over the world were riveted by the drama of the most famous large family in America. TLC’s Jon and Kate Plus 8: Season 5 highlights the family’s challenges as they balance day-to-day life with the couples’ impending divorce.

Dirty Jobs

As the old saying goes, “It’s a dirty job but somebody’s got to do it.” Discovery Channel’s Emmy-nominated show Dirty Jobs gives audiences an unflinching look at the day-to-day duties of men and women who make their living doing the most unthinkable “dirty” jobs. Host Mike Rowe introduces viewers to a team of garbage pit technicians who turn trash into electricity; a man who spends most of every day covered in terracotta clay; and many more people with unusual but necessary vocations across the country.

The Science of Sex Appeal

Did you know that studies have shown that often the perception of someone’s affluence often influences how physically attractive another person finds them? Or that humans have a unique smell that is often instantly distinguishable to their significant others? This sizzling Discovery Channel DVD provides an up close look at how genetics, hormones, and neurological factors are believed to influence our sexual attraction levels to another.

Night

Hosted by animal trainer and expert Brandon McMillan, Animal Planet’s Night takes viewers to the on a shocking (and at times terrifying) journey into the dark world of the planet’s most elusive nocturnal animals. Through jungles, forests, and savannahs alike, McMillan sheds light on the behaviors and characteristics of rarely seen creatures of the night such as the cannibalistic giant Humboldt squid; the Amazon’s most poisonous snakes; mythological vampire bats; and more.

Whale Wars: Season Two

This critically acclaimed Animal Planet series highlights the intense drama of Sea Shepherds’ battle to save whales and put a stop to the controversial practice of whaling once and for all. Viewers follow the international crew of staff and volunteers of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as they brave the icy climate of the Antarctic region aboard the Steve Irwin.

Time Warp: Season Two

More than 11.3 million viewers tune in to the Discovery Channel to watch MIT scientist and teacher Jeff Lieberman and high speed camera expert Matt Kearney use the latest in photography technology to slow down movement and reveal magical moments normally unseen by the human eye. From rocket disasters to Filipino stick fighting to Metallica concerts, Time Warp reveals the world to viewers in astonishing ways by altering the lens of time. The Time Warp 2-DVD set carries an SRP of $24.98 and runs 602 minutes.

Cake Boss

This DVD compilation contains 13 episodes of TLC’s hit show, which follows the lives of one of the premier cake artists in the country, fourth generation baker Buddy Valastro, owner of Carlo’s City Hall Bake Shop in Hoboken, NJ. Buddy juggles the blessings and challenges of supervising a family team that includes his mother, four older sisters and three brothers-in-law. Viewers can watch as the family works together to create masterpieces using their hands, some flour and sheer creativity, while pursuing Buddy’s late father’s dream of making their business a household name.

The Little Couple

This DVD compilation contains 14 episodes of TLC’s heartwarming show, which follows the lives of Bill Klein and Dr. Jen Arnold, newlyweds who are both under 4 feet tall. Jen handles her day-to-day responsibilities as a neonatologist at Texas Children’s Hospital, as Bill’s manages a business consulting firm across the country in New York. Viewers can share in their experiences as the couple let nothing get in the way of their dreams and their love for each other, juggling demanding careers, a long-distance marriage, and the challenges of every day life as a little couple.

River Monsters 

Can a fish actually swallow a human whole? Did man-eating piranha really eat an entire busload of stranded passengers? More than one million viewers tuned in every week to this hit Animal Planet series to watch biologist and extreme angler Jeremy Wade find out the answers to those questions as he searches the globe’s most exotic rivers for the world's largest, strangest and most dangerous predatory fish.

Miracle on the Hudson and Other Extraordinary Air Crash Events

On January 15, 2009, American airline pilot Captain Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III saved the lives of 155 people aboard US Airways Flight 1549 when he successfully landed an Airbus A320 passenger jet in the Hudson River. This DVD documents that fateful day in New York City, including amazing video footage of the passengers waiting for rescue on the wing of the submerged aircraft, and other phenomenal events in airline history. Originally airing on the Discovery Channel,

Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment

How would everyday people fare if they were just dropped off into the middle of the wilderness and left to survive? Would they be able to eat mice and porcupines for survival? Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment finds out. More than a million households each week tuned in to the Discovery Channel to watch as nine ordinary Americans were stranded deep in the heart of Central Alaska and left to fend for themselves. Originally aired on the Discovery Channel.