Friday, April 20, 2012

MAX & RUBY (Nickelodeon, 9 - 9:30am) "Ruby’s Earth Day Party": Ruby wants to host a perfect Earth Day costume party, but Max wants to dig in the dirt. “Ruby’s Earth Day List” - Ruby wants to do everything on her Earth Day checklist. Max just wants to look at nature. “Max’s Ducky Day” - While Ruby helps clean up the park for Earth Day, Max finds a way to help a duckling get back to its mama. 

FRANKLIN & FRIENDS (Nickelodeon, 9:45 - 10am) "Franklin’s Earth Day": Franklin’s over-zealousness nearly ruins the classes’ Earth Day project. 

THE FRESH BEAT BAND (Nickelodeon, 9:45 - 10am) "Keeping it Green": When the Fresh Beats find out the mayor is going to replace their favorite park with a new office building, they must come up with a way to stop the construction and save the park. 

UNDERWATER UNIVERSE (History, 1 - 5pm) Complete Series Marathon: Four episodes track the history and evolution of the Ocean's seven deadliest zones by focusing on its five deadly forces: Waves; Predators; Tides & Currents; and Pressure. Using photo-real CGI animation with first-person accounts, breathtaking cinematography, and submersible expedition footage, this series presents a complete and definitive story of the past and present of the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic Oceans. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are partnering organizations. 

LIFE (Planet Green, 8pm - 1am) Marathon: Our world is home to more than 30 million different animal and plant species, each locked in a unique fight for survival. "Life" is the definitive exploration of the adaptability and diversity of life on earth, revealing the most spectacular, bizarre and fascinating behaviors that living things have devised in order to thrive. Many of these were captured for the first time using the latest in state-of-the-art high-definition filming techniques. From strange creatures, such as the star-nosed mole that hunts underwater using bubbles to smell its prey, to epic spectacles, including millions of fruit bats darkening the Zambian sky, each episode tells mind-blowing stories of survival with drama, humor and suspense. 

HOW THE EARTH CHANGED HISTORY (Nat Geo, 3 - 6am at night/next morning) Marathon: Natural forces of the planet influenced the success or failure of whole societies, and the environment has affected every aspect of our history from art to industry, religion to war, and world domination to the collapse of civilizations. Filmed on seven continents, across every terrain and even under the depths of the sea, Professor Iain Stewart tells a 10,000-year story with a focus on a different natural force in each hour-long episode.

MAX & RUBY

THE FRESH BEAT BAND

Saturday, April 21, 2012

PLANET EARTH (BBC America, all day starting at 6am) Marathon: First ever US broadcast of the original Planet Earth series. 

ANGRY PLANET (Halogen, 10am - 1pm) Marathon 

LIFE (Planet Green, 1 - 10pm) Marathon: Our world is home to more than 30 million different animal and plant species, each locked in a unique fight for survival. "Life" is the definitive exploration of the adaptability and diversity of life on earth, revealing the most spectacular, bizarre and fascinating behaviors that living things have devised in order to thrive. Many of these were captured for the first time using the latest in state-of-the-art high-definition filming techniques. From strange creatures, such as the star-nosed mole that hunts underwater using bubbles to smell its prey, to epic spectacles, including millions of fruit bats darkening the Zambian sky, each episode tells mind-blowing stories of survival with drama, humor and suspense. 

JOURNEY TO PLANET EARTH (PBS, 8 - 9:30pm) "Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization": Hosted by Matt Damon and based on the book by environmental visionary Lester Brown, this film’s message is clear and unflinching — either confront the realities of climate change or suffer the consequences of lost civilizations and failed states.

GARBAGE MOGULS (Nat Geo, 3 - 6am at night/next morning) Complete Series: A group of young eco-capitalists at TerraCycle, Inc. use materials found in the trash and turn them into consumer products. They create notebooks from discarded cereal boxes, manufacture pencils from newspaper, make kites out of used cookie wrappers, recycle old CDs as fishing lures, generate garbage cans from potato chip wrappers, convert dog-food bags into a line of pet products -- leashes, collars, beds, toys and clothes -- and fashion a suit out of Target shopping bags. More importantly, the company has created a brand and cult following, but now must find new ways to sell its products, including a retail store.

LIFE

GARBAGE MOGULS

Sunday, April 22, 2010

CAPTAIN PLANET AND THE PLANETEERS (Boomerang, 6am - 8pm): Go Planet! Watch 28 episodes -- all handpicked by Captain Planet Foundation -- of this classic 1990s animated edutainment series that helped America's youth learn how to protect the Earth's environment. This series was definitely a hit with celebs, featuring the voices of Whoopi Goldberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Sting, Fred Savage and many many more.

PLANET EARTH (BBC America, 6am - 11pm) Marathon: First ever US broadcast of the original Planet Earth series and world premiere of new, two-hour special, The Making of Planet Earth, narrated by Dan Stevens, at 9pm. 

LIFE (Planet Green, 8am - 7pm) Complete Series Marathon: Our world is home to more than 30 million different animal and plant species, each locked in a unique fight for survival. "Life" is the definitive exploration of the adaptability and diversity of life on earth, revealing the most spectacular, bizarre and fascinating behaviors that living things have devised in order to thrive. Many of these were captured for the first time using the latest in state-of-the-art high-definition filming techniques. From strange creatures, such as the star-nosed mole that hunts underwater using bubbles to smell its prey, to epic spectacles, including millions of fruit bats darkening the Zambian sky, each episode tells mind-blowing stories of survival with drama, humor and suspense. 

THE PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR (Nickelodeon, 11 - 11:30am) "Operation: Big Blue Marble": The Penguins are faced with a global battle when their specialty food-making machine belches out a toxic cloud that threatens not just the zoo, not just the city, but the earth itself! 

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS (Nickelodeon, 11:30am - Noon) "SpongeBob's Last Stand": SpongeBob and Patrick protest the construction of a highway that would destroy Jellyfish Fields. 

BIG TIME RUSH (Nickelodeon, Noon - 12:30pm) "Green Time Rush": Carlos and James try to start an organic farm.

ICARLY (Nickelodeon, 12:30 - 1pm) "iGo Nuclear": Carly, Sam and Freddie get a school assignment to create an original project that benefits the environment.

FROZEN PLANET (Discovery, 1 - 9pm) Complete Series Marathon: FROZEN PLANET documents life at the polar regions of Earth -- the Arctic and Antarctic -- showing the scale and beauty of the scenery while revealing a world filled with more creatures, color and spectacle than ever imagined. To capture the majestic power of these frozen regions, the crew filmed in every nation inside the Arctic and Antarctic circles during 2,356 days in the field while spending 18 months at sea, more than six months on the sea ice, and 135 hours beneath the ice.

ENERGY QUEST USA (PBS, 4 - 5pm): Hear inspiring stories from citizens who have made smart energy choices. In Kansas, communities compete for cash prizes in an energy conservation contest. In Baltimore, the Neighborhood Energy Challenge is enabling low-income homeowners to save money through simple measures. In Alaska, ocean power, low-emissions heating fuel from wood waste and innovative low-temperature geothermal turbines are becoming part of the power portfolio. In Fort Worth, fracking has led to a major economic and employment boom, even as citizens continue to pursue what they call “cowboy sustainability.” And in Oregon, forward-thinking decisions have given rise to a vibrant economy and turned the city into one of the nation’s greenest.

EARTH: THE OPERATORS’ MANUAL (PBS, 5 - 6pm): An operators’ manual helps keep your car or computer running at peak performance. Earth science can do the same for the planet. Join geologist Richard Alley as he travels the world in this upbeat report on the interconnected stories of humans and fossil fuels, Earth’s climate history and our future energy options will leave you amazed at the beauty and bounty of the planet, inspired by human ingenuity, and optimistic about the future.

HOW THE EARTH WAS MADE (H2, 5 - 11pm; 11pm - 4am): Marathon: Combining clues that are left behind with expert evidence from scientists in the field, this series reveals the geological processes that have formed and shaped our planet over millions of years. Each episode highlights a single location, examines the features that are visible today, and describes how the they were made -- whether by colliding continents, volcanic eruption or the abrasive power of vast ice sheets.

POWERING THE PLANET (PBS, 6 - 7pm): Take an eye-opening look at some of the world’s most important case studies in energy policy. In Spain and Morocco, large-scale solar farms and individual photovoltaic panels atop tents in the Sahara are bringing the vast potential of the sun down to Earth. In Brazil, natural resources are transformed into biofuel, making Brazil the only nation whose cars could run normally if gasoline were to vanish. In Samsø, Denmark, and in West Texas, citizens have taken sustainability into their own hands by becoming stakeholders in wind turbines. In China, multiple sustainable energy technologies are giving rise to a “new empire of clean tech.” What about America? One energy insider predicts an “energy abyss” if smart decisions aren’t made. Learn how great nations and small communities are finding sustainable solutions that provide for people and protect the planet.

WHEN THE EARTH ERUPTS (Science, 7 - 11pm; 11pm - 3am) Complete Series Marathon: This series documents how active volcanoes and moving tectonic plates are responsible for Earth's geography and disasters. Sometimes these eruptions form land masses, such as islands formed by ancient underwater volcanoes in the South Pacific or the Alps that were created when Africa slammed into Eurasia. But other times, these eruptions are devastating to people and nature. While the effects of the Mt. Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD are well known, volcanoes have other, less publicized, impacts on nature and people, such as the Himalayan sediment streaming South that is responsible for landslides that threatens to wipe out villages in Nepal.

MAX & RUBY (Nick Jr., 8 - 8:30pm) "Ruby’s Earth Day Party": Ruby wants to host a perfect Earth Day costume party, but Max wants to dig in the dirt. “Ruby’s Earth Day List” - Ruby wants to do everything on her Earth Day checklist. Max just wants to look at nature. “Max’s Ducky Day” - While Ruby helps clean up the park for Earth Day, Max finds a way to help a duckling get back to its mama. 

FRANKLIN & FRIENDS (Nick Jr., 8:30 - 9pm) "Franklin’s Earth Day": Franklin’s over-zealousness nearly ruins the classes’ Earth Day project. 

THE FRESH BEAT BAND (Nick Jr., 9 - 9:30pm) "Keeping it Green": When the Fresh Beats find out the mayor is going to replace their favorite par

k with a new office building, they must come up with a way to stop the construction and save the park. 

CAPTAIN PLANET

FROZEN PLANET Finale

Wednesday, April 25, 2010

NOVA (PBS, 9 - 10pm) "Secrets of the Sun": It contains 99.9 percent of all the matter in our solar system and sheds hot plasma at nearly a million miles an hour. The temperature at its core is a staggering 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. It convulses, it blazes, it sings. You know it as the sun. Scientists know it as one of the most amazing physics laboratories in the universe. Now, with new spacecraft and Earth-based telescopes, scientists are seeing the sun as they never have before and even re-creating in labs what happens at the very center of the sun. Their work will help us understand aspects of the sun that have puzzled scientists for decades. But more critically, it may help us predict and track solar storms that have the power to zap our power grid, shut down telecommunications and ground global air travel for days, weeks, even longer. Such storms have occurred before — but never in the modern era of satellite communication.

Thursday, April 26, 2010

INDEPENDENT LENS (PBS, 10 - 11pm) "Facing the Storm": Bison have had a rich and complex relationship with the people of North America. From the first Americans who relied on bison for food, shelter and clothing to modern wildlife conservationists who are struggling to re-establish a place for bison in the Great Plains, this program provides a far-reaching history of human sustenance, exploitation, conservation and spiritual relations with the ultimate icon of wild America.