Discovery

Ever since getting a Tivo a little over a year ago, I no longer watch TV shows when they actually air. When I'm not catching up with what's on my recorder, I'm either reading, listening to podcasts, or pounding out a blog post about what I'm watching on television. The big deletion from my Tivo Season Pass this year is House. I still admire the show, but for me the magic is gone. The season opener sat on my Tivo for quite a few days, unwatched. When I finally sat down to view it I realized, about fifteen minutes into it, that I had completely lost interest in it. I didn't even finish the episode, and took it off my Tivo for good. Perhaps my attitude will change in the coming weeks, but who knows? Anyway, some of these shows are winding down their current seasons, some have yet to air. All times are Central because I live in Minnesota.

The partnership between Animal Planet (owned by Discovery Communications Inc.) and the late Steve Irwin can be traced to the network's inception in 1996. Back then, Irwin's series The Crocodile Hunter was one of the initial offerings of the fledgling network. The pairing of the two resulted in Irwin becoming an international star and Animal Planet reaching 160 countries across the globe. That's why it's no surprise that Animal Planet channels around the globe will honor Irwin on Sunday, September 10th with an all-day marathon of Best of the Croc Hunter programming.

Discovery Channel's Shark Week, possibly my favorite seven days devoted to deadly marine life, will be popping its crazy dorsal fin out of the water from July 30 through August 4. Hang on, that's only six days, isn't it? I want a full seven days of deadly, man-eating fish, dag blast it. Whose chum bucket do I have to kiss to make that happen, huh? Well, whatever, I guess six days is okay. The first night of Shark Week will begin at 9 p.m. with a special episode of Dirty Jobs titled Dirty Jobs: Jobs That Bite. Host Mike Rowe will go underwater with great whites (as opposed to them coming above water to see him, I guess) and also visit a place in Florida that creates replicas of sharks fishermen have captured. Rowe will also finish Shark Week with Dirty Jobs: Jobs That Bite Harder on August 4.

Other shows to air throughout shark week include Shark Attack Survivors; Perfect Shark; Sharks: Are They Hunting Us?; Shark Rebellion; and Science of Shark Sex. Click here for a video preview.

Programs from the Discovery Channel and some of its associated networks are now available through iTunes. The shows include Mythbusters, Shark Week, The Save-Ums, Extreme Engineering, Breed All About It, The Most Extreme, Passport to Europe, World's Best, America's National Parks, and Kenny the Shark. The episodes will cost the usual $1.99. Personally, I like the idea of having Mythbusters and Shark Week being made available, but I'm not to sure people will be that interested in downloading and watching something like America's National Parks, much less paying to watch it. Then again, everyone isn't me.

[via Digg]