Planet in Peril

"Ambitious in its scope and high-definition look...Handsomely produced and shot...  Brian Lowry, Variety

Editor's Note From the respected and thorough news team of CNN comes this look at our changing planet as seen through a variety of habitats that have felt the harsh imprint of human behavior. CNN's Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, along with Animal Planet's Jeff Corwin, uncover Southeast Asian poachers, Brazilian deforestation, and a variety of other hidden corners of the earth that show firsthand the dangers involved when people overstep nature's boundaries. Both an eye-opening and sometimes shocking expose, this is the type of TV journalism that will force viewers to reconsider their interaction with the natural world.

	Anderson Cooper - Featuring
	David Doss - Executive Producer
	Dr. Sanjay Gupta - Featuring
	Heather O'Neill - Producer
	Jack Austin, et. al. - Editor
	Jeff Corwin - Featuring

Variety 6 of 10
Despite the arresting title and imagery, this latest CNN documentary feels more like a showboating travelogue than a sober exploration of environmental issues -- creating another opportunity for that new breed of TV hybrid, anchor-adventurer Anderson Cooper, to go play grown-up Jonny Quest (an unerring resemblance, by the way), along with Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Animal Planet's Jeff Corwin. Ambitious in its scope and high-definition look, "Planet in Peril" is a laudable premise, but also highlights how the emphasis on showcasing reporters in the field can obscure the message as opposed to helping clarify it...Handsomely produced and shot, "Planet in Peril" -- like CNN's recent "God's Warriors," which predictably drew conservative fire for daring to draw parallels between Christian and Jewish fundamentalism and the Islamic variety -- reflects a sizable investment in serious longform news, primetime terrain the broadcast networks have almost entirely abandoned. Given that, there's a temptation not to say anything that would discourage the cable net from pursuing such endeavors...Just showing up, however, is only half the battle, and in this particular project, CNN appears more preoccupied with positioning its chess pieces for maximum exposure than building toward a winning endgame. - Brian Lowry