Spectacular "Planet Earth" is raw, realistic

If you heeded last week's suggestion and watched the stunning three-hour "Galápagos," prepare to plant yourself on the couch once more for another three hours tonight. Because this time it's the Discovery Channel's "Planet Earth" (8 p.m. Sundays), a five-week series that's so dazzling (I've watched three of the 11 hours) that I'm ready to call it the best nature-themed program of the year. A true TV jewel.

Where to start gushing? Right off the bat, there's footage of polar-bear cubs losing their footing on the ice. Coo factor: very high. Then there's the amorous antics of various birds of paradise. Such choreography would humble the contestants on "Dancing With the Stars."

But the cinematic tour de force, the stuff that'll blow your mind, is the great white shark hunting for seals. Normally I gulp at such footage, trying to avert my eyes, always praying that the prey wins (most often it does not). But here we're given a technological marvel: Using an ultra-high-speed camera, the one-second-long footage of shark snatching seal is slowed down to 47 seconds of terrifying ballet. Every muscle twitch, every ocean droplet careening off this mammoth fish is shown. It's gasp-inducing, and it reflects just how powerfully this program envelops you.

"Planet Earth" was created by the same filmmakers who created the extraordinary "Blue Planet" series. Some 70 camera operators spent more than 2,000 days in more than 200 locations to capture an extraordinary list of "firsts": a snow leopard on the prowl, a giant panda with newborn cub, pink river dolphins presenting "gifts" during courtship.

Narrated by Sigourney Weaver ("Alien") and divided into broad subject areas — "Pole to Pole," "Ice World," "Shallow Seas" — each episode, costing between $1 million to $2 million to produce, ends with a behind-the-scenes vignette on the filmmaking itself. You're left with an appreciation of the artistry as well as the magnificence of Mother Earth.

"News War," Part 4

Journalism junkies who toasted last month's "News War" series, which looked at the news media and its various challenges (government, the public, even Craigslist), might have been thinking the programs had ended. But the four-part "Frontline" series actually wraps (9 p.m. Tuesday on KCTS-HD; 10:30 p.m. April 3 on KCTS) with a look at international journalism, particularly TV broadcasting from the Arab world.

As it has throughout, this particular program, "News War: Stories from a Small Planet," seems especially timely: How would Arab language TV vs., say, NBC, acknowledge the beginning of the fifth year of the U.S. war in Iraq?

Our U.S. cable and satellite companies might refuse to carry Al-Jazeera English (something a military spokesman also finds ludicrous), but at least we're given a taste of what the network is like as well as who's on the air (Dave Marash, formerly of ABC's "Nightline.") If you missed the first three episodes, you can find them free at www.pbs.org/frontline.

"24" tick-tock: Audrey's dead; Jack cries; Doyle's a meanie. And Daniels is all too eager to blow something up.

Florangela Davila: 206-464-2916 or fdavila@seattletimes.com