What have you been watching lately?

These days, amidst all the clutter of news channels and television programs, finding a good program to watch non-stop for an hour is a skill in itself. I’d much rather choose to watch a program along with the advertisements for a continuous hour, as opposed to flipping between the channels for an endless duration and watching nothing end of the day.

Cutting the long story short, I wanted to get some tips on great programs running in TV these days. Following are mine:

Man vs. Wild


Call it captivating, disgusting, entertaining, or daring, Bear Grylls (the host of this program – from Discovery Channel) has it in him to pull off whatever he does. If I see one program, this is it. Being an ex-Special Forces and the record holder for the youngest Brit to climb Mount Everest, his background gives the show a lot of credibility. Of course, critics apart, eating those live snakes, moths, fish, raw zebra meat, frogs, and the like in his quest to survive are, in my opinion, the show’s ultimate clinchers. I’m waiting for the DVD format.

Planet Earth

[From BBC] This show brings the most spectacular picto-cum-cinematography ever. Every frame of this show is a portrait and a statement in itself. I’m not sure if this is running on TV these days, but I got the entire 5 DVD set for 400 bucks, and the clarity of the images and Attenborough’s husky voice is stunning. Nature is spectacular, and if one show has managed to record it all, this has to be it.

Ice Road Truckers

[From History Channel] You just wish you were driving one of those vehicles, just for a day. Captivating - to say the least. I just love this show. Switch off the lights, relax and watch the program. It's the best part of your day.

What’s awesome is that such programs still bring sanity and respect to Television – amidst the swarm of saas-bahu soaps and irksome and constantly bickering news channels.

Any other program to watch out for?