Another vote for The Ascent of Man. Despite some of the science having beend n overtaken by events (hardly surprising after 30 years, and also true of Cosmos) this is a magnificent series and a wonderful celebration of the very human endeavor known as science. Sadly the discs are pricey because they are only available in the U.S. through an educational DVD publisher, and the technical quality leaves something to be desired. (The discs appear to have been sourced from the NTSC broadcast video masters. I really wish that someone had the time or money to go back to the original 16mm film and remaster the set from scratch. Still, no amount of visual fuzziness can hide the sharpness of Jacob Bronowski's intellect, or disguise his enormous personal warmth and charm.)
And I second the comments about the BBC version of Planet Earth vs. the Discovery Channel edition. The latter is what aired in the U.S. It was recut to allow for commercials, and that, in turn, necessitated a new narrative track (by Sigourney Weaver) and a new score. Now I first saw the series on television and thought the visuals, score and narration were just fine, contrary to some of the comments on Amazon.com. But I would still want to own the original uncut version on DVD. The Discovery Channel DVDs are only available through the Discovery Channel store and website. The BBC version is sold via all other retail channels in the U.S.
Regards,
Joe
