|
Animal Planet Goes Around the World and the Yard to Explore Bizarre and Beautiful Bugs With New Series BUGGIN' WITH RUUD
- Entomologist Ruud Kleinpaste's New Series Destined to Create Buzz on
Premiere Night, Wednesday, June 15, 9 PM ET -
- Series Follows the World Premiere of CORWIN'S QUEST as Part of Animal
Planet's New Destination Night 'WILD WEDNESDAYS' -
SILVER SPRING, Md., Jan 13 -- Cicadas, tarantulas and
beetles, oh my! Whether you love or loathe bugs, collect them or have the
irresistible urge to squish them on sight, the adventures of Animal Planet's
bug man, quirky entomologist Ruud Kleinpaste, offers viewers an eye-opening
journey into the fascinating world of insects large and small. His world
premiere series, BUGGIN' WITH RUUD, debuts on Animal Planet Wednesday, June
15, at 9 PM (ET) as part of the network's brand-new destination night, WILD
WEDNESDAYS.
Following Animal Planet's popular special WORLD'S BIGGEST BADDEST BUGS
with Ruud, this new series, BUGGIN' WITH RUUD, is a global arthropod adventure
that uncovers little-known secrets about the insect world and debugs myths
about multi-legged creepy-crawly species to entertain and enlighten two-legged
humans. Ruud's travels will take him everywhere: He will cross paths with
one of nature's most accomplished marksmen, the bombardier beetle, as it fires
boiling hot, toxic fluid at predators in Africa. In Brazil, Ruud will be in
for an incredible insect light show. He'll groove to the musical talents of
the whistling tarantula and the singing caterpillar (it sounds like maracas)
in Australia and Panama. In Asia, Ruud will witness the rhinoceros beetle lift
850 times its own weight, or the equivalent of a human lifting 80 midsized
automobiles.
In BUGGIN' WITH RUUD, the New Zealand-based bug specialist, author,
educator, researcher, musician and radio and television host, better known as
the "Bugman," calls on his accomplished and diverse career with New Zealand's
leading conservation and research centers and its leading television networks
to explore the cracks and crevices of bedrooms, basements, deserts and rain
forests in search of some of the world's most incredible insects.
After seeing a new bug and witnessing its coolest tricks, Ruud will show
just how amazing it is by comparing it to something on a human scale, making a
connection between our lives and those of insects. Using his own unique
demonstrations and humorous analogies, the daring and determined scientist
will do everything from climbing into a wind tunnel to experience what it
feels like to be a desert locust flying through the air at 21 miles per hour,
to spending a day buried underground to see firsthand what the cicada nymph
goes through for 17 years, to seducing the sting of an angry hornet just to
see how quickly it will summon a frightening swarm of supporters that force
Ruud to take refuge in his car.
Covering the gamut of subjects from bugdom, each episode in the 13-part
series explores a specific theme. Ruud sets off for Los Angeles in
Entertaining Bugs to meet professional Hollywood bug wranglers and learn how
they "train" their insects for the movies. Ruud gets his groove on to a bug
symphony of sounds in Musical Bugs. Ultimate Bugs looks at what people have
adapted from insects, from bugs revealing insights into robotic design and
antiterrorism to bugs used in the medical industry. And probably the scariest
of all, Ruud peeks behind your household curtains in Housemates from Hell,
revealing houseguests you'd rather not know.
"Animal Planet has swarms of new, exciting programming set to debut in
2005, including BUGGIN' WITH RUUD, the network's first series dedicated to
insects. We're taking Animal Planet viewers closer to bugs than they've ever
imagined so they will have a truly sensory experience," said Maureen Smith,
executive vice president, general manager, Animal Planet, U.S. "By combining
BUGGIN' WITH RUUD and CORWIN'S QUEST, Animal Planet has turned Wednesday
nights into WILD WEDNESDAYS, a must-watch primetime destination for our core
audience."
BUGGIN' WITH RUUD is produced for Animal Planet by NHNZ Productions.
Peter Hayden is the executive producer for NHNZ. Mick Kaczorowski is the
executive producer for Animal Planet.
Animal Planet, available in more than 86 million homes nationwide, is the
only television network dedicated exclusively to the connection between humans
and animals. The network's original programming brings together people of all
ages by tapping into a fundamental fascination with animals and providing an
entertaining mix of programming, including original movies, adventure series,
sports, drama and sitcoms. Discovery Networks, U.S., a unit of Discovery
Communications, Inc., operates and manages Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal
Planet, Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery HD Theater,
Discovery Kids Channel, Discovery Times Channel, The Science Channel,
Discovery Home Channel, The Military Channel, Discovery en Espanol and FitTV.
The unit also distributes BBC AMERICA.
SOURCE Animal Planet
Web Site: http://www.discovery.com
|
