Discovery Channel crashes plane for documentary

Discovery Channel crashed a Boeing 727 passenger jet Friday in the Sonoran Desert in Mexico as part of its documentary series "Curiosity."

The as-yet-untitled episode will look to "re-create a serious, but survivable, passenger jet crash landing with a real aircraft," Discovery said in a statement. The plane was loaded with crash test dummies and cameras to examine impact. The plane was also followed by other planes filming the crash and by camera crews on the ground that also documented the event.

"This groundbreaking project features an actual crash of a passenger jet and explores the big questions about how to make plane crashes more survivable; it's the ideal premiere episode for our 'Curiosity' series that stirs the imagination of our audience, bravely asking questions and fearlessly seeking answers," said Eileen O'Neill, president of Discovery Channel.

Discovery said safety precautions were taken and that the Mexican military and police, as well as private security, staffed the area of the crash. The aircraft will eventually be salvaged and Discovery said an "extensive environmental cleanup operation is being carried out by a reputable agency with the full cooperation of the Mexican authorities." The pilot ejected from the plane minutes before impact.

The episode will be shown on Discovery later this year.

Years ago, Fox considered crashing a plane for a reality special. However the project never got off the ground after critics complained the network was doing it for sensationalistic, rather than educational, reasons.

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Photo: Discovery Channel's crashed 727. Credit: Vance Jacobs / Discovery

'Kurt Sutter's Outlaw Empires' will air on Discovery

The fifth season of "Sons of Anarchy" will air on FX this fall, but series creator Kurt Sutter hasn't slowed. He's got another series set to premiere next month on Discovery: "Kurt Sutter's Outlaw Empires."

The six-part series, executive produced by Sutter, will delve into the real-life worlds of various criminal organizations, including the Crips, the Aryan Brotherhood, the Irish mob, the Italian mafia and the Nuestra Familia. (Of course, biker gangs will get their own episode as well.)

In a statement, Sutter said, "This isn't about making a judgment call on who’s good or bad. As a storyteller, I'm drawn to these personal, intimate accounts of why these men made the choices they made and what it's like to be a member of an outlaw organization."

The first episode will premiere at 10 p.m. May 14. Sutter's fictional biker gang drama, "Sons of Anarchy," has been renewed for a fifth and sixth season.

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Photo: Kurt Sutter. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times.

Titanic's 100th anniversary will go on and on -- on TV

The RMS Titanic sank below the icy waters of the north Atlantic in the early-morning hours of April 15, 1912. Now, 100 years later, it's considered one of the greatest disasters of the 20th century, the basis of one of the biggest movies of the 20th century and the cause of everyone's problems on "Downton Abbey."

To commemorate the anniversary, director James Cameron gave a multimillion-dollar 3-D face-lift to his movie epic, "Titanic" and re-released it into theaters. But for those watching the small screen, there are still lots of ways to relive those moments without heading out to the theater.

National Geographic Channel is, quite understandably, all over the anniversary. After all, Cameron is an explorer-in-residence, along with Robert Ballard, the man credited with discovering the wreck of the Titanic in the modern era. Both men are getting new specials on National Geographic Channel, both premiering a week before the anniversary and both re-airing during a nine-hour Titanic marathon on Sunday.

TIMELINE | Titanic: A century in TV and film

"Titanic: The Final Word With James Cameron" features the director and sometime deep-sea diver working with engineers, architects, historians and a 42-foot replica of the ship itself to solve all the remaining mysteries behind how and why the massive vessel sank like it did.

Meanwhile, "Save the Titanic With Bob Ballard," looks at the very real jeopardy the ship is in today, as treasure hunters are slowly but surely looting the wreck. He also travels to Ireland to meet the descendants of Titanic's Guarantee Group, the nine men who helped build the ship and were selected to sail on its maiden voyage.

National Geographic will also air five hours of the "Rebuilding Titanic" series, in which modern-day craftsmen attempt to re-create portions of the mighty ship using the practices that were used to build it in the first place.

On PBS on Tuesday, "Dancing With the Stars" judge Len Goodman goes back to his roots as a welder at Harland & Woolf, the company that built Titanic, and interviews the descendants of the ship's passengers -- both the survivors and the victims. "Titanic With Len Goodman" airs at 8 p.m., so it won't interfere with Goodman's other appearance on the "Dancing With the Stars" results show on ABC.

ABC has its own "Titanic" film on the way on Saturday, with the two-night miniseries, titled "Titanic." What sets this production apart from Cameron's big-screen extravaganza is the name on the scripts: Julian Fellowes. Fellowes is the man behind the PBS hit "Downton Abbey," and this miniseries looks to be taking many of the class issues from the show and bringing them to sea.

Turner Classic Movies will air two Titanic-themed movies on Saturday: the 1958 version of the Titanic's final voyage "A Night to Remember" and the 1964 Debbie Reynolds musical, "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," about the Titanic survivor.

Discovery will air a trio of Titanic-themed documentaries on Saturday: "Last Mysteries of the Titanic," featuring James Cameron's return dives to the wreck, "Titanic: Birth of the Legend," about the construction of the mighty ship, and "What Sank Titanic?" about the ship's final moments.

On Sunday, History will air three Titanic documentaries: "Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces," recounts a 2005 trip to the wreck to attempt to determine exactly how the ship sank. "Titanic's Achilles Heel" follows experts to the wreck of the similarly designed ship, the Brittanic, as they investigate whether the ship had a fatal flaw in its design. And then comes the premiere of "Titanic at 100: Mystery Solved," which presumably will answer every other question left unanswered about the wreck. Which, judging from the number of people on Twitter who weren't even aware it was real, should mean there are still plenty of questions out there.

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Photo: Titanic leaves Southampton on April 10, 1912. Credit: AFP / Getty Images

OWN announces four new series

Oprah Winfrey's OWN announced Thursday the addition of four new original prime-time series to its lineup.

The new series include "Elura and Michele Take Staten Island," which will give the network its own set of housewives. The BFFs are former prosecutors who will apparently "tell it like it is" -- to their families and clients who pay for their mediation services. And it'll be a reunion of sorts with the addition of the Iyanla Vanzant series. The author and former talk show host was a frequent guest on Winfrey's talk show. "Iyanla Fix My Life" will center around her self-help advice.  Other shows include "Six Little McGhees" (working title), which has the network taking a stab at the large-family trend that was popular back when "John & Kate Plus 8" was on the air. And "Married to the Army: Alaska" is sort of an unscripted version of "Army Wives."

The network also announced that "Oprah's Master Class" and "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's" have been picked up for additional episodes. In addition, the network noted that TV producer Barry Poznick ("Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?") and comedian Kim Coles ("Living Single") will helm the network’s previously announced new game show titled "Are You Normal, America?" It's a spin-off segment that was a feature on Winfrey's talk show.

Whether these new shows will help turn the network's luck around is to be seen. The 15-month-old network, a joint venture between Winfrey and Discovery Communications Inc., has struggled to build an audience since its launch and has gone through executive restructuring and cutbacks -- and, as we reported, has cost Discovery more than $300 million in programming and marketing costs.

The woes are something Winfrey addressed during a recent appearance on "CBS This Morning," telling the show's co-host/best friend Gayle King that she will "move on to the next thing" if viewers don't respond to the network's mission to transform viewers' lives.

 

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Photo: Oprah Winfrey appears Tuesday on "CBS This Morning" with co-host Charlie Rose. Credit: Heather Wines / CBS

Discovery ends relationship with 'Man vs. Wild's' Bear Grylls

 

Discovery and Bear Grylls, the adventuresome host of "Man Vs. Wild," have parted ways because of an undisclosed contractual dispute.

In a brief statement, Discovery said the network has "terminated all current productions" with the host.

The seventh (and now final) season of "Man Vs. Wild," the series which saw Grylls trekking to extreme corners of the globe, aired its final episode last November.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Discovery had been able to secure Grylls' participation in two projects he was allegedly contractually obligated to complete for the channel. His series "Man Vs. Wild" had aired on Discovery since 2006. He had also hosted the show "Worst-Case Scenario" for the channel.

On Tuesday, Grylls tweeted, "Super proud of my team and all they've built with ManVsWild. Looking forward to the next set of Adventures!!" He also added: "Thank you fans for your support!! Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. #TEAMBG."

Like many reality TV hosts, Grylls has parlayed his TV fame into other areas, such as books (his autobiography "Mud, Sweat and Tears" was published in England last year), a clothing line and a video game.

Though Grylls' show has become a favorite of such Hollywood actors as Will Ferrell and Jake Gyllenhaal (who both appeared on episodes of "Man Vs. Wild"), the show had been criticized in its early years for exaggerating Grylls' wilderness exploits. In an interview with The Times last year, Grylls discussed weeping after undergoing a pelting with wind machines designed to re-create a massive storm in northern Norway.

"They blasted the hell out of me, and I thought I could get a shelter and fire going, but I just got beaten by this thing and was really shaken," he recalled at the time. "The emotion was there because I thought, 'The reality is, if you found yourself in this situation, you're dead.'"

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Photo: Bear Grylls. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui / Discovery Channel

Q&A: 'MythBusters' Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage get personal

"MythBusters" hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage are traveling the continent with a live spinoff of their long-running television show, which subjects to their junkyard brand of scientific testing urban legends, tales from history, old saws, stuff you see in the movies, and anything else people think they know when they don't think too hard about it. (The show, "MythBusters: Behind the Myths," passed through L.A.'s Nokia Theatre on Sunday -- Margaret Gray's Times review is here -- and is at the Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside Wednesday night).

Heroes of 21st century DIY culture, they count among their famous fans late-night TV host Craig Ferguson, whose sidekick Geoff Peterson is a robot built by "Build Team" Mythbuster Grant Imahara, and President Obama, who appeared on the show in 2010 to offer a "viewer's challenge." Just before they hit the road, I spoke to them by phone for a Culture Monster Q&A focusing on "Behind the Myths." Here is some more of that conversation.

What originally brought you to the West Coast and San Francisco?

Jamie Hyneman: I came out here well over 20 years ago. I had gotten my start in special effects in New York and wanted to do larger things in movies. "Star Wars" had acquired quite a bit of momentum in the Bay Area; there were a number of companies doing high-end special effects, and so I sought that out.

Adam Savage: I had a brother that lived in San Francisco. I visited him in the late '80s and decided I wanted to live here someday. And then in 1990 a friend asked me to come be his roommate and I've never looked back.

One of the reasons I moved out was I was doing a lot of sculpture at the time, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. And when you're not sure what you want to do, New York is a very terrible place to be. And San Francisco is a fantastic place to be. Because New York is all about ambition -- which is wonderful and yields a fantastic culture -- and San Francisco is all about exploration, where you can try anything. And if you're where I was in the early '90s, talented but without a lot of ambition, it was a great place to try my hand at everything. And I think the fact that both Jamie and I have spent our lives trying our hand at everything that interested us, and found forums and careers that engendered that, lined us up uniquely to be hosts of this show.

I started out as an actor -- I did all the high school plays and studied acting privately and then at NYU for a brief period of time -- and when I first moved to San Francisco I paid my rent for several years in theater. "MythBusters" brought these two halves of myself together, the maker of things and the performer.

'MythBusters' brings its live show to Los Angeles

The "MythBusters" guys have launched a cannonball at a car (OK, that experiment didn't exactly go as planned), aged 1,000 years and tested Archimedes' death ray. Now they are embarking on a new challenge: Co-hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage are taking a live stage show on tour around the U.S. “MythBusters: Behind the Myths” comes to the Nokia Theatre on Sunday and Riverside’s Fox Theater on Wednesday.

"We’ve had builders working for the past couple of months on some of the rigs," Hyneman tells Robert Lloyd on Culture Monster, addressing some of the challenges of bringing their physical stunts to a live audience. "'MythBusters' itself deals with common misperceptions, so what we’ve done here is provide physical ways that we can play with people’s perceptions — that’s where the props come in. It’s not a demonstration, it’s experimentation, or as close as we can get to it, so that by its very nature it’s not predictable as to the outcome."

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Photo: Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage. Credit: Discovery Channel

David Letterman extortionist hired for Paula Zahn show

Joe Halderman, the former "48 Hours Mystery" producer who tried to extort $2 million from talk show host David Letterman, has been hired as a producer of Investigation Discovery's "On the Case With Paula Zahn."

Halderman recently joined the staff of the documentary crime series, and is not expected to work in the field.

Scott Weinberg, executive producer of "On the Case," said in a statement: "On behalf of 'On the Case's' production team, we have been impressed with Joe Halderman's professional accomplishments as an Emmy award-winning producer for '48 Hours' and CBS News. With the network's prior approval, the team has brought Halderman on as a producer for 'On The Case.' We are confident that Halderman will make significant contributions to the success of our award-winning investigative newsmagazine."

Halderman was released from jail in September 2010 after serving four months for pleading guilty in a case that put the spotlight on Letterman's affair with a staff member. Halderman admitted he demanded $2 million in hush money to keep from revealing information about the talk show host.

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Photo: Joe Halderman pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted grand larceny in the David Letterman extortion case.

 

Apologetic 'Mythbusters' talk about cannonball accident

The "Mythbusters" guys are coming to say sorry -- in person.

One day after a cannonball experiment went awry in a Bay Area suburb, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman of Discovery Channel's popular science show said Wednesday they were headed to meet with families affected by the incident.

No injuries were reported, but the 30-pound cannonball flew 700 yards off course from a police firing range, bounced off a roof and ripped through another home in Dublin before settling in a nearby van. While Savage and his team are still investigating the incident, he said the cannon involved in the experiment was aimed too high.

"We feel really lucky and fortunate that, after a nearly perfect safety record over eight years, that this mishap didn't lead to anybody being injured," Savage said in a phone interview. "We're gathering all the information we can ... Our main concern is making sure this never happens again."

Savage and Hyneman were not present; the experiment was being conducted by their colleagues Tory Belleci, Kari Byron and Grant Imahara. Shooting was stopped once the crew learned what had happened.

The production company will cover the victims for property damages as well as any hotel charges, Savage said.

"Mythbusters" test whether common assumptions and urban legends can withstand scientific scrutiny. The series has drawn wide praise for following scientific method and introducing many young people to the concepts involved in research and experimentation.

Savage said that despite the mishap, the cannon episode will still air, mostly likely in the spring.

The accident is "by far the most serious event that has occurred" on the show, Hyneman added. But he and his partner are taking it seriously. "It's one of the reasons we have such a good safety record overall," he said.

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Photo: Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman of "Mythbusters." Credit: Discovery Channel.

 

 

'American Chopper' build-off bikes revealed

Jesse James was, at one time, best known as an outlaw bike builder who'd forged a career with a welding torch in one hand and an ape hanger in the other. A high-octane bad boy with a redlining lifestyle, he was a blue-collar artisan who'd grown a homemade TV show into a cultural phenomenon and a motorcycle shop into an empire. That was before a very public breakup with now ex-wife Sandra Bullock that dragged his name into the dirt.

Tonight, James gets back in the saddle with a guest appearance on "American Chopper" that is showcasing his first bike in five years as part of a three-way build-off with the Teutels. A back-to-basics machine that mirrors James' scandal-inspired embrace of his roots, the "everyday little motorcycle with sugar sprinkled on top" is the first bike he's built since closing West Coast Choppers in Long Beach and purging his 50-person staff. 

"To do it on my own without all the resources and manpower I had in my back pocket for the last 17 years, it kind of scared me," James said of the first bike he's built in his home garage since relocating to Austin, Texas. "I'm not doing it so much for the competition as I was doing it for myself to prove that I could do stuff after West Coast Choppers and still be the same or better quality."

The last bike he built predominantly on his own was the radial bike, he said.

"This isn't a game to me. This is my whole life," said James, who chose to build the bike out of stainless steel because he's never been good at welding it. "I figured it was the best thing to build a bike out of, especially something this under the microscope. I should pick the thing I'm afraid of and use that."

His competitors have also pulled out all the stops. "We're the only company that has everything to lose," Paul Teutel Jr. said of the build-off, whose winner will be determined by audience vote and revealed in a live Las Vegas event Tuesday. "If you want to be the best in the world, sometimes you have to accept some challenges and see where it falls."

The bike Teutel designed with his team at Paul Jr. Designs is "our greatest achievement as a company," he said. Inspired by a World War II P-51 Mustang fighter plane, with a plated and riveted feel, there is "not one stitch of paint on our bike anywhere."

Paul Teutel Sr., on the other hand, has gone "totally out of the realm of what people are going to expect," he said. "We didn't really do a motorcycle. We did a Mad Max type of thing" that has the profile of a snowmobile, the tracks of a tank, two electric motors -- and flame throwers.

-- Susan Carpenter

Photos: Jesse James' bike for "American Chopper"; Jesse James' Radial bike; Paul Teutel Jr.'s biker build-off bike; Paul Teutel Sr.'s biker build-off bike. Credit: Discovery Channel

 

Jesse James gets back on his bike for 'American Chopper'

After all the tabloid stories involving Jesse James' sexual exploits, the infamous Nazi photo, the demise of his marriage to Sandra Bullock and broken engagement to Kat Von D, is the public ready to re-embrace the fallen star who had become the most hated man in America? The Discovery Channel thinks so: James is returning to the cable network that launched his career more than a decade ago, with a guest appearance Monday on a two-night special of "American Chopper" that pits him in a tense build-off against Paul Teutul Jr. and Paul Teutul Sr.

"I think people are tired of hearing about my personal life and ready to see me work again," James told The Times. "People have almost forgot that I am one of the best in the world at what I do." That is, a modern motorcycle-building artist.

James is working on a pilot for a new Discovery show that will start shooting in January; it would include elements of "Monster Garage," which remains Discovery's highest-rated series debut ever, with 2.6-million viewers. On the air four years, the program featured Jesse and his team fabricating new machines out of raw metal. He parlayed that into the 2009 Spike TV series "Jesse James Is a Dead Man," the highest-rated series debut ever for Spike TV when it aired in July 2009.

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Photo: Jesse James. Credit: Discovery Channel.

The enterprise of 'Star Trek' is explored on Science's 'Trek Nation'

The original mission of the crew of the starship Enterprise of "Star Trek" was "to boldly go where no man has gone before." The Science network will celebrate the 45th anniversary of the "Star Trek" franchise Wednesday night with the premiere of a new documentary, "Trek Nation," which will explore the continuing legacy of "Star Trek" while featuring exclusive footage that few men have seen before.

The special, which airs at 8 p.m., also salutes late "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and his vision for the future, spotlighting interviews with fans such as George Lucas, J.J. Abrams, Seth MacFarlane and several alums from the TV series and "Star Trek" films.

Included in the special are snippets from hours of exclusive footage, including never-before-seen home movies from the Roddenberry family and the first-ever "Star Trek" convention. Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry, the 37-year-old son of Gene Roddenberry, is the host and executive producer of the special, which also chronicles his personal journey to gain insight into his father's groundbreaking vision.

Roddenberry discussed the special in a phone interview from London, where he is attending a wedding.

Why does "Star Trek" continue to be such a phenomena and have such an effect all over the world?

It really has to do with the messages and the metaphors that were in the series and the following incarnations. I've learned that from so many fans, from all around the world and from all walks of life. Athletes, doctors, students, whoever, all relate to this commonality of believing in a future for the common good. Who wouldn't want to live in a future life like that?

What was going on with you as the "Star Trek" craze was developing?

I was very rebellious. I knew my father more as an authority, more as "Dad" rather than the man behind 'Star Trek.' I have to say I didn't get it at the time -- the metaphors and the context really didn't come across to me. My father passed away when I was 17, and sadly it took my father's passing to understand why what he did meant so much to so many people. It was then when I realized 'My dad did this.' I loved the philosophy.

In your opinion, who is the most important character in "Star Trek?"

There's a character in all my father's creation that is known as the "Roddenberry" character. It's also always the 'alien' character that shows us our humanity, that brings all the rest of the characters together and shows them their significance. Spock certainly fit in there. Data was a classic Pinocchio, always questioning what it's like to be human. I love Data, who was always showing what it is like to have emotion.

There's a stereotyped image of the "Star Trek" fan as being some weirdo who dresses up in starship uniforms and can act very strange and geeky.

I have complete respect and admiration for the fans. After my father's passing, they were the ones I turned to. They were inspired by my father and they spoke of how he inspired them to reach beyond their preconceived limitations of what they could accomplish. Plus, you go to any football games and see people wearing costumes. That's no big deal.

What is the biggest lesson you learned about your father?

Working on this was a very collaborative effort. The main thing that happened was learning things about my father that were not easy to hear. I learned early on that I needed to humanize him. He was put on a pedestal so early in life, and I needed to find out who the man was. Working on this brought him to a level where I could connect and identify with him, and love him even more. I do have one hope that audiences will continue to love and admire him, but also that they will realize that anyone can achieve greatness if they have the passion and will to see it through.

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Photo: Director Robert Wise, left, Gene Roddenberry, DeForest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner (seated) on the set of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," which came out in 1979 and was the first big-screen adaptation of the TV series. Credit: Roddenberry estate