Animals TV Shows

Everyone loves animals, and TV producers learned long ago how to take advantage of that love to create popular television programming featuring entertaining animals. The animals may be adorable, they may be scary, or they may be simply interesting, but animal-related programs are almost always appealing to a wide variety of viewers.

Nature documentaries are perhaps the oldest genre of animal programs on TV. They tend to present animals in a factual way, and they often focus on a particular species or group of species. Some nature documentaries examine the lives of a range of species that live in a particular habitat, and they are commonly filmed in a detached style that tries to observe the animals without disturbing or interacting with them.

Another style of nature documentary is more willing to step into the world of animals in order to add an element of entertainment to the otherwise academic scope of the documentary. In this type of program, a host typically interacts with the animals while presenting factual information about them to the viewer. Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom is an early example of this sub genre of animal show, and more recent hosts of similar programs include Jack Hanna and Steve Irwin.

Animal-oriented programming has a presence within the category of reality TV, too. A sub genre of reality programming common on cable networks involves characters that engage with animals as a part of their careers. Alligator hunters, exterminators, veterinarians, animal control officers and law enforcement personnel have all been featured in series that depict the sometimes thrilling interaction between people and animals. These series, unlike documentaries, are much more concerned with entertaining than educating the audience