Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom

Good old Marlin Perkins; always seemed like he was safe and sound in the studio while Jim was up to his ass in alligators. " While Jim wrestles with that giant anaconda, let's talk insurance". Always entertaining, it was the only thing on on an otherwise boring Sunday night except for wonderful world of Disney. If the signal went bad, someone would have to take a pipe wrench outside to turn our 30 foot antenna until the signal came back. Always fun in a thunderstorm.

If you, like myself. enjoy watching well-produced wildlife/nature shows, then the super-thrilling "Wild Kingdom" TV series, which successfully ran from 1963-1988, should be of some real interest to you.

So, sit back, relax, and see why this Emmy award-winning series, which was hosted by zoologist Marlin Perkins (with co-hosts Jim Fowler and Stan Brock), is so highly praised and credited for increasing ecological and environmental awareness wherever it was televised.

These informative episodes from Wild Kingdom take the viewer right across the globe to study the fascinating behavior of animals and their endless struggle to survive as man continues to encroach on their dwindling territory.

Excellently photographed in living color, Wild Kingdom is truly an exciting look at animals in their natural habitat.

This show's episodes have running times that vary from 30-90 minutes.

Named as one of the longest running documentary series in television history, "Mutual Of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" also known as "The Zoo Parade" made its network television debut on January 6, 1963 when it aired on NBC where it was first shown on Sunday afternoons and later moved to Sunday night prime time where it was scheduled with "The Wonderful World Of Disney " and "Bonanza " for the duration of its run that lasted eight seasons for NBC until February 7, 1971. The network aired repeated episodes from earlier seasons during the summer of 1971. After NBC canceled the series in the spring of 1971 the series was picked up for national syndication until 1988 where it remained for the next seventeen seasons. From 1971 until 1985 it was seen in repeated episodes with brand new episodes that were later shown in syndication. By 1985, the series continued in repeated episodes until its last and final telecast in 1988 (spanning more than 25 years on television with more than 275 episodes produced on both network television and in national syndication). Marlin Perkins was the host of this series who appeared in all 275 episodes during its tenture on the air.

"Mutual Of Omaha's Wild Kingdom " was during the early 1960's the first nature style documentary series to be filmed in location in various parts of the world and presented in living color. The show's sponsor throughout its run was The Mutual Of Omaha Insurance Company. Under the guidance of Marlin Perkins and co-creator Don Meier(who was the executive producer of this series under his production company Don Meier Productions) takes audiences to exotic places to study and conduct research on various types of animals and there behaviors.

Each week your host Marlin Perkins along with assistants Jim Fowler, Stan Brock, Tom Allan, and Peter Gros takes us on a fascinating adventure through various parts of the world as they study and conduct various research on different species of animals in there natural habitat. Each week was an exciting adventure through various countries around the globe doing not only intense further study but risking chances in dealing with various types of animals. It was so successful that "Wild Kingdom"won five Prime Time Emmys for Best Documentary Series for Outstanding Programming (1966, 1967, 1969, 1970 and 1971). After its run on television it is still seen in syndicated repeats but more than 60 years after its premiere it it one of the greatest animal shows of all time. Thanks to the great Marlin Perkins, it's still great family entertainment.

I have fond memories of the original series, not just because it was so well done but because I worked for Don Meier Productions, in Chicago, c. 1977-78. It was a great place to work for a first job out of college. (At the wages they paid, though, I was pretty much forced to move on.)

The show had been in production for 15 years at that point, and was a well-oiled machine. The ever-dapper Don Meier had cinematographers scattered around the globe shooting raw footage. The footage was sent to the offices on Chicago's Magnificent Mile, where very experienced editors would piece together each show. Then, the writer (Allan Eckert?) would create a script that conformed to the visuals -- just the reverse of how fictional stories are shot and produced (although this may still be the method used with wildlife and other documentaries).

One of my jobs was to edit in the commercial segues, usually spoken by Marlin Perkins ... "Just as the mother lion protects her cubs, you can protect your family with Mutual of Omaha ..."

It was a treat to watch these pros at work, and to learn from them. Animal Planet and all the animal-related shows on the Discovery Channel owe much to these pioneers. Though it would be great to see the old shows (and Marlin, Jim, Stan) on TV again, I believe the advances in animal photography and documentary production make that, sadly, unlikely.

I would like to second Huck's comments.

"Wild Kingdom" was my first show and the beginning of my career. I was one of those guys in the the offices on Chicago's Miracle Mile. I was a young lad, hired as an apprentice sound editor by the late, great Jim Bourgeois, my mentor and Master. Jim's company, Sync Marc, which included editors Richard Albrecht and Denny Hough was subcontracted by Don Meier to do sound editing.

"Wild Kingdom" was very well done, and in a way spoiled me because I thought all shows would be that good, both technically and creatively. It set my standard. Production was, in deed, a well oiled machine and post followed suit.

I fondly remember my frequent trips to Zenith for mag transfers of SFX, BGs, and MX. We are in the digital age with many advances, but "Wild Kingdom" taught me about the power of FILM, physical FILM, in my hand.

The toss I always liked was, "Just like the Giant Antellope, you too need protection. Mutual of Omaha..." well....I think he said that....Or did I just cut a new one from trims?

Here's to a great show and a personal milestone.