- About the Ekit
Season Premieres/Special Events on the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is proud to start 2008 with exciting new series and specials, as well as returning favorites. Below you will find information on the shows including background, schedules, bios, artwork and links to watch clips or entire episodes online.
You can also catch a preview of our new series December 26 – December 31 during our SNEAK PEEK WEEK. Click here for more information.
As always, we are here for any questions you have. Our contact details are listed below each program. We hope this is an easy way to capture a sizeable amount of information … not to mention your attention!
And remember, our press website – press.discovery.com – can be easily accessed below at any time.
A happy and healthy new year from all of us at Discovery Channel.
CONTACT:
Name Email Phone 1 Phone 2 Elizabeth Hillman elizabeth_hillman@discoveey.com office: 240.662.2664 cell: 240.461.3053 Josh Weinberg joshua_weinberg@discovery.com office: 240.662.5274 cell: 240.328.3988 Katherine Nelson katherine_nelson@discovery.com office: 310.975.5975 cell: 310.270.7969 Amy Hagovsky amy_hagovsky@discovery.com office: 240.662.2931 cell: 240.997.6987 Andy Scafetta andrew_scafetta@discovery.com office: 240.662.5519 cell: 301.325.9019 Alison Threadgill alison_threadgill@discovery.com office: 240.662.6135 cell: 240.678.5702 - Fight Quest - Fridays 10PM, 4 Jan 2008
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A whole different culture clash
Some guys like to fight. The rest of us like to watch. Discovery Channel premieres FIGHT QUEST, Friday, January 4, at 10 PM (E/P). In a blend of cultural immersion and good old-fashioned smackdown, each week viewers witness a variety of fight types – kickboxing, boxing and karate, to name a few. Each episode culminates with one of our hosts facing off against a local in no-holds-barred combat. In the end, only the best will win, and it’s not always the hosts. Locations include the Philippines, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico City, Thailand, Israel, Brazil and India. Hosts are LA–based mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Jimmy Smith and New Jersey native, Iraqi War veteran Doug Anderson. Smith is one of mixed martial arts’ rising cage-fighting stars. In the cage, Smith is known as a lightning-fast grappler who can destroy opponents in under three minutes. Doug enlisted in the U. S. Army in 2002 and served for three intense and highly decorated years in war-torn Iraq. During his Army service, he was part of the crucial Rapid Deployment Force. It was during his time in the Army that Doug first became interested in martial arts. He currently practices jiujitsu and traditional and Muay Thai kickboxing.
Watch our premiere episode now: The Philippines
Screeners available upon on request.
Please contact Andrew Scafetta 240.662.5919, andrew_scafetta@discovery.com
Click Here to download high-res images.
Doug Anderson
“Fight Quest” Host BioBorn with a restless soul and a fighting spirit, 25-year-old Doug Anderson has already seen a lot of the world. A native of New Jersey, Doug enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2002 and served for three intense and highly decorated years in war-torn Iraq. During his Army service, Doug was part of the crucial Rapid Deployment Force, and in 2004–2005 his infantry unit saw the most frontline combat of any infantry unit in the war zone.
It was during his time in the military that Doug first became interested in martial arts. After building up his skills in jiujitsu, Doug became a personal bodyguard for a high-ranking Army officer serving in Iraq. After earning seven medals for his wartime service, Doug left the Army in 2005 and continued to pursue his martial arts training. To date, Doug has earned a blue belt in jiujitsu and is also an impassioned student of Muay Thai kickboxing and traditional boxing.
When he is not touring the world for FIGHT QUEST, Doug volunteers with various civic organizations, spends time with his nieces and nephews, and enjoys drawing, painting and tattooing.
Jimmy Smith
“Fight Quest” Host BioWith a record of six wins and just one loss, Jimmy Smith is one of MMA’s rising cage-fighting stars. In the cage, the 5'10", 175-pound Smith is known as a lightning-fast grappler who can destroy opponents in under three minutes. And when it comes to facing Smith, if you’re not smart enough to submit or “tap out,” you may end up with a snapped tendon or worse.
In addition to his MMA career, Smith has earned a jiujitsu purple belt and holds various jiujitsu titles, including the Joe Moreira Tournament Lightweight Champion, Copa Pacifica Welterweight Champion, the Cleber Luciano Tournament Welterweight Champion and the Paragon Tournament Champion. Smith also placed third in the Southern California Submission Pro-Am and the 2003 Gracie Open.
Smith grew up in the country outside of Fresno, Calif., and fighting is in his blood. Smith’s grandfather was a boxer in the U.S. Army, and his father continued the tradition by teaching the ins and outs of backyard brawling. Smith officially began his fighting career in high school, on the wrestling team. While studying history at UCLA, he joined the jiujitsu team and further perfected his grappling skills. After graduating from UCLA in 2000, Smith continued his martial arts studies with Team Punishment out of Huntington Beach. He fought in his first pro fight with Team Punishment in 2001 and a year and a half later moved to Los Angeles, where he currently resides and continues to fight professionally. When Smith is not traveling around the world kicking ass, he enjoys spending time on Venice Beach and rock climbing at Joshua Tree National Monument.
CONTACT:
Name Email Phone 1 Phone 2 Andy Scafetta andrew_scafetta@discovery.com office: 240.662.5519 cell: 301-325-9019 - Dirty Jobs - Tuesdays 9PM, 8 Jan 2008
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Hey Mike, back to work!
All new episodes of DIRTY JOBS starting Tuesdays, January 8 at 9pm E/P
In the feisty DIRTY JOBS, host and everyman Mike Rowe gets the grimy scoop on downright nasty occupations. The foul play for pay in new 2008 episodes include fishing for slime eels, cleaning up dark caves, demolishing barges, making shingles and … believe it or not… harvesting cranberries.
MIKE ROWE
Host of Discovery Channel’s DIRTY JOBSHow many of us get the opportunity to clean up toxic bird poop, dive for golf balls in alligator-infested waters or assist in the artificial insemination of a horse? Or better yet – how many of us would want to?
To Mike Rowe, host of Discovery Channel’s DIRTY JOBS, those jobs (and more) are all part of an honest day’s work. By serving as an apprentice to everyday men and women who perform the jobs no one else wants, Mike has found a hands-on way to pay tribute to a nation of unsung heroes, and get more than a few laughs along the way. Mike is constantly putting his hands into places that are often curious, sometimes dangerous and always dirty. From roadkill removal specialists to bat biologists, to professionals who determine the sex of chickens, DIRTY JOBS offers an illuminating look at what lies beyond the world of 9 to 5, and no one is better suited to the role of good-natured guinea pig than Mike Rowe.
Before DIRTY JOBS, Discovery sent Mike to the Valley of the Golden Mummies to host EGYPT WEEK LIVE! There, he opened and explored ancient tombs live on the air with Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s foremost archeologist. From Egypt, Mike was sent to the Bering Sea for the filming of DEADLIEST CATCH, a series on Alaskan crab fishing, a profession widely considered to be the most dangerous in the world. Now, Mike has been given his own series and free rein to explore the dirty side of earning an honest living.
In cleaner days, Mike Rowe sang professionally with the Baltimore Opera, sold over $100 million of fake diamonds on QVC and appeared in several dozen Tylenol commercials. He also hosted Worst Case Scenario for TBS, On-Air TV for American Airlines, The Most for The History Channel, No Relation for Fox and New York Expeditions for PBS. In San Francisco, Mike is best known for his work on CBS as the host of Evening Magazine, a position he held for three years until he left in 2005. Along the way, he has narrated over 1,000 hours of television and performed in dozens of theatrical productions.
If he survives dishing the dirt and scooping the slop on DIRTY JOBS, he plans to take a long shower and return to the stage.
Background Information:
Question Answer Birthday: March 18, 1962 Hails From: Baltimore, Maryland Current Residence: San Francisco, CA Marital Status: Single Interests/Hobbies: Reading, writing and a bit of running. On Hosting DIRTY JOBS: “Be careful what you wish for.” Click Here to download high-res images.
CONTACT:
Name Email Phone 1 Phone 2 Katherine Nelson katherine_nelson@discovery.com office: 310-975-5975 cell: 310-270-7969 - Some Assembly Required - Tuesdays 10PM, 8 Jan 2008
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The start of something big
People are fascinated with how things work. From incredibly high-tech items like plasma TVs to remarkably mundane objects that we use every day – toilets, tissues, toothpaste – every object has a story and an incredible process behind it. Discovery Channel opens the factory doors to reveal all in the new series, SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED, premiering Tuesday, January 8, at 10 PM (E/P).
Hitch a ride on a worldwide journey to participate in the process of making and manufacturing the items that make up our everyday life. Along the way, learn the little known facts about what it takes to design and mass-produce products and get insights into how these things work. Hosts Brian Unger and Louis Bloomfield meet the people behind the building process and discover the often dramatic, funny, ingenious solutions people come up with to make products bigger, better, cheaper or quicker.
Click Here to download high-res images.
Louis Bloomfield
Louis A. Bloomfield is Professor of Physics at the University of Virginia and author of “How Everything Works: Making Physics Out of the Ordinary.”
Bloomfield received his Ph.D. from Stanford in 1983 and was a postdoctoral fellow at AT&T Bell Laboratories before arriving at the University of Virginia in 1985. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his research in atomic, condensed matter and optical physics, including the Apker Award of the American Physical Society, a Presidential Young Investigator Award of the National Science Foundation, a Young Investigator Award of the Office of Naval Research and an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and he is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
Bloomfield has also been widely recognized for his teaching of physics and science to thousands of non-science students at the University of Virginia and is the recipient of a 1998 State of Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award and the 2001 Pegram Medal of the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society. He is the author of more than 100 publications in the fields of atomic clusters, autoionizing states, high-resolution laser spectroscopy, nonlinear optics, computer science and general science literacy, and of a recent introductory textbook entitled “How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life,” 3rd Edition.
Bloomfield also works extensively with professional societies and the media to explain physics to the general public. He frequently serves as a physics consultant and as an expert witness on legal matters that require a broad understanding of physics and scientific issues.
Brian Unger
Brian Unger is the host of Discovery Channel’s SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED, and his satirical news reports on culture and politics can currently be heard each week on NPR’s Day to Day.
Unger began his career in broadcasting at WOUB in Athens, Ohio, where he graduated from Ohio University. He then turned his back on Ohio and public radio to fetch David Letterman’s lunch in New York.
It was all downhill from there: Unger was tapped to produce the series Obstetrics & Gynecology Update for Lifetime Medical Television. After a combustible 26 episodes, Unger left the show and struck out on his own to produce documentary profiles on U.S. war veterans dating back to World War I.
Freelance life and a departure from c-sections and pre-term births was gratifying but impoverished. Looking for a new challenge, and to keep the heat on in his New York City apartment, Unger accepted a field producer job from TV pioneer Maury Povich. After two years, Unger begged Povich for an introduction to his wife Connie Chung who bought Unger a decent pair of shoes, and hired him as an associate producer on her CBS News magazine show Eye to Eye.
Unger eventually became a producer on the show, staying with CBS News for three years before leaving to be an on-air correspondent for CBS’s magazine show Day & Date. The show was eventually cancelled. Unger was unemployed, again. And Murrow wept.
Now turning his back on news, Unger devoted the next three years of his life to making fun of it as part of the team that launched the award-winning The Daily Show on Comedy Central. As a correspondent and producer on the series, he helped to pioneer the show’s satirical reports on politics, people, and news events around the country.
Exhausted, tired of living in motel rooms and without friends, Unger left The Daily Show and began a journey down a different exhausting, friendless path in TV. He hosted NBC’s Later, E! Entertainment’s Talk Soup, and the cable network’s anthology series Hollywood Offramp, FOX’s World’s Craziest Video’s, and the DVD, Bushisms, based on the book. He co-created and starred in pilots for Fox and Comedy Central, including an acclaimed comedy series on Oxygen, O2Be…Anyone But Me. He even turned to hosting other people’s shows, subbing frequently for Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s Countdown.
As an actor, Unger hosted the entertainment newsmagazine Extra until he was fired for not acting passionately enough about celebrity. He has also guest starred in comedies for NBC, ABC, and Comedy Central and has appeared on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, The Man Show, and as a frequent contributor to VH1 and TV Land.
CONTACT:
Name Email Phone 1 Phone 2 Katherine Nelson katherine_nelson@discovery.com office: 310-975-5975 cell: 310-270-7969 - Bone Detectives - Mondays 10PM, 14 Jan 2008
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A ‘groundbreaking’ new series
Come along for a one-of-a-kind roadtrip exploring the world’s most ancient cultures. Unlock the secrets of burial and mummification with leading explorers and scientists. Discovery Channel premieres BONE DETECTIVES, Monday, January 14, at 10 PM (E/P). From the Peruvian highlands, home to the little-known ancient Chachapoya, to Egypt’s Lower Nile, trek the globe in a wild ride where anthropology meets adventure. Follow archaeologist Scotty Moore as he journeys to the farthest reaches of the Earth on a quest driven by the belief that the secrets of the past have yet to be revealed. Carefully preserved mummies and entombed skeletons are a link to ancient civilizations. Each presents a mystery to unravel, a life to understand, a world to explore and a death to reveal. But these long-hidden remains do not yield their secrets easily. Ancient tombs are protected by lush vegetation, inhospitable terrain, ever-changing weather, dangerous wildlife and man-made obstacles. The pursuit of mummies, and answers to the mysteries they raise, will take our adventurer to some of the most spectacular and remote places on our planet.
Click Here to download high-res images.
Scotty Moore
Follow archaeologist Scotty Moore as he journeys to the farthest reaches of the Earth on a quest driven by the belief that the secrets of the past have yet to be revealed.
Moore is a candidate for a Ph.D. in anthropology (archaeology) at the University of Washington in Seattle. His current research interests center on evaluating the exchange of chipped stone tools among marginalized agriculturists in the American Southwest between A.D. 1275 and 1450. He also concentrates on understanding prehistoric economic networks and on utilizing geochemical fingerprinting techniques to find the sources of archaeological and geological materials.
CONTACT:
Name Email Phone 1 Phone 2 Josh Weinberg joshua_weinberg@discovery.com office: 240.662.5274 cell: 240-328-3988 - MythBusters - Wednesdays 9PM, 16 Jan 2008
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Let the new busting begin
All-new episodes of MYTHBUSTERS starting Wednesday, January 16, at 9 PM (E/P)
Are the stories about the exploding dog in a microwave and keeping cell phones away from gas pumps true? MYTHBUSTERS is back, continuing its mad scientific quest to discover the truth behind popular myths and urban legends. Hosted by quirky special effects experts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, this mentally tantalizing series uses modern-day science to show what’s real and what’s fiction.
Click Here to download high-res images.
Jamie Hyneman
Co-Host, MYTHBUSTERSHailing from Indiana farm country, Jamie Hyneman is a multifaceted man: wilderness survival expert, boat captain, diver, linguist, animal wrangler, machinist and cook, to name a few. His career has been equally diverse: Jamie earned a degree in Russian languages and ran a sailing/diving charter business in the Caribbean for several years before he moved over to the visual effects industry.
After working for several special effects companies, Jamie found his way to Colossal Pictures’ model shop, where he managed the production of models and special effects for hundreds of commercials and movies. Then, 16 years ago, Jamie took over the shop and created M5 Industries Inc.
Jamie has worked on over 800 commercials for major automobile manufacturers, soft drink companies, athletic shoe companies and numerous other products. And in the midst of all this activity, Jamie’s company has diversified into toy prototyping and research and development in a variety of other areas as well.
The holder of several patents and the winner of numerous industry awards, Jamie is also a long-standing Screen Actors Guild member. Additionally, for years Jamie participated in robotic combat competitions. He held the heavyweight title for two years in Robot Wars, competing with his creation, Blendo.
Today, while MYTHBUSTERS occupies the majority of Jamie’s professional activity, M5 is active mainly with developing cutting-edge technologies for a variety of industries.
Adam Savage
Co-Host, MYTHBUSTERSAdam Savage has spent his life gathering skills that allow him to take what’s in his brain and make it real. He’s built everything from ancient Buddhas to futuristic weapons, from spaceships to dancing vegetables, from fine art sculptures to animated chocolate … and just about anything else you can think of.
The son of a filmmaker/painter and a psychotherapist, Adam has been making his own toys since he was allowed to hold scissors. Having held positions as a projectionist, animator, graphic designer, carpenter, interior and stage designer, toy designer, welder and scenic painter, he has worked with every material and process he could get his hands on … metal, paper, glass, plastic, rubber, foam, plaster, pneumatics, hydraulics, animatronics, neon, glassblowing, moldmaking and injection molding, to name just a few.
Since 1993, Adam has concentrated on the special effects industry, honing his skills through more than 100 television commercials and a dozen feature films, including Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Galaxy Quest, Terminator 3, A.I. and The Matrix sequels. He’s also designed props and sets for Coca-Cola, Hershey’s, Lexus and a host of New York and San Francisco theater companies.
Not only has he worked and consulted in the research and development division for toy companies and made several short films, Adam has also acted in several films and commercials … including a Charmin ad, in which he played Mr. Whipple’s stock boy, and a Billy Joel music video, “Second Wind,” in which he drowns.
Today, in addition to co-hosting Discovery Channel’s MYTHBUSTERS, Adam teaches advanced model making, most recently in the industrial design department at the San Francisco Academy of Art. Somehow he also finds time to devote to his own art—his sculptures have been showcased in over 40 shows in San Francisco, New York and Charleston, W.Va.
CONTACT:
Name Email Phone 1 Phone 2 Alison Threadgill alison_threadgill@discovery.com office: 240.662.6135 cell: 240-678-5702 - Smash Lab - Wednesdays 10PM, 16 Jan 2008
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On Wednesdays beginning January 16, Discovery Channel premieres SMASH LAB. Each week, the SMASH LAB team of maverick engineers takes everyday technology and applies it in revolutionary new ways. First they break the existing technology down to see how it works and then they use their genius to see how it could be used in a whole new super-sized way. Could bullet proof Kevlar protect an airliner from bombs, could a car airbag be reinvented to stop a helicopter sinking after ditching at sea, and could truck dampers be used to earthquake proof a house?
Our experts bring their professional expertise to the table and ask the questions the viewers may be also asking – how in the world is this technology possible? Why can’t it help others? Their mission: to make the world a safer place.
Meet the team…
The Engineer – Chuck Messer
BS in Industrial Engineering
Masters in Industrial Design
Founding partner of Tackle Design Inc.The Scientist – Deanne Bell
BS in Mechanical Engineering
Designed infrared and laser devices in the aerospace industryThe Designer – Nick Blair
Degree in Industrial DesignThe Ideas Guy – Kevin Cook
BS in Mechanical EngineeringClick Here to download high-res images.
CONTACT:
Name Email Phone 1 Phone 2 Amy Hagovsky amy_hagovsky@discovery.com office: 240.662.2931 cell: 240-997-6987 - Human Body: Pushing the Limits - Coming March 2008
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A revealing new look
Discovery Channel presents the human body as you’ve never seen it before. In the tradition of Planet Earth, THE HUMAN BODY: PUSHING THE LIMITS, premiering premiering in March, explores remarkable physical and mental feats performed during the most challenging times and situations. Shot on location around the world, this special series presents gripping accounts of people who have summoned uncommon physical or mental strength when pushed to the limit. Through a stunning array of highly original graphics and animation, see how the body and brain undergo major changes when forced into crisis mode. When options run out, just how far are we willing to go? HUMAN BODY takes you on the journey to find out.
Click Here to download high-res images.
CONTACT:
Name Email Phone 1 Phone 2 Josh Weinberg joshua_weinberg@discovery.com office: 240.662.5274 cell: 240-328-3988
