Latest from Next TV in Discovery-fit-and-health

Discovery Life Builds Originals Slate

Leslie Jaye Goff — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 20:00:00 +0000

Making its first upfront appearance since rebranding in January, Discovery Life Channel Tuesday (March 31) announced a mix of new and returning docu-series that continue its focus on medical programming while delving more into human sexuality as well.

The network formerly known as Discovery Fit & Health will continue its revamp this year, adding new docu-series such as the upcoming New Girls on the Block, premiering April 11, as the first cable series to profile a group of female friends in the transgender community and, in the third quarter, the provocatively titled Sex in Public. It isn't actually about fornicating in public but rather discussions in public places about fornicating: Sex expert Jill Dictrow will go "undercover to get unsuspecting pedestrians to dish about their private lives in public settings," the network explained.

Also planned for the 2015-16 upfront season in the sex-and-sexuality category is How to Make Love to Your Wife, a special Discovery Life described as "a light hearted, brutally honest and self-deprecating examination of one suburban dad’s ineptitude in bed and his hilarious – and sometimes humiliating – attempts to turn himself into a world-class lover and finally please his wife." The network did not announce a premiere date.

That and the new series will provide the network with extra fodder for its Sextember programming stunt, scheduled to return this year, the network said.

Also on tap for the season is Faking It, which is not about sex but about attention-seeking people who fake having an illness or condition. Specifically, it's about interventions with those people when their fakery has "reached a crisis point." (Wouldn't that be Day One?) The network has also slated an addiction-and-recovery themed one-hour special, The Meeting, which Discovery Life said "provides unprecedented access into the raw and anonymous world of addiction recovery."

Other new series rounding out the network's core brand of medical programming include An Hour to Save Your Life, about ER doctors; In an Instant, first-person stories of life-changing events that happen in a flash; The Day I Almost Died, another first-person narrative-based docu-series; Vegas 911, stories from the case files of University Medical Center in Las Vegas; and Shock Trauma, an unscripted docudrama about the doctors, nurses and patients at the world-renowned R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

“Discovery Life chronicles the high stakes and raw emotion of ordinary people in extraordinary situations," said Jane Latman, the network's general manager, in a statement. "We will continue to be bold in our programming choices as we share relatable and authentic life-defining moments.”

Returning series include network stalwarts Untold Stories of the ER and Hoarding: Buried Alive.

Discovery and ABC News Pair Up For Ebola Documentary

Jaclyn Tuman — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 18:45:00 +0000

With never before seen footage, Ebola: Inside The Deadly Outbreak centers on personal struggles with the highly contagious disease, and gives a deeper look into the history, containment, as well as medical implications.

Led by ABC News’ chief medical editor and former acting director of the CDC, Dr. Richard Besser, the one-hour documentary will capture the lives of those affected in the center of it all, Monrovia, Liberia.

“These are unimaginable terrors that we’ve seen played out in science fiction movies like ‘Contagion’ and ‘Outbreak,’ but Ebola is knocking on America’s door and we are looking for answers,” said Jane Latman, General Manger of Discovery Fit & Health.

Many ponder the question, can Ebola happen here? With 100 specialists sent to Liberia to assist with the deadly virus, the documentary attempts to find an answer.

Dr. Besser tells the story of patients and caretakers, one who has watched half of his family die, leaving him trapped in quarantine, as well as those going days without treatment. The special also delves into the lives of American missionaries, Nancy and David Writebol, who reveal why they have risked their lives and explain further why they might go back.

Catch the documentary Thursday, September 18 with programming beginning with Ebola: Are We Next? And following with, Monsters Inside Me: Outbreak, NBC News Special: Saving Dr. Brantly, Ebola: Inside The Deadly Outbreak at 10/9C.

You can follow @DrRichardBesser and @Disc_Health, who will be live tweeting, answering any questions viewers may have about the widespread epidemic.

Discovery Fit & Health To Air 'Medical Detectives'

Will Hagle — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 20:00:00 +0000

Discovery Fit & Health has secured a deal to return forensic investigation series Medical Detectives to the air.

The network will air the series in consecutive order beginning with its first season, which initially debuted in 1996. The series was a precursor to popular forensic shows such as CSI, created when the topic of forensic science was still in its infancy.

“When I was intently watching the O.J. Simpson trial along with the rest of America, I recognized the significance of scientific evidence in murder trials. That, right there, was the inspiration for the series 20 years ago - and the importance of the series hasn’t changed since,” said Paul Dowling, creator and executive producer of Medical Detectives in a statement.

The half-hour series will air Saturdays at 10 and 10:30 p.m. beginning June 21 on Discovery Fit & Health.