The WORST episodes of Explorer

#1 - Herculaneum: Voices from the Past

Season 1985 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/7/1985

#2 - Pyramids of Fire

Season 2005 - Episode 11 - Aired 10/23/2005

The pyramids of Americas were built more than 2,000 years ago by a people who vanished long ago. Little is known about these builders and the purpose of the pyramids has been a mystery until now. Were they temples to the gods or sacrificial altars?

#3 - Nightmare in Jamestown

Season 2005 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/20/2005

You're starving - and under attack by hostile neighbors. Spies have infiltrated your town, half your family is sick with some deadly disease and rumor has it that your neighbor just ate his wife for lunch. Welcome to America, 1607-where evidence suggests that this nightmare could have been the settlers' reality. It's a story of bubonic plague, starvation, espionage and cannibalism - and the founding of North America's first successful English colony. In 1606, a handful of English adventurers set sail across the Atlantic, expecting a paradise teeming with gold and riches. Instead, they discovered a living hell. Now, nearly 400 years later, the latest discoveries explore the story of Jamestown - as you've never seen it before. Exclusive access to forensics and archaeology will take us inside the graves, revealing shocking new evidence of starvation and disease, secret plots and Spanish spies. Dramatic recreations bring to life one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history. And in an unprecedented act, the Church of England will open its vaults, allowing National Geographic to dig up the remains of a 17th century woman whose bones hold clues to the disastrous venture known as Jamestown and its founding father, an unsung hero of American history called Bartholomew Gosnold. Like many mysteries, we begin with the bodies: a burial ground containing the remains of more than 70 people, some haphazardly arranged. It looks like whoever buried these people hardly had the time or energy to do so properly. Who were they? What happened? The burial site is just steps from the remains of Jamestown Fort, where archaeologists and forensic specialists are toiling to uncover the secrets of America's first successful colony. Stylized recreations and CGI will transport us back four centuries to reveal the hopeful beginnings of a colony made famous by fanciful tales of romance between Captain John Smith and Pocahontas. A colonist's diary claims at least one person, out of desperation, turned

#4 - Super Chopper

Season 2005 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/11/2005

The latest "super choppers" are one of an advanced breed of machines - built to fly fast and silently to places helicopters could never go before, even to the reaches of inner space. One such "super chopper," known as EH101, has been touted as a breakthrough technological achievement. New designs like the EH101 will also be much more impervious to attack, with Kevlar and other advanced composite materials strengthening the body - while keeping it lightweight. Using live action, re-creations, amazing archival footage and advanced CGI, we marvel at the creation of today's "super choppers" - extraordinary multi-purpose helicopters for the twenty-first century.

#5 - Super Snake

Season 2006 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/6/2006

At more than 30 feet long, today's giant snakes are as big as they've ever been. But how big can giant snakes grow?

#6 - Drowning New Orleans

Season 2006 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/30/2006

A great American city drowns in a slow-motion disaster. Eyewitness accounts and never-before-seen footage deconstruct the disaster, revealing how 250 billion gallons of water flooded the Big Easy and destroyed more than 150,000 homes. Follow the water from first strike to total deluge and discover the real story behind New Orleans' catastrophe. The most destructive disaster in U.S. history wasn't Hurricane Katrina. It was the chain of events that followed.

#7 - Elephant Rage

Season 2006 - Episode 7 - Aired 6/13/2006

Elephants are usually docile herbivores, but authorities say wild elephant attacks are increasing. Why? The Pittsburgh Zoo's "Elephant Whisperer" Willie Theison brings uncanny insight into their complex minds. In West Bengal, India, he teams up with a courageous "Elephant Squad" in a dangerous mission to relocate problem populations farther away from human beings. In Sri Lanka, Theison and local wildlife officials track down an elusive problem elephant that has been attacking villagers.

#8 - Super Sub

Season 2006 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/26/2006

Part sub killer. Part terrorist hunter. Part spy. It's among the deepest and longest running nuclear attack submarines ever built. The Navy has kept its secrets under lock and key. Until now. Explorer travels the globe to bring viewers the story of the newest, most advanced member of the U.S. nuclear-powered submarine force, the USS Texas

#9 - Inside The Real NCIS

Season 2006 - Episode 9 - Aired 5/30/2006

They solve murders, catch spies, and prevent terrorist attacks. They are one of the most revered law enforcement agencies on the planet, and one of the least understood until now. Go behind-the-scenes with the federal agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). With re-enactments, on-location footage and interviews with agents, re-examine the agency's most challenging case - the bombing of the USS Cole - and see how the NCIS is staying one step ahead of the terrorists.

#10 - Stormageddon

Season 2011 - Episode 10 - Aired 5/29/2011

Historic snows and bitter cold across North America. Massive floods in Australia and Pakistan. Deadly mudslides in Brazil. Epic drought and wildfires in Russia. 2010 was one of the most destructive years in history. Now, Explorer presents the dramatic images of this catastrophic weather year — and introduces the people who risked their lives to capture them on film.

#11 - Kingdom of the Blue Whale

Season 2009 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/3/2009

Blue whales are the largest creatures to ever inhabit the earth - yet despite their size, we know little about them. A team of scientists set out on an expedition to unlock the secrets of the blue whale and investigate why they are dying. AKA: Blue Whale Odyssey (UK)

#12 - American Doomsday

Season 2010 - Episode 16 - Aired 11/8/2010

America's Doomsday plan. It's the government's ultimate playbook, with a strategy for even the darkest hours - developed when Cold War tensions were high, but never used until 9/11. We'll fly an E4-B - the president's command, control and communications center for times of national catastrophe; go inside the secret bunker used by government officials on September 11; and witness how the luxurious Greenbrier Resort became a critical, top secret congressional bunker.

#13 - Death of the Iceman

Season 2008 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/1/2008

Entombed in a glacier in the Alps for more than 5,000 years, the Iceman is the oldest mummy ever discovered. Scientists now know he was murdered in cold blood, but why? In 2007, National Geographic sponsored a series of new CT scans that revealed three potential motives. Was the Iceman assassinated, a victim of clan warfare or part of a ritual murder? Forensic clues surrounding his death continue to illuminate the origins of conflict and violence in the Copper Age.

#14 - Female Suicide Bombers

Season 2004 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/13/2004

Female suicide bombers have struck around the world, including Sri Lanka, Russia and the Middle East. Their motives are complex and not altogether understood. Explorer's Lisa Ling travels to Russia and the Middle East to try to understand the actions of these women, as well as the conditions that might have fostered them.

#15 - Fighting Back: Stories from the Spill

Season 2010 - Episode 8 - Aired 7/7/2010

Three months after the devastating oil rig explosion in the Gulf, get an up-close look at those left behind to battle the spreading oil. Stories from frontline men and women who share a fierce commitment to solving this unprecedented national crisis at any personal cost including. Each hoping for an answer to the question: When will this end?

#16 - Fire Ants: Texas Border Massacre

Season 2006 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/9/2006

Deep in the heart of Texas, a fearsome invader maims animals and attacks people. Could a bizarre experiment hold the key to stopping it?

#17 - Collapse

Season 2005 - Episode 10 - Aired 9/25/2005

NGC takes a forensic look at the chain of events leading up to some of the world's most fatal structural disasters, including the worst structural failure to take place in the U.S. prior to 9/11

#18 - Greyhounds: Running for their Lives

Season 1993 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/3/1993

#19 - Life on the Line

Season 1993 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/19/1993

Profile of Philippe Petit, the world's greatest high wire artist.

#20 - Water Blasters

Season 1993 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/26/1993

#21 - Lost Cities of the Amazon

Season 2008 - Episode 15 - Aired 11/20/2008

Over the centuries, explorers traded tales of a lost civilization amid the dense Amazonian rainforest. Scientists dismissed the legends as exaggerations, believing that the rainforest could not sustain such a huge population -- until now. A new generation of explorers armed with 21st-century technology has uncovered remarkable evidence that could reinvent our understanding of the Amazon and the indigenous peoples who lived there.

#22 - Last Days of the Maya

Season 2005 - Episode 13 - Aired 11/27/2005

What caused the sudden demise of the Maya in Central America 2,000 years ago? Human skeletons discovered in a cistern may hold the key to one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world.

#23 - Hornets From Hell

Season 2002 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/27/2002

t's springtime in Japan and in this ethereal landscape of radiance and renewal; a monster awakens from its winter slumber. The Giant Japanese Hornet is the largest hornet in the world and is a fearsome combination of power, aggression and homicidal prowess. The venom of this gargantuan insect dissolves bone and tissue and its tremendous mandibles are capable of killing up to 40 victims per minute. National Geographic joins Dr. Masato Ono in his fascinating, and sometimes dangerous, quest to unlock the mysteries of the Giant Hornet and uncover the key to wasp society.

#24 - JFK: The Lost Bullet

Season 2011 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/20/2011

Join a team of pioneering investigators as they bring the eyewitness films of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to life, and expose the hidden secrets of the crime of the century.

#25 - Tigers Of The Snow

Season 2000 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/5/1997

There are only about 300 remaining Siberian Tigers in the wild, restricted to a section of far Eastern Russia, near the coast. Wildlife biologists risk life and limb to track the tiger and research its movements and habits. They sedate the animals so the tigers can be measured and collared. One Russian scientist is shown raising two tigers which he found orphaned as cubs. He keeps the tigers in a cage, then allows the beasts into a fenced forest-like enclosure. The efforts of these scientists are in contrast to those of poachers, who kill the tigers for their pelts, as well as for body parts to be marketed in traditional Chinese medicine.