The WORST episodes of National Geographic Documentaries

Every episode of National Geographic Documentaries ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of National Geographic Documentaries!

Go behind the scenes of life on our planet with National Geographic videos. Share the wonder of the natural world with educational animal videos for kids. Let National Geographic be your all-access pass with documentary videos about the U.S. State Department, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, or 9/11. Experience the past coming to life with culture and history videos, and engage more deeply with the present with science and nature.

Last Updated: 3/19/2024Network: National Geographic (UK)Status: Continuing
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Flight of the Whooping Crane
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#1 - Flight of the Whooping Crane

Season 1984 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/4/1984

Tells how the United States and Canada cooperate to ensure a future for the endangered whooping crane. Follows the birds' perilous migratory path and shows the efforts made by governments and individual conservationists to increase the whooping crane population.

Etosha : Place of Dry Water
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#2 - Etosha : Place of Dry Water

Season 1981 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/7/1981

Records the wildlife in Etosha, a preserve surrounding a huge dry lake bed in the southwest African country of Namibia. Presents nature's interplay of life and death as it happens.

Living Treasures of Japan
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#3 - Living Treasures of Japan

Season 1981 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/11/1981

Profiles nine artisans and performing artists who are recognized by law as "holders of important intangible cultural properties" and are charged with publicly exhibiting their works and teaching their artistry to apprentices. Pays visits to a potter, a doll sculptor, a puppeteer, a papermaker, a koto musician, a swordmaker, a textile weaver and a dyer, a kabuki theater actor, and a bellmaker.

National Parks : Playground or Paradise
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#4 - National Parks : Playground or Paradise

Season 1981 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/11/1981

Presents both sides of the ongoing debate between conservationists and environmentalists over the use of the national parks. Visits to Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon point out the dilemma as attorney Eric Julber and professor of history and environmental studies, Roderick Nash, debate the issue.

Gorilla
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#5 - Gorilla

Season 1981 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/8/1981

Calls attention to the plight of the gorilla, which is on the verge of extinction. Profiles a zookeeper, a research scientist, a research psychologist, a writer-photographer, and a husband and wife team working on the mountain gorilla project. Film footage demonstrates the animals' intelligence, humanlike qualities, and the effects of their exploitation by humans.

The Sharks
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#6 - The Sharks

Season 1982 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/13/1982

One of the most famous programs from the National Geographic Society, "The Sharks" takes you on a special expedition to study these fish of fearful legend and challenge the myths surrounding them. Journey below the ocean's surface in a specially-designed cage to observe sharks at close range. Meet Ron and Valerie Taylor as they experiment with a stainless steel suit which enables her to survive a shark attack.

Polar Bear Alert
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#7 - Polar Bear Alert

Season 1982 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/10/1982

Shows how the residents of the town of Churchill, in the Canadian province of Manitoba, learn to coexist with the polar bears as the animals migrate each year through their town.

The Thames
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#8 - The Thames

Season 1982 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/7/1982

A documentary that deals with the history of England as seen through institutions and homes located near the Thames River. Also deals with the river itself and its recovery from excessive pollution.

Rain Forest
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#9 - Rain Forest

Season 1983 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/12/1983

The tropical rain forests of the world are home to nearly half the animal species on earth - an estimated five million different life forms. More than 100 inches of rainfall each year sustain this lush environment, where some of the most fascinating examples of natural adaptation can be found. Journey to the dense rain forests of Costa Rica and watch as leaf-cutting ants carry sections of leaves many times their weight to underground fungus gardens, a basilisk lizard walks on water, and howler monkeys bask in the sun. Fascinating and thought-provoking, this film is an eloquent warning of the natural wonders we stand to lose on a world scale if human encroachment of the world's rain forests continues.

Save the Panda
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#10 - Save the Panda

Season 1983 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/9/1983

Details the efforts made in the early 80's to reintroduce interest and knowledge of the giant panda. Beginning with a history of the animal and the first attempts to bring pandas to the West, and the eventual decision of the Chinese government to cease export of pandas, moves into an examination of more recent efforts both in China and abroad to scientifically analyze and promote continued survival of pandas. Culminates with the development and successful breeding attempts of the National Zoo's panda program.

Born of Fire
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#11 - Born of Fire

Season 1983 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/6/1983

National Geographic cameras travel to Iceland, Africa, Japan, California, and Greece to record how the huge plates of the earth's crust crash together, pull apart, and override each other causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Follow scientists around the world as they search for clues to the causes of these powerful geologic events.

Among the Wild Chimpanzees
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#12 - Among the Wild Chimpanzees

Season 1984 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/11/1984

Documents Jane Goodall's twenty-two year field research on the wild chimpanzees of East Africa. Shows the Chimpanzees' nomadic behavior, their family structure, and their ability to hunt and make and use tools. Also looks at discoveries of warfare and cannibalism.

Love Those Trains
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#13 - Love Those Trains

Season 1984 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/8/1984

Once thundering trains bridged all the world's continents, helping to settle new lands and unite distant cultures. In "Love those Trains", you'll celebrate their majesty past and present, even taking a first-class seat aboard the Orient Express!

Return to Everest
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#14 - Return to Everest

Season 1984 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/7/1984

More than 30 years after Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first men to conquer Mount Everest, they returned to Everest to celebrate their historic ascent.

The Superliners : Twilight of an Era
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#15 - The Superliners : Twilight of an Era

Season 1980 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/7/1980

A look at the past, when great ocean liners such as the Queen Mary and the Normandie ruled the Atlantic, setting standards of taste, luxury and efficiency in travel.

India : Land of the Tiger
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#16 - India : Land of the Tiger

Season 1985 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/16/1985

Filmed in India, this film gives an intimate portrait of the tiger - showing it stalking and catching a deer, confronting crocodiles, and a female tiger nursing her young cubs.

Four Americans in China
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#17 - Four Americans in China

Season 1985 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/13/1985

Documents the diverse experiences of four Americans who were allowed to work or study in China after the 1972 resumption of diplomacy between the United States and China. Illuminates aspects of Chinese life just beginning to be sampled by outsiders.

Ballad of the Irish Horse
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#18 - Ballad of the Irish Horse

Season 1985 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/6/1985

Focuses on the horses of Ireland and their role in the history, tradition, and business of the Irish people. Shows the people who ride, tame, train, and breed these horses, for pleasure as well as for work. Accompanied by Irish folk tunes.

Miraculous Machines
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#19 - Miraculous Machines

Season 1985 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/10/1985

Presents a survey of current trends in computers and robotics and profiles a number of researchers and their experimental programs. Discusses various computer applications in such areas as schools, factories, the home, and the space program.

Chesapeake Borne
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#20 - Chesapeake Borne

Season 1986 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/15/1986

Observes life along the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States. Shows how the bay and the region's main industry, crabbing, shapes the lives of a wide variety of people. But, the Bay is also threatened by overdevelopment, overuse, and pollution.

Creatures of the Mangrove
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#21 - Creatures of the Mangrove

Season 1986 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/12/1986

Shows the unique and complex ecosystem of the tiny island of Siarau off the north coast of Borneo, comprised of mangrove trees with roots above ground and salt-excreting leaves. Present are proboscis monkeys, mudskippers, fiddler crabs, and other creatures that have adapted to life between the land and the sea.

Jerusalem : Within These Walls
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#22 - Jerusalem : Within These Walls

Season 1986 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/12/1986

A kaleidoscopic view of Jerusalem and its people as they are today--the remarkable outcome of 3,000 years of history, hope, and faith.

Realm of the Alligator
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#23 - Realm of the Alligator

Season 1986 - Episode 6 - Aired 4/16/1986

Enter the mysterious, unchartable wilderness of Okefenokee, 700 square miles of swampland on the Georgia-Florida border. Eerie, forbidding, and darkly beautiful - Okefenokee is ruled by a descendant of the dinosaur: the fearsome alligator. Day and night the alligator glides silently through its steamy realm, stony eyes just above the waterline, mouth held in a seemingly perpetual smile. Join scientists as they study the behavior of these huge and powerful reptiles in the Realm of the Alligator.

Lions of the African Night
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#24 - Lions of the African Night

Season 1987 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/14/1987

At dusk, a pride of lions sets out to hunt. The camera captures intimate glimpses of lion behavior-care of the young, the struggle for food, and the interplay of the pride with other African bushveld animals. Filmed in Kruger National Park, South Africa.

African Odyssey
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#25 - African Odyssey

Season 1988 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/20/1988

Researchers/conservationists Mark and Delia Owens pursue their scientific studies of lions and brown hyenas in the torrid reaches of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana. When forced to abandon their home in the Kalahari Desert, they find a new African work site in a wildlife park in the southern African country of Zambia.