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.
#1 - 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.
#2 - 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.
#3 - 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.
#4 - 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.
#5 - 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.
#6 - 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.
#7 - 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!
#8 - 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.
#9 - 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.
#10 - 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.
#11 - 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.
#12 - 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.
#13 - 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.
#14 - 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.
#15 - 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.
#16 - 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.
#17 - 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.
#18 - 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.
#19 - 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.
#20 - Australia's Twilight of the Dreamtime
Season 1988 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/10/1988
Many anthropologists believe that Australia's indigenous traditions make up the oldest surviving culture in the world. At the heart of this culture is a robust oral tradition and a belief system based upon reverence for the land, and for the spiritual dimension known as the Dreamtime. Composed of several different groups, each with a distinct set of customs and traditions, the Australian Aborigines are nevertheless linked by many linguistic and cultural similarities. This program ushers viewers into their ancient culture as tribal elders transfer knowledge of the old ways to what may be the last traditional Aboriginal generation
#21 - Inside the Soviet Circus
Season 1988 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/9/1988
Go behind the scenes at Moscow's Circus School and experience the magic and wonder of the performances that delight millions. See lion tamers risk life and limb, trapeze artists glide through the air, of course, the beloved clowns who inspire imagination and fantasy. With laughter as their language, the Soviet Circus bridges the gap between generations, borders, and all peoples of the world.
#22 - Mysteries of Mankind
Season 1988 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/20/1988
Who are we, and where did we come from? Follow a trail of ash-entombed footprints to learn about some of the intriguing clues in one of the greatest mysteries of all time: the origins of the human race.
#23 - Baka : People of the Forest
Season 1989 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/18/1989
Journey deep into an African rain forest for a rare and intimate look at the lives of the Baka, a semi-nomadic people who have wandered central Africa for centuries.
#24 - Elephant
Season 1989 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/15/1989
Of all the creatures that walk this planet, the elephant is the largest, strongest, and among the most intelligent. From Sri Lanka to Kenya, this episode is a charming, sometimes alarming, in-depth look at this magnificent animal and its precarious future. In Asia, watch man and beast work side-by-side in a land where the elephant is an object of worship and affection. In the open spaces of Africa, marvel at the behavior of wild elephants as they communicate over great distances. Finally, witness the birth of a baby elephant as it struggles to its feet for the very first time.
#25 - Those Wonderful Dogs
Season 1989 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/8/1989
Called by one philosopher "the noblest beast God ever made," dogs have served humankind in more ways than any other animal. You'll see loyal canines at work as they search for buried victims of an earthquake disaster, assist the physically disabled, and pull sleds in the blizzard conditions of Alaska. Find out how dogs are trained to 'act' on the Lassie television show, and meet dogs that served as messengers on the battlefields of WWII