Discovery Unveils New Highlights Across Bouquet

NEW YORK: Discovery Communications’ 2017-18 programming lineup features a wealth of fresh content across its channels bouquet, including a new scripted true-crime series set for Investigation Discovery (ID).

For the flagship Discovery Channel, there is a lineup of 20 returning series and 18 new ones. New series include Darkness, which promises a new take on the survival genre by putting participants through extreme training scenarios in complete darkness; House of Cars (working title), an original unscripted series that joins the Motor Monday lineup; and the return of Cash Cab, hosted by comedian David Steinberg and featuring a bevy of big-name stars from the worlds of comedy, film and TV.

Investigation Discovery will see the addition of The Von Bulow Affair (working title), a scripted true-crime show from Universal Cable Productions. The six-part original series is based on the book of the same name by William Wright and tells the story of a scandalous and sensational murder trial in the 1980s. Marking the network’s first scripted limited series event, The Von Bulow Affair will be joined by ID’s scripted movies Dating Game Killer and Final Vision. Marking the 40th anniversary of the capture of David Berkowitz, ID has lined up the three-part documentary special Son of Sam: The Hunt for a Killer, which will launch this summer with a three-night special event.

TLC has more than 120 hours of original programming for its 2017-18 slate. Series highlights include 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days and 90 Day Fiancé: What Now? (working title), as well as The Healer, Meet the Putmans and Hear Me, Love Me, See Me (working title), which is based on an international format. Among the events and specials in the lineup are Diana: Tragedy or Treason? (working title), This is Life Live and The Fall (working title).

Animal Planet has a number of all-new series that fall under three themes: fun, heart and wild. The “fun” gets underway with Animal House (working title), which follows HGTV Design Star winner Antonio Ballatore and his right-hand dog, Chewie, along with project manager Grace and a team of designers as they convert drab spaces into dream living arrangements for homeowners and their pets. Shows with much “heart” include Rescue Dog to Super Dog (working title), My Fat Pet and Cat Meets Dog (working title). Looking at “wild” programming, River Monsters‘ Jeremy Wade returns to Animal Planet with Monster Rivers (working title), while adventure cameraman Paul “Mungo” Mungeam leads Expedition Mungo.

Science Channel’s newly unveiled slate is led by Johnny Galecki’s Scijinks (working title), in which the Big Bang Theory star orchestrates a team of scientists to pull off pranks that incorporate chemistry, physics, robotics and more. MythBusters will return, this time led by the recent winners of MythBusters: The Search. Other new titles include the special Great American Eclipse, during which Science Channel will go live to explore a phenomenon that has not taken place in nearly 99 years, and the three-part Silicon Valley (working title). Science Channel has also lined up six hour-long episodes of Outlaw Tech, which explores stories where biology, physics, chemistry and technology were used as tools in capers.

Velocity, meanwhile, has 440 premiere hours. Returning series include Bitchin’ Rides, Wheeler Dealers and Chasing Classic Cars. The new launches are JDM Legends (working title), about the Japanese Domestic Market car counterculture; Texas Metal, following the team at Ekstensive Metal Works; and Last Stop Garage, looking at the ragtag group of master mechanics in North West River Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.