The 11 Best Animal TV Shows of All Time

dogs, horses, catsand numerous other animals that have been domesticated alongside us – and they have proven to be versatile workers capable of providing everything from feeding us and protecting our properties to controlling pest populations and delivering messages at times of war. But many animals have moved into a work environment that seems rather unconventional: Hollywood.

Animal actors have entertained us almost since the birth of television, while nature documentaries have helped us open up to the strange and beautiful symmetry of life in the animal kingdom. There are many animal TV shows worth watching, but it can be hard to separate the good from the bad when there’s just so much content out there. We want to help. Our list of the best TV shows for animals will narrow things down to a manageable list. We discuss the five best and most popular animal TV shows and the six best wildlife documentaries.

The best TV shows with animal actors

#11: Tiger King – A trashy melodrama that hides lessons about animal cruelty

First broadcast: 2020

This documentary about the seedy underbelly of big cat rescues, zoos and breeding facilities in Florida captured the public’s imagination thanks to its outrageous murder-for-rent scheme and colorful cast of characters – but the real story is about how the animals in zoos owned by Joe Exotic and others are exploited and left to their own devices. It’s a story that eventually led to several arrests, but it’s also a sobering reminder of how greed and ambition can turn wild animals into little more than possessions.

#10: dr. Oakley – Yukon Vet – A Look At Life On The Front Line

First broadcast: 2014-2021

Only Animal Planet has many reality shows about vets, but few are as dramatic as Doctor Oakley. With a practice in the frigid and rural borders of the north Canada, it is often already a challenge to get to her patients. It is a rural and rugged region of the world, and she finds herself dealing with everything from dogs and cats until sheep and cows even wild foxes. This Animal Planet show reminds us how much we as a species depend on domesticated animals for our survival, especially in the more remote corners of the Earth.

#9: Yellowstone — An Intimate Look at a Dangerous Ecosystem

First aired: 2009

While David Attenborough’s animal TV shows on Netflix and BBC tend to capture a global reach, Yellowstone does something special by capturing a single year in one of the United States‘ most beautiful national parks. Divided between summer and winter, this series puts into perspective how smart and resilient many animals must be to survive in an environment with such dramatically different seasons. It’s an environment where it once nearly died out american bison somehow managed to find purchase and where prey scarcity powers? wolves and bears in a regular conflict.

#8: Our Planet – A love story for nature and a call to action

First broadcast: 2019

Our Planet, which first aired on Netflix, builds on the principles of Blue Planet and Planet Earth and takes David Attenborough on another journey – although this time it focuses more explicitly on the impacts on climate change has on different ecosystems. More important to consider and poignant to watch, the images of big cats like tigers, lions, and cheetahs turning off a big game like elephants plays more like a desperate battle against increasingly dire circumstances than a battle of wills between savage species.

#7: Blue Planet — An Unparalleled Look at Life Beneath the Waves

First broadcast: 2001, 2017

Though it came first, Blue Planet does for aquatic animals what planet Earth did for the wider scope of life on Earth. And while it doesn’t feature every aquatic animal on the planet, it does show the fascinating diversity of underwater creatures. From the abominable hagfish to the terrifying killer whale to the playful Otter, this series and its sequel showed that life under the waves is just as diverse, beautiful and strange as life on land. Thanks to the same patient camera work, both existing entries in this popular series can serve as the current standard for underwater documentaries.

Working on the documentary was sometimes dangerous, such as when a camera crew was attacked by a humpback whale. You can find out more about these leviathans here.

#6: Planet Earth — Pioneering a New Approach to Nature Documentaries

First aired: 2006, 2016

The five-year production of Planet Earth was the most expensive wildlife documentary the BBC had ever made to date, but the patient and innovative camera work coupled with incredibly modern HD cameras delivered a view of the natural world few people had ever seen before. seen. Each of the 11 episodes of the first series was devoted to a different biome, and it takes us from the rugged mountains of Ethiopia to the deepest caves in Mexico. Planet Earth’s narrative approach contextualized breathtaking photography as a close-up shot of a snow leopard by showing how the different animals of an ecosystem each had a role to play.

#5: Zoo — an inconsistent but current view of our relationship with nature

First broadcast: 1995-1997

Children of a certain age will remember expressively Jack Russell Terrier Wishbone as a friendly and cheerful introduction to the world of classic literature, but it does an exceptional job of capturing the enthusiastic and curious energy so typical of the breed. The show’s creator based Wishbone on his terrier. And while a called dog Football was given the lead role, sharing the role of Wishbone with four other dogs: three performing stunts and one used solely in promotional photos. Ironically, Soccer had countless stunt doubles when it was his acrobatic backflip that convinced the producers to make him the star.

#4: The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin – A New Race of Wild West Heroes

First broadcast: 1954-1959

Rin Tin Tin is widely regarded as Hollywood’s first true animal star, although his rise to the top is testament to the close-knit servant and dog they can share. Lee Duncan was a American soldier in World War I when he saw the puppy he would raise as Rin Tin Tin among the remains of a battlefield France. Both Lee and Rin Tin Tin were orphans, and their close friendship developed to the point where Rin Tin Tin learned a series of tricks and caught the attention of movie producers. Not only did it result in one of the most popular animal series in TV history, but it also earned Rin Tin Tin a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

#3: Mister Ed – A horse with accurate comic timing

First broadcast: 1961-1966

Mr Ed was pitched on the simple concept of a horse who can talk, and it serves as proof that funny animals were popular long before the era of Doge memes and cat videos. And while it’s common knowledge that the production team helped get Mr. Ed’s mouth moving by feeding him peanut butter, that doesn’t do his acting chops justice. Ed was trained to move his mouth when his foot was touched. The horse Ed played was called Bamboo Harvester, and he continued to fraternize with co-star Alan Young off-set. Young would come to Bamboo Harvester’s ranch to ride him until the horse’s death in 1971.

#2: Flipper – a legacy that is much longer than the show’s airtime

First aired: 1964-1967

Director and writer Ivan Tors’ career was driven by his passion for telling stories about animals and the underwater ecosystem that did not rely on violence, but his most fondly remembered creation was undoubtedly Flipper. the holder tumbler fulfilled a similar role to Lassie – acting as a helpful assistant and protector for his adoptee human family and performing stunt feats in front of the
camera. So
me aspects of the show — like Flipper’s ability to communicate with humans through whistles and clicks — were pure fantasy, but Flipper introduced an entire generation to the wonders of the sea and the intelligence of these aquatic creatures. mammals.

#1: Lassie — America’s quintessential dog

First aired: 1954-1973, 1989-1991, 1989-1991, 1997-1999

Lassie is just the simple story of a boy and his loyal and brave dog, but the ruthless devotion of this raw collie struck a chord with American and international audiences alike — and it spawned America’s most heroic farm dog for two decades on the air, alongside a dozen movies and countless piles of toys and merchandise. The dogs’ stunt work and the simplicity of the stories may seem inconclusive when framed by the sophistication of modern television, but Lassie remains one of the greatest pet actors in history. Ironically, all nine Lassies from the original series were played by males thanks to the fact that female collies shed aggressively when they come into heat.

Next one: Large Terrier Breeds