Upcoming January fare definitely lives up to the network’s moniker. Really Big Things will air Wednesdays at 8 pm ET/10 pm PT, beginning Jan. 2. Each episode profiles the inner workings of three massive man-made wonders, and is hosted by former American Idol finalist Matt Rogers. Highlights from the first several episodes include Rogers learning how to make paper at the world’s largest paper mill, visiting the one and only retractable football field, helping to assemble one of the world’s largest windmill turbines and taking a ride on the Goodyear Blimp.
Last One Standing will premiere on Discovery HD on Jan. 4 at 10 pm ET/PT and air on the Discovery Channel Wednesdays at 10 pm ET/7 pm PT beginning Jan. 16. The 12-parter features six seasoned athletes as they travel to remote tribal villages and train with indigenous tribesmen to compete in various tribal games. Highlights from the first few episodes include learning the deadly sport of Zulu stick fighting in a South African village; training in the vicious martial art of Aki Kiti; and running a marathon-length race wearing local sandals against some of the greatest natural-endurance runners in the world, the Tarahumara Indians of northwest Mexico.
Back-to-back half-hour episodes of Out in the Cold, hosted by Barry Kennedy, will air Saturday, Jan. 5 at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT. In this six-part adventure series, the host travels from the Yukon tundra to iceberg alley in Newfoundland to meet with people who work outdoors in the frigid conditions of the Arctic. On his trip, he flies with an ice pilot, helps construction workers building Quebec’s Ice Hotel, learns dog mushing, visits iceberg cowboys in Newfoundland and helps perform a prenatal bison exam and an outdoor autopsy – all in freezing temperatures.
Jetstream will air Tuesdays at 10 pm ET/PT beginning Jan. 8. The eight-part series chronicles the training of elite members of the Canadian Air Force who have been selected to learn to fly one of the most advanced supersonic tactical fighter jets in the world – the $35-millon CF-18 Hornet – at the training school in Cold Lake, Alberta. The top-ranked students must train and study to excel not only as pilots, but also as engineers, strategists and weapons experts.
