Animal Planet Brings Back I SHOULDN'T BE ALIVE for New Stories of Survival Under Extraordinary Circumstances

-- Network Greenlights Another Season of Darlow Smithson's Production for 2011 --

October 5, 2010

(New York, N.Y.) Animal Planet has greenlit an additional season of Darlow Smithson Productions (DSP) award-winning docu-drama I SHOULDN'T BE ALIVE for 20 one-hour episodes for another season slated to premiere in 2011. The series tells the extraordinary stories of ordinary people who have found themselves unexpectedly thrown into epic struggles with nature for survival. The pioneering series combines high-end drama and interviews with the actual people who have survived situations of extraordinary physical ordeal, bringing back to life the terrifying moments and moral dilemmas they faced in their fight to stay alive, and the chance events and desperate decisions that ultimately saved them. This fall Animal Planet kicks off a third season of I SHOULDN'T BE ALIVE on Wednesday, October 13 at 10 PM (ET/PT).

"Our audience continues to be drawn in by the incredible emotional and physical journey of these extraordinary people fighting for their very survival," said Rick Holzman, senior vice president of programming and scheduling for Animal Planet Media. "I SHOULDN'T BE ALIVE is immersive, first-person storytelling that celebrates the deep human drive to live when unexpectedly forced into the untamed, natural world."

This season's astonishing personal stories include a solo hiker, who broke his back in a terrifying fall and ended up trapped on a ledge at 9000 feet, and a father and his five-year-old daughter who, after an overnight camping trip, find themselves lost in the inhospitable Australian Outback for eight days and close to death.

"I SHOULDN'T BE ALIVE has been an incredibly successful series for Darlow Smithson and the fourth installment promises to deliver even more epic and awe-inspiring struggles for survival," added Tom Brisley, creative director, Darlow Smithson Productions. "Running parallel to each personal drama is the emotional journey of the survivors, how they reacted when faced with the prospect of death. It combines all the elements that make great television viewing, and we're thrilled with its popularity."

I SHOULDN'T BE ALIVE is a production of Darlow Smithson Productions for Animal Planet and is distributed by ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment. Viv McGrath is the executive producer for Darlow Smithson, and Erin Wanner is the executive producer for Animal Planet. Charlie Foley is the vice president of development for Animal Planet.

About Animal Planet

Animal Planet Media (APM), a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment. APM consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 97 million homes in the US; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; Petfinder.com, the #1 pet-related Web property globally that facilitates pet adoption; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service; mobile content; and merchandising extensions.