Discovery Series Seeks To Answer Questions Of Life

Discovery Communications Thursday announced the development of an ambitious new series set to debut in 2011 that will look to answer the fundamental questions of life.

The 60-episode series, Curiosity: The Questions of Our Life, is
a five-year, multi-million dollar project headed by Discovery
Communications founder and chairman John Hendricks that will seek to
tackle the underlying mysteries of our time in such fields of study as
space, biology, geology, medicine, physics, technology and history,
according to Discovery officials. The series will air Sunday nights at
8 p.m. beginning in January 2011.

In addition to the television series, Discovery Education will launch a
companion initiative encouraging students to excel in the fields of
science, technology, engineering and math. The Curiosity
initiative will also include custom-created classroom tools for
educators, teacher guides and other supplemental materials delivered
through Discovery Education.

Further, the initiative will also feature learning
programming for adults that will accompany each episode, as well as
related learning retreats with experts featured in the series.

"Satisfying
curiosity has been at the heart of Discovery since the launch of the
Discovery Channel in 1985, and this landmark series is the next
investment in fulfilling the breadth and ambition of that very powerful
mission," said John Hendricks, Founder and Chairman of Discovery
Communications in a statement. "Curiosity also will be
multi-platform and multi-generational ... science is more essential for
our quality of life than ever before, and Curiosity represents
Discovery's ongoing commitment to engage adults and children with
compelling content that teaches and engages them about science."

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.