Wild Kingdom
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Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, or simply Wild Kingdom was an American television show that featured wildlife and nature. Created by Don Meier, NBC began airing the half-hour show on Sundays in 1963 and continued until 1971, when the program entered syndication. As a prime-time syndicated program, Wild Kingdom enjoyed great popularity. Although most of the programs aired after 1971 were repeats, new shows continued to be produced until 1988. Zoologist Marlin Perkins was the host for most of the show's history until Jim Fowler, Perkins' longtime assistant and sidekick, became the host in 1985. Insurance company Mutual of Omaha sponsored and lent its name to the program.
Wild Kingdom can be credited for increasing ecological and environmental awareness in the United States. Its exciting footage brought the wilds of Africa, the Amazon River and other exotic locales into the living rooms of millions of Americans. It created an interest in commercial nature programming that was a precursor to cable television networks such as the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.
In 2002, a completely new Wild Kingdom, also sponsored by Mutual of Omaha, began airing new episodes on Animal Planet, with actor Alec Baldwin as the narrator. The revived version continues to air new episodes.