As a society, we spend a lot of time and energy, especially on social media, talking about puppies and kittens and calves and baby goats and lambs. It's nice to see that Netflix has taken an interest in the young of our own species.
From the inbox:
Filmed over the course of three years, Babies is a landmark documentary series that explores the miracle of the first full year of life through the pioneering work of leading scientists from across the globe.
The series examines the epic journey every person embarks on, from helpless newborn to independent toddler. Following the life-changing adventures of 15 international families, and featuring the latest research from eminent scientists who share their personal journeys of discovery into the infant mind, the series is filled with the exciting uncertainty of parenting, exploring each major milestone of development like never before. From the first bond a baby shares with its parents, to learning to feed, sleep through the night, crawl across the room, speak their first words, and discover the world around them – right up to those first steps of toddlerhood.
"This series showcases incredible, groundbreaking science revealing the developmental leaps and bounds babies go through in the first year of life while capturing the personal and emotional journey of the family as a whole," says Jane Root, executive producer of Babies and founder and CEO of Nutopia. Nutopia Production is behind Babies for Netflix. Nutopia's recent credits include The Last Czars for Netflix, One Strange Rock for National Geographic and PBS's How We Got To Now.
The show incorporates scientific research, as well as scientists sharing their personal journeys of discovery into the infant mind. The show explores major milestones of development, from the first bond a baby shares with its parents to feeding, sleeping through the night, crawling, speaking and first steps.
Babies drops on Friday, February 21 on Netflix.
Incidentally, Root's Nutopia was also behind CNN's Finding Jesus, which aired during Lent in 2015 and 2017, viewing the life of Christ through historical artifacts. The company also produced last Lent's Jesus: His Life, a History Channel miniseries that featured experts, clerics and dramatizations.
Finding Jesus was not bad. Here's what I thought during season two:
Finding Jesus blends expert interviews with on-location footage and recreations of episodes from Jesus’ life. It avoids the breathless, Dan-Brown-ish tone of some cable documentaries about Biblical subjects, while still being respectful of the source material.
The producers of Finding Jesus want to not only speak to believers, but also to skeptics. The evidence is presented, and conclusions are left to viewers.
I wasn't quite as impressed with Jesus: His Life. Here's some of what I said (you can read the whole thing here):
Lent is a favorite time for TV networks to run Christian-themed programming, often with a strong undercurrent of doubt and skepticism. They love to draw in the Christian audience but too often can’t resist the impulse to throw shade on their faith.
Jesus: His Life isn’t as bad as some, and there is some lively commentary that doesn’t make you feel like you’re sitting in the back of a dusty lecture hall. But, for faithful Christians, it doesn’t add much to the conversation. For the unchurched, it does put flesh and blood on Biblical figures, and that’s a good place to start.
We'll update you on Babies (Netflix homepage here) once we get a look at it.
In the meantime, here's the trailer:
Image: Netflix
Kate O’Hare, a longtime entertainment journalist, is Social Media Manager and blog editor at Family Theater Productions.
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