Animal Planet kicks off its annual “Croc Week” with a new episode of “The Crocodile Hunter,” the series that put Steve Irwin on the pop culture map. In “Africa’s Final Frontier,” airing at 7 p.m. Sunday, Irwin ventures to Namibia, where he encounters elephants, lions, cheetahs and rhinos struggling to adapt to the hostile habitat (and, no doubt, to the invasive Irwin).
In addition to new episodes of “The Crocodile Hunter Diaries,” Irwin’s spin-off series set in the Australia Zoo, airing Monday through Wednesday nights, Animal Planet also will air on Thursday night the inevitable “Behind the Scenes” tie-in to Irwin’s first feature film, the PG-rated “The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course,” which will open July 12. Crikey!
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‘Hey Arnold’ makes its big-screen debut
Following “The Rugrats” and “Doug” to the big screen is Nickelodeon’s long-running animated series “Hey Arnold.” In the football-headed 4th-grader’s PG-rated film debut, opening in theaters on Friday, Arnold rallies his friends and neighbors to stop a real estate tycoon from erecting a mall-plex in their neighborhood. They receive assistance from a trench-coated stranger, Deep Voice, and an incognito superhero. The voice cast includes some great character actors, including Jennifer Jason-Leigh, Paul Sorvino, Christopher Lloyd and Maurice La Marche, best known as the Wellesian (as in Orson) voice of Pinky’s megalomaniac friend, the Brain).
Say hello to Howdy
Singer-songwriter Buck Howdy has some words of advice for all young buckaroos, like “Never try to ride a horsefly/Never, ever eat a cow pie/…Don’t go dancing wearin’ spurs.” These and other musical pearls of cowboy wisdom can be found on Howdy’s debut CD, “Skidaddle!”, an album of western music for kids. Howdy ain’t no city slicker urban cowboy. It says here in his press kit that he was raised on an Oregon ranch and that he runs a turkey farm when not croonin’ to young whippersnappers.
“Skidaddle!” features engaging original songs as well as twangy takes on a variety of country, folk, rock and childhood favorites, including “The Unicorn,” “Don’t Fence Me In,” “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” “Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor?” and “Splish-Splash.”
“Skidaddle!” retails for $13.99 and is available online at Amazon.com and BuckHowdy.com.