Oprah's New Life
The eye-popping Discovery Channel series captures how we all "cohabit, survive, and thrive here on our beautiful planet."
By Oprah Winfrey
![dart frog dart frog](/g/image-resizer?width=670&link=https://static.oprah.com/images/201003/omag/201003-omag-discovery-life-dart-frog-600x411.jpg)
Photo: Discovery Channel/BBC © Edwin Giesbers/naturepl.com
The eye-popping Discovery Channel series captures "how we all cohabit, thrive, and survive here on our beautiful planet."
I don't have a lot of professional regrets, but turning down the chance to do the Discovery Channel series Planet Earth three years ago ranks high on my list. At the time, I didn't think I could carve out the hours necessary to narrate the 11-episode series—which turned out to be one of the most visually spectacular television experiences of all time.
Not often does life give you a second chance. This time it did.
I started doing voice tracks several months ago for Life, the new Discovery series premiering in March 2010. Featuring the mating rituals of the humpback whale, the dramatic rescue of a baby elephant by her grandmother, and an eye-popping array of birds, insects, and reptiles from all over the world—some of them captured for the first time, all on state-of-the-art HD film—Life lives up to its name. It's an all-encompassing, glorious, and sometimes terrifying exposé of how we all cohabit, thrive, and survive here on our beautiful planet.
I marvel at the beauty and wonder of nature and am in perpetual awe of the miracle of life in all forms, so to have a chance to lend a voice to the symphony of Life was an opportunity I couldn't resist.
-Oprah
Start the slideshow of images from Life
Above: Strawberry poison dart frog, Costa Rica.
I don't have a lot of professional regrets, but turning down the chance to do the Discovery Channel series Planet Earth three years ago ranks high on my list. At the time, I didn't think I could carve out the hours necessary to narrate the 11-episode series—which turned out to be one of the most visually spectacular television experiences of all time.
Not often does life give you a second chance. This time it did.
I started doing voice tracks several months ago for Life, the new Discovery series premiering in March 2010. Featuring the mating rituals of the humpback whale, the dramatic rescue of a baby elephant by her grandmother, and an eye-popping array of birds, insects, and reptiles from all over the world—some of them captured for the first time, all on state-of-the-art HD film—Life lives up to its name. It's an all-encompassing, glorious, and sometimes terrifying exposé of how we all cohabit, thrive, and survive here on our beautiful planet.
I marvel at the beauty and wonder of nature and am in perpetual awe of the miracle of life in all forms, so to have a chance to lend a voice to the symphony of Life was an opportunity I couldn't resist.
-Oprah
Start the slideshow of images from Life
Above: Strawberry poison dart frog, Costa Rica.
![white pelicans white pelicans](/g/image-resizer?width=670&link=https://static.oprah.com/images/201003/omag/201003-omag-discovery-life-pelicans-600x411.jpg)
Photo: Discovery Channel/BBC © Ben Diley
White pelicans with nesting chick, South Africa.
![humpback whale humpback whale](/g/image-resizer?width=670&link=https://static.oprah.com/images/201003/omag/201003-omag-discovery-life-humpback-whale-600x411.jpg)
Photo: Discovery Channel/BBC © Jason Isley/Scubzoo
Humpback whale, Tonga.
![baby elephant baby elephant](/g/image-resizer?width=670&link=https://static.oprah.com/images/201003/omag/201003-omag-discovery-life-elephant-600x411.jpg)
Photo: Discovery Channel/BBC © Anup Shah/naturepl.com
A baby elephant catches up with Mom, Kenya.
![grizzly bear grizzly bear](/g/image-resizer?width=670&link=https://static.oprah.com/images/201003/omag/201003-omag-discovery-life-bear-600x411.jpg)
Photo: Discovery Channel/BBC © Adam Chapman
A grizzly bear fishing for salmon, Alaska.
![sailfish sailfish](/g/image-resizer?width=670&link=https://static.oprah.com/images/201003/omag/201003-omag-discovery-life-sailfish-600x411.jpg)
Photo: Discovery Channel/BBC © Hugh Miller
A sailfish stalks its prey, Mexico.
![stalk-eyed flies stalk-eyed flies](/g/image-resizer?width=670&link=https://static.oprah.com/images/201003/omag/201003-omag-discovery-life-flies-600x411.jpg)
Photo: Discovery Channel/BBC © Sam Cotton
Stalk-eyed flies, Peninsular Malaysia.
![fruit bats fruit bats](/g/image-resizer?width=670&link=https://static.oprah.com/images/201003/omag/201003-omag-discovery-life-fruit-bats-600x411.jpg)
Photo: Discovery Channel/BBC © Kieran Dodds/naturepl.com
African straw-colored fruit bats, Zambia.
From the March 2010 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine