Renewed: One Strange Rock.

National Geographic recently announced a number of new commissions and renewals.

Renewed:

One Strange Rock
“The tremendous success of One Strange Rock is a testament to the power of innovative storytelling and an exceptional creative team. With the creative vision of Darren Aronofsky and the expertise of Jane Root and Nutopia, One Strange Rock stretches the traditional boundaries of science and natural history programming,” said CEO Courteney Monroe. “It takes viewers on a breathtaking visual adventure that not only entertains, but also amazes and surprises.”

StarTalk season 4
National Geographic’s four-time Emmy-nominated series, StarTalk with Neil DeGrasse Tyson returns. All-new 20-episode Season includes interviews with Jeff Goldblum, former Vice President Al Gore, George R.R. Martin, Patricia Cornwell, Anna Deavere Smith and the late Anthony Bourdain.

New:

Hostile Planet
National Geographic Global Networks CEO Courteney Monroe announced today during the channel’s session at the Television Critics Press Tour that famed adventurer and survivalist Bear Grylls (“Running Wild With Bear Grylls”) will serve as host and narrator of Hostile Planet (working title), the network’s upcoming six-part docuseries that will breathe new life into the natural history genre. Executive produced by Academy Award-winning cinematographer and director Guillermo Navarro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), Emmy-nominated producer Martha Holmes (“The Blue Planet”) and Emmy award-winning Tom Hugh-Jones (“Planet Earth II”), BAFTA winner Bear Grylls (“The Island) and BAFTA winner Delbert Shoopman (“The Island”), Hostile Planet will premiere globally in early 2019 in 172 countries and 43 languages. From Plimsoll Productions, the series draws attention to the most extraordinary — almost supernatural — accounts of animals that have conformed to the cruellest evolutionary curveballs. Each episode characterizes one of the planet’s roughest environments — including jungles, mountains, deserts, oceans, the poles and grasslands — and how each of its inhabitants acclimate to its turn of events. Grylls will act as guide through these extreme locations as we look at the incredible ways in which animals have adapted to survive against all odds.

Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted
Food and adventure programming is familiar ground for Ramsay, whose 2010 UK series for Channel 4, “Gordon’s Great Escapes,” saw the venerable chef explore the food culture of India and Southeast Asia. An Ironman athlete and adrenaline junkie, Ramsay has long held the belief that learning is best achieved by doing — a philosophy for not only how he cooks but also how he runs his business. For his global restaurant chain Ramsay sends his Michelin-starred chefs around the world to hone new skills and flavours from the most unlikely people and places.Each episode of Uncharted will include three key ingredients: unlocking a culture’s culinary secrets through exploration and adventure with local food heroes, no matter where they may lead him; tracking down high-octane traditions, pastimes and customs that are specific to the region in hopes of discovering the undiscovered; and, finally, testing Ramsay against the locals, pitting his own interpretations of regional dishes against the tried-and-true classics. The series moves beyond conversation to truly immerse Ramsay in all aspects of the local culture to better prepare him for the final friendly cooking competition with local chefs and foodies.

The Hot Zone with Julianna Margulies
The new series will be produced by Lynda Obst Productions, Scott Free Productions, Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson, Jeff Vintar and Fox 21 Television Studios. Production will begin later this year in Toronto and South Africa. The Hot Zone, based on the eponymous international best-seller by Richard Preston, recounts the terrifying true story of the origins of the Ebola virus, a highly infectious deadly virus from the central African rainforest, and its first arrival on US soil. In 1989, when this killer suddenly appeared in chimpanzees in a scientific research lab in the suburbs of Washington, DC, there was no known cure. A heroic US Army veterinarian working with a secret military SWAT team put her life on the line to head off the outbreak before it spread to the human population. The Hot Zone is a dramatic, high-stakes scientific thriller with a courageous, brilliant and determined heroine at its centre.

The Curiosity Of Jeff Goldblum
The twelve-part series from National Geographic Studios, taps into curiosity seeker Goldblum as he embarks on a journey across the globe to uncover the extraordinary stories behind the world’s most “ordinary” things. Everything is connected… the science of life is all around us, inextricably interwoven in our everyday lives. It’s in the food we eat, the sports we play and the music we listen to. This eye-opening series throws us outside of our comfort zone with globetrotting host Goldblum who asks the curious questions we never knew we had, probing the origins and unpacking the incredible connections behind the most unassuming subjects. Along the way we’ll uncover how even the most deceptively simple things—from balloons to coffee—have astonishing backstories.

Inside the Internet: 50 Years Of Life Online will explore the ways the web has changed the very fabric of society in the past five decades. Featuring interviews with our digital forefathers (and mothers!) as well as celebrities who have made their mark on the platform, it reveals the unknown baby steps, most shocking miscues and forgotten milestones that led to the creation of the information superhighway.

1989: The Year That Made The Modern World is a six-part mini-series that explores the most consequential events of 1989. Each episode will examine the events that brought us to today and have shaped our world in surprising ways we could have never imagined. No other year in recent history has played a more pivotal role in shaping the present; 1989 saw a rise in radicalism, the intensification of tabloid news culture, the birth of the internet, the start of extreme monetisation of the media industry and diverse voices gaining unprecedented traction in pop culture – to mention just a few of the watershed moments dissected in this provocative series.

Valley Of The Boom from STXtv, stars an ensemble cast led by two-time Emmy award-winning actor Bradley Whitford (“Get Out,” “The Post,” “The West Wing”), Steve Zahn (“War of the Planet of the Apes,” “Dallas Buyers Club”) and Lamorne Morris (“Game Night,” “New Girl”). Using a blend of narrative devices and interviews with the real subjects and experts woven into scripted drama, showrunner, creator, director and executive producer Matthew Carnahan (“House of Lies”) charts the meteoric rise and cataclysmic burst of the dot-com bubble. From STX Entertainment, Valley of the Boom is also executive produced by Arianna Huffington and is set to premiere on National Geographic in early 2019.