CNN has plugged "Planet in Peril" (tonight and tomorrow at 9) so relentlessly that you don't even have to have cable to know about it; "PinP" refs are everywhere, and have seamlessly merged into a TV ecosystem that has turned green at every flick of the channel (except for Fox News where green remains banned even from the dress code.)
Yeah, TV's gone green - at least for the moment, or until some other cause comes along - and CNN's gone green too. That's a good thing, heaven knows, though I still can't quite get over the sensation of watching John Roberts chat amiably and aimlessly about carbon footprints on "American Morning"...but that's another blog.
Today, "Planet in Peril," and my simple verdict on this sprawling, and well-meaning venture comes in five words (how's that for "quickie"?): Good television, sometimes-questionable journalism. And the program is truly misnamed: "Some Wild Animals in Peril," or "China's Culinary Crimes," or "Anderson Cooper Should Really Start Watching What He Eats and Drinks...And For God's Sakes, Lay off the Makeup" could also work as titles, but they're not as catchy as "PinP" so we'll stay with that.
I watched 123 minutes of this four-hour spread (the only ones available for review), and many of them were engrossing, and particularly well produced. No expenses seemed spared by Time Warner. Watch Anderson study wolves in Yellowstone. Follow Jeff Corwin through the jungles of Madagascar. See Sanjay Gupta go to a restaurant in China that serves animal penises (on second thought...) The overall judgments of this broadcast also seem indisputable and CNN probably even errs on the side of caution: That vast numbers of species are being wiped out, and that China's out-of-control consumption habits are alarming, and that the rise in chemicals we ingest is shocking. 
But my gripes are two-fold: Foremost, much of this could have, and in fact has, appeared on the Discovery Channel and its assorted satellite networks, including Animal Planet (with Corwin.) "PinP" is treating all this like new news, when to viewers of TDC et al, it's all very old and very familiar news, if no less disturbing news.
And second, CNN couldn't decide which part of the imperiled planet it wanted to concentrate on. And with attention so widely scattered, the program doesn't necessarily address any of the issues fully or adequately.
In China, Gupta threads his way through food markets, a restaurant, and a vast iron ore mine; he seems disturbed - he IS disturbed - but he also seems lost: A tiny figure who can't quite seem to make up his mind about what crime to address, or how it should be addressed. (The program's big on problems, very small on prescriptions.)
CNN also implies, although (at least in the large swath I saw) hardly proves, that human chemical ingestion may be related to rampant pollution in China. Except we later learn that Anderson (who gets a blood test) should be blaming his pancake make-up for some of the nasty stuff he’s absorbed over the years.
Anyway, go ahead and watch. It's worth the trip. Just don't be surprised when you realize you've seen some of this before.