I'm Alive (Animal Planet)

It’s hard to beat the drama of real-world, life-threatening encounters with wild animals, but I'm Alive drains much of the excitement from the stories by stretching them out too long. Hearing someone talk about being gored by an elephant in a remote part of China is fascinating; listening to his entire life story -- including his school years, travels, marriage, and a tragic loss -- is unnecessary filler that detracts significantly from his story.

The show also sometimes exaggerates the stories' drama. For example, one reenactment shows a man trying to smuggle illegal anti-venom into the country to save his dying stepson from a poisonous spider bite. It's nail-biting adventure, but as he approaches Mexican customs, he’s suddenly accosted by security guards wielding machine guns! Did they find the contraband serum? No, he was just afraid that they would -- and the reenactment brings his fears to life. In reality, he passed through the checkpoint without incident. It feels like TV bait-and-switch, falsely creating action when nothing actually happened. This show would be better at half its length, sticking to the facts and cutting out the fluff.