Life After People is an American television franchise created by David de Vries, produced by Flight 33 Productions, and originally aired on The History Channel. The series is about what will happen to buildings and objects left behind, with experts talking and speculating in the absence of man. It originally aired on January 21, 2008, with the original run of the television series ending with season 2 on March 16, 2010, and the original run of the franchise itself on October 29, 2010, with the release of Latinoamerica sin Humanos in Latin America.
History[]
The production of Life After People possibly began when it was inspired from a bestseller book named The World Without Us by American journalist Alan Weisman and published by St. Martin's Thomas Dunne Books, in which the idea from the book was taken.
The documentary, simply stated 'Life After People', first aired on January 21, 2008 ,on The History Channel and tells the story on which scientists, mechanical engineers, and other experts speculate about what might become of Earth if humanity suddenly disappeared. The featured experts also talk about the impact of human absence on the environment and the vestiges of civilization thus left behind. The format follows that it does not concern how humanity disappears but focuses on everything left behind from structures such as skyscrapers, bridges, and dams, and certain related objects like artifacts, food, and digitized media. The format also follows experts examining and visiting real abandoned locations on segments that focus on events similarly outlined to segments of the documentary.
The airing of the documentary later become The History Channel's most watched program ever at the time, with 5.4 million viewers. [1] The program expanded to the United Kingdom on Channel Four on May 26, 2008, and later to Australia on Channel Seven on November 27, 2008, edited down to air for 90 minutes. While it does not speculate about the disappearance of humans, extinctions were talked about in commercials or DVD releases along with The Making Of and extended talks on materials and animals, which was released on March 18, 2008, after a positive rating.
Life After People later expanded into a series, namely 'Life After People: The Series' with season one premiering on April 21, 2009, and running to June 23, 2009, with the same format as the documentary, with different topics being talked about in each episode, along with one real abandoned location being talked about in each episode. Half of the elements and settings from the documentary return in season one, notably New York City & Chicago. It was later released on DVD on October 27, 2009, namely 'Life After People: The Complete Season One'.
The success of season one led to the creation of season two which began premiering on January 5, 2010, and ran to March 16, 2010. It followed the exact same format as the documentary and season one, with different topics related to man's infrastructure, achievements, and influence. Like season one, it was later released on DVD and Blu-Ray on July 27, 2010, namely 'Life After People: The Complete Season Two'. Season two marked the end of the original run of Life After People: The Series.
On October 29, 2010, Latinoamerica sin Humanos premiered on History in Latin America. Like the documentary, it followed the same format, with the setting located exclusively in Latin America. It marks the first special being exclusive to a region, being in Latin America. It also marked the end of the first incarnation of the franchise.
On July 1, 2025, History announced that Life After People: The Series would be returning with a third season on July 14, 2025, after a 15-year hiatus. Unlike the previous incarnation on the franchise, season three uses artificial intelligence to depict the scenes of earth after mankind.
International[]
Life After People, like any History's program, have been translated at least a few times for international airing, half, if not most, aired between when Life After People first aired in the United States or sometimes after its airing in Australia. Confirmed translations include:
- Italian: La Terra Dopo L'uomo.[2]
- Russian: Жизнь пocлe людeй.[3]
- Chinese (Hong Kong): 人類消失後的世界/人类消失后的地球/人類滅亡.[4]
- Japanese: 人類滅亡-LIFE AFTER PEOPLE-" [5]
- Korean (South Korea): 인류 멸망 그 후.[6]
- Spanish (Latin America): La Tierra sin humanos. (Not to be confused with Latinoamerica sin Humanos.)
- Portuguese (Brazil): O Mundo Sem Ninguém
- Portuguese (Portugal): A Vida sem Nós
Reception[]
The premiere of Life After People in January became History's most watched program, pulling an audience of 5.4 million viewers.[1] Jajiba reviewed the series stating that the series is a "truly enthralling show" however criticize that "it gets a bit repetitive from episode to episode" and "fails for the same reason that most giant disaster movies fail to strike home."[7]
In the Emmy Awards 2008, Life After People was nominated for Outstanding Writing For Nonfiction Programming, Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Single Or Multi-Camera), and Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special.[8]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 lThe Washington Post | Depopulation Boom | Neely Tucker | March 8, 2008
- ↑ historychannel.it | La terra dopo
- ↑ Russian Wikipedia | Жи3Hь пocлe людeй
- ↑ Chinese Wkipedia | 人類消失後的世界
- ↑ Japanese Wikipedia | 人類滅亡-LIFE_AFTER_PEOPLE-
- ↑ 나무위키 (Namoo Wiki) | 인류 멸망 그 후
- ↑ Jajiba | Steven Llyod Wilson | Apocalypse Porn | September 16, 2009
- ↑ E! Online | Complete List of Nominees for 2008 Emmys | July 17, 2008
