Discovery's 'Life' viewers rip Oprah

6:14 AM PST 11/30/2010 by James Hibberd

Comments (22)

The Amazon.com pre-order for "Life" rates the disc at a mere 1.5 stars out of 5, with the bulk of shoppers ripping Winfrey, especially in comparison to the BBC version, which was narrated using a different script by British naturalist David Attenborough.

What's weird is Discovery made this exact same blunder with "Planet Earth." Discovery elected for the icy narration of Sigourney Weaver over Attenborough, to fan backlash. To defrost for "Life," executives over-cranked the warmth by tapping Winfrey, who practically coos and tickles the viewer. (One knowledgeable reader emailed that Discovery originally tried to get Jeff Bridges -- no Attenborough, perhaps, but a better choice than Winfrey).

Ratings started huge for "Life" but have dropped each week. Here's some samples from Amazon that might give an indication why...

"This is atrocious. Oprah narrates this thing as if she were reading a bedtime story to little kids and comes off as snarky and condescending. In the opening segment, she’s discussing a fox chasing an ibex kid and it’s basically like ‘Heeeere comes the fox! UH OH!!’"
"You *ruined* this show Oprah Winfrey. You sound childish trite and dull. One of the worst editorial decisions in TV ever"

"Ms. Winfrey sounds like she needs a decongestant, and the script is so infantile. Looking forward to hearing David Attenborough's version. I won't be watching any more with Oprah's narration; its too disappointing"

"Oprah's voice is slightly scratchy, abrasive, and she sort of sounds like a frustrated nun. Off of that, the way she speaks to you sounds like she's talking down to you; like a self-absorbed kindergarten teacher, who can't wait for the day to end. She doesn't even seem to have any passion or insight. I cannot stress enough how terrible her narrative for this show is. I was physiologically incapable of sitting through an hour of her grinding drivel."