A Summer TV Hit!

Do you still think TV sinks into a haze of reruns for the summer only to emerge in the fall with new fare?
Please reconsider.
I urge you to tune into the exciting third season premiere of Whale Wars which has one of the most exciting chases yet recorded on film.
On one side there are the bad guys like in any John Wayne flick. Here they're unrepentant Japanese whalers illegally snagging those huge beautiful creatures in the seas off Antarctica.
We watch in amazement as the gigantic harpoons blast into the creatures. The harpooned whales emit a scream much like a woman's screams and then the seas run red with blood.
It may be illegal but the Japanese are still doing it and capturing endangered hunchback whales and killing them.
The good guys are here represented by Captain Paul Watson and his intrepid crew.
We see them setting out on other brave adventure --the Japanese are pretending the whales are being used for "research purposes".
But the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is out to intercept the Japanese, to confront the whalers and try to cut the harpoon lines between the whales and the ships.
It's quite like a chase movie only this whole thing is very real and very dangerous. And this year Watson has a new ship christened the Bob Barker after the game show host who donated $5 million for the purchase of the vessel.We get to know the crew and why they risk their lives so that whales can go free.
And with the ecological disaster going on along the coast of Louisiana maybe this is the chance for armchair pundits to get involved in the race to save our planet before it's too late.
The first hour is nature TV at its very best. And it sure beats reruns, right?
WHALE WARS 3 PREMIERES ON ANIMAL PLANET WED. JUNE 9 AT 9 P.M.
MY RATING: ****.