More Offerings Planned : 3 Installments of ‘Nova’ Will Be Available on Video Soon

On March 30, Vestron will release the first three titles in its “Nova” Video Library. “Nova” is the longest-running and most popular science documentary series on American television; it has received almost every major broadcast industry award since its debut in 1974. Nearly 300 “Nova” programs have been produced by WGBH in Boston. The Video Project’s first three offerings are each 60 minutes and cost $29.98:

- “Visions of the Deep”: Photographer Al Giddings shows and discusses gems from his film library, which may be the world’s most valuable collection of underwater photography. Scenes include Tahitian children playing piggyback with sharks, divers feeding and fondling moray eels, the awesome cobalt blue waters under the polar ice cap, and face-to-face shots of 3,000-pound great white sharks off the southern Australian coast. There is also a look at the lagoon at Truk, where the United States sank some 70 Japanese ships; since World War II, they have evolved into majestic, coral-laden reef communities. Michael Landon narrates.

- “Einstein”: A documentary about the genius who believed that man and his fate should be the center of scientific research. Home movies, newsreels and photographs are artfully spliced to portray Albert Einstein and his battle for international peace and nuclear disarmament at the outset of the Cold War. It’s surprising to learn that he failed his first university entrance exam.

- “UFO’s: Are We Alone?”: Several reported incidents of unidentified flying objects are explored, without any conclusions being offered. Serious study of this mysterious phenomenon is very much alive, and the program suggests that significant discoveries may not be far off. Apollo astronauts talk about being shadowed by mysterious craft on their way to the moon, a BBC crew films a UFO over New Zealand and an Arizona lumberjack tells of being abducted by aliens and taken into their spaceship--and he passes a lie-detector test.

Plans call for three new “Nova” videos every three months. Scheduled for June release: “Case of the Ancient Astronaut,” “Sign-Apes, Song-Whales” and “Fat Chance in Thin World.”

Meanwhile, Lorne Greene’s “New Wilderness” series is expected to release a dozen new titles that were assembled before his death, and Lorimar will be releasing six more in PBS’s award-winning “Nature” series.