TV REVIEWS : Around the World in ’30 Years’

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Not to mention wasps and alligators and rats and elephants and whales and swamp things and, oh yes, assorted humans in all shapes and sizes.

That’s just a tiny sampling of the cast of “30 Years of National Geographic Specials”; the complete casting call from three decades of sparkling work would literally include just about anything on Earth, including, well, the Earth.

Bits and pieces--fabulous clips all--from past shows are here, a nicely packaged smorgasbord held together by a cogent theme: Life is a never-ending source of wonder. Name a favorite show--”Land of the Tiger,” “Baka: People of the Forest,” any of dozens that have graced the tube over the years--and chances are that it is represented here in chapters touching on survival, the creation of new life, mankind, balance of nature, salvation of wildlife, ventures into unknown territory and the like.

The breadth of the shows is amazing: Nothing on land, water or air is too small or too difficult to escape the camera’s eye, no life form overlooked. Watch a wasp duel with a spider, a shark snag a squid, a lizard walk on water, a man wrestle with gorillas. The Leakeys and Cousteaus and other superstar explorers and anthropologists all get their due as well.

A few minor quibbles: Two hours of this, repeatedly intercut with commercials, may be a bit much for some viewers, and the nods to the work of the National Geographic Society do get a bit tiresome (the pats on the back are well-deserved but annoyingly self-serving).

Overall, however, hats off to all involved, particularly the intrepid band of photographers who have brought us these treats. May they have many more years of fog-free lenses.

* “30 Years of National Geographic Specials” airs at 8 tonight on NBC (Channels 4, 36 and 39).