New show tests talents of wildlife wizards

The white tiger was starting to get a little frisky with its human play-pal when the Animal Planet honcho figured he’d better offer a quick bit of advice: “If you start to feel teeth,” he said, “gently push the teeth and mouth away.”

Where was this guy when Siegfried and Roy needed him? It turns out that the honcho, critter expert Jeff Corwin, has had his hands full getting a new reality show off the ground for the cable channel. “King of the Jungle,” in which a dozen wildlife wizards compete in a series of skill challenges for the chance to host their own nature special, premieres on Animal Planet tonight at 8 with a two-hour installment.

As usual for such shows, the contestants will be eliminated one by one each week until the king is crowned during a two-hour finale Dec. 8. Because four of the contestants are women, however, one presumes that this “king” business can be tweaked if necessary.

But that tiny oversight seems to carry over to a program that doesn’t appear terribly well thought out. Only scant, rough-cut snippets were available for review at press time, but concept-wise, what was there looked as thin as a butterfly’s wing.

Here’s the scenario: The dozen animal experts are trucked to an undisclosed jungle spread where they set up tents and make some awkward attempts to get to know one another. All hold jobs involving zoos, wildlife refuges and the like, which helps the table talk.

Corwin, who has hosted a variety of popular wildlife-related TV shows over the years, oversees the action, assisted by Nigel Marven (Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week”) and Jim Boller (Animal Planet’s “Animal Cops: Houston”).

The contestants are judged on their performances during various interactions with animals. One labored stunt has them climb a tree, go across a zip line and then climb down some cargo netting. Once on the ground, they open a box, retrieve a camera and take turns filming each other as they look for animals while showing off their skills as prospective TV hosts.

Glimpses of future episodes involving alligators and lions indicate the action may pick up. But early on, the best things about the show are the scathingly pithy comments from Marven, who comes off like an outdoorsy version of Simon Cowell from “American Idol.”