Planet California

Premiering Wednesday, June 22 and 29 at 9 p.m.

Planet California is a two-part documentary celebrating California’s wildlife and wild places, and their coexistence with the 40 million people who call it home. Famous for its beaches and Hollywood, California is also a wellspring of biodiversity. Bounded by mountains, deserts and the Pacific Ocean, here are iconic wild places like Yosemite National Park and Death Valley, as well as Baja California’s lesser-known wild beauty.

Part 1: Rivers of Gold

California is a land of extremes – tallest, deepest, highest, hottest. But in a rapidly changing and thirsty world, drought, dams and fire pose dire threats to an ecosystem connected by rivers on land, in the air and in the sea.

Part 2: Close Encounters

Hollywood may captivate, but in one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth, the real stars of California – a wild and spectacular cast of creatures in the sea and on land, from blue whales to burrowing owls – are ready for their close-up