Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Absurd Planet’ On Netflix, A Quirky Nature Series About Earth’s Quirkiest Creatures

There is an abundance of nature programming on Netflix —including Netflix Originals like Our Planet and Night On Earth, as well as Disney Nature docs for kids— but the service recently lost the rights to all of the BBC programming (Planet Earth, Blue Planet, et al) that viewers came to love over the years. In an attempt to bolster their reserves, Netflix partnered with Conde Nast on what may just be the silliest nature programming this side of Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet.

ABSURD PLANET: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: We zoom in on planet Earth and then see the sun rise over choppy surf. “At a time when Mother Nature was still a babe in the wood… She dreamed a barren planet would someday teem with majestic beings both great and small.”

The Gist: During some of the scenes showing these majestic creatures, we see a cheesy stop-action scene of dinosaurs fighting, along with black-and-white footage of fleas riding tiny bicycles. When the sage-sounding voice then says, “Let’s give it up for Mother Nature!”, you realize that Absurd Planet (or as it’s seen in the promotional material, Absurd! Planet) isn’t going to be your average dead-serious nature show. It’s a quirky series about the planet’s quirkiest creatures, narrated by none other than Mother Nature (Afi Ekulona) herself.

“Just because something’s weird doesn’t mean it’s not worthy,” she says. Then as we see a picture of a spider, she says “Got that, four-eyed rainbow butt?” That more or less sets the tone of the show, as Mother Nature introduces us to the first set of her strange creatures, like the satanic leaf-tailed gecko, or the star nosed mole. While imparting information on each, a series of voice actors give the creature voices in little sketches.

The mole, for instance, is made into a lawyer who can “feel justice” with his very sensitive nose. The marabou stork is given a nebbishy personality who says “neck sacks are the next thing,” and we see “#necksacks” on the screen. In another segment, dung beetles are given a Beatles-esque song with the chorus “Dung beetles live for poo.” David Attenborough might be rolling in his grave at the thought of this show, and the guy’s not even dead yet.

Our Take: Absurd Planet, from Love Productions and Conde Nast Entertainment, is a silly show, by all means. Yes, it’s got a similar visual format to most nature shows, though they don’t linger on one weird animal for too long, maybe two minutes at the most. Each episode is only 19 minutes long, each structured around a loose theme. But, in reality, it’s more of a sketch show that just happens to take place over footage of all manner of weird creatures.

Are the sketches funny? Meh. They elicit a smile here and there, but that’s beside the point. The idea that a nature show can teach you something about the planet’s weirdest beings while not making you fall asleep is an intriguing one to us. It’s not exactly a kids’ show, but it’s also not some BBC documentary that invests in spectacular photography and tries to make it lively with a rousing score and Attenborough’s serious-but-slightly-cheeky narration.

Absurd Planet’s photography is certainly a step below those shows, but still impressive. But the attempt to match the narration to the subjects is an admirable one, even if the producers don’t always pull it off.

What Age Group Is This For?: This could be for all ages, but it’s rated TV-PG because of “scary” animals. Also, Mother Nature and the other characters often get saucy, talking about animals doing it or the marabou crane’s “scrotum sack.” So perhaps kids 8 and above would appreciate it the most.

Parting Shot: A quirky song about other animals like pangolins or crabs in the road plays over the closing credits.

Sleeper Star: The pearl fish, who lodges itself –and even mates — in a sea cucumber’s “tushie”, was interesting, as were the narwhals; Mother Nature warns the viewers “don’t sleep on a narwhal, and certainly don’t sit on one. Unless that’s your thing.”

Most Pilot-y Line: When the pygmy slow loris is shown, the slow-speaking voice he’s given says “I sleep during the day. Often in a tree. Under my desk. In a yurt.” Huh?

Our Call: STREAM IT. Popping on an episode of Absurd Planet is a fun, quick distraction if the kids are driving you nuts during quarantine. You and them may learn a thing or two. But the repetitiveness of the format (and the lame jokes) may get to you after an episode or two.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company.com, RollingStone.com, Billboard and elsewhere.

Stream Absurd Planet On Netflix