Discovery announces 2012-2013 Upfront slate

Discovery Channel has announced its 2012-2013 Upfront slate, including landmark history event specials, natural history programming, a few new series and returning favorites. "Last year was a record setting year for Discovery. In 2012 we have already delivered double-digit audience increases, and we're focusing on an Upfront programming slate that is revealing, provocative and fearless," said Eileen O’Neill, president of Discovery Channel and TLC Networks. Upcoming specials include North America, a nature program covering the landscape of the continent from snowcapped peaks to fertile forests and dramatic windswept coasts, the severe weather and the flora and fauna native to this unique environment. Meanwhile, from the acclaimed filmmaking team of brothers Gedeon and Jules Naudet (9/11, In God’s Name), Peabody Award-winning news producer Chris Whipple (60 Minutes, ABC News) and Pulitzer Prize winning White House photographer David Hume Kennerly, The Gatekeeper is a series looking at the key moments, the quiet conversations, back room bargains and heated debates that made history and have never been heard before until now. Called the world’s second toughest job – and also the world’s worst, the White House chiefs of staff translate the presidents’ policies into reality – or disaster. Other specials highlights: All the Presidents Men Revisited takes a look back at Watergate - the original game changer of America politics. History of the World brings the whole of human history to life. A breathtaking journey through time, re-visiting the major turning points of 20,000 years of history from the ancient China to the Aztec empire; from African tribes to European wars; from religious upheaval to the Industrial Revolution. Discovery will reprise Shark Week with all new insights into these magnificent and elusive creatures. Amelia Earhart mounts an exclusive expedition to finally find out what happened to the famed aviator. From award-winning author Mark Bowden Osama brings to life the story of the man who would forever change geopolitics and the world we live in. And, Area 51 offers a revealing history of aliens and alleged alien cover-ups in America. New series will include Top Engineer, which searches for America’s brightest, boldest, out-of-the-box thinkers and pits them against one another. One Car Too Far follows a former British Special Forces operative and an American car junkie who are dropped into incredible landscapes and forced to work together to survive and ultimately escape to safety. The twist – they will have to take a small red car with them. Mark Burnett's Alaska profiles the colorful people, history and unforgettable places that make Alaska a world apart. Fast and Loud follows motorhead Richard Rawlings and mechanical prodigy Aaron Kaufmann as they search far-flung corners of the country for forgotten and derelict classic cars to restore at their Gas Monkey Garage. Returning series include Friday night’s No. 1 show, Gold Rush, plus Bering Sea Gold, Deadliest Catch, Flying Wild Alaska, Alaska: The Final Frontier, American Chopper, Dirty Jobs, Moonshiners, Mythbusters, Curiosity, Dual Survival and Auction Kings.