TV Talk: Nat Geo’s ‘Queens’ fit for viewers of all stripes

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week.

PASADENA, Calif. — There have been many impressive natural history series in the past two decades — “Planet Earth,” “The Blue Planet,” “Life” — but National Geographic Channel’s “Queens” (8 p.m. March 4, National Geographic Channel; all episodes stream March 5 on Hulu and Disney+) may be the best yet.

A deep dive into multiple matriarchal societies, “Queens” was created, produced, written, scored and filmed over four years by a female-led production team — groundbreaking for natural history series, a historically male-dominated filmmaking genre.

The first episode, “African Queens,” shows how females rise to power in Tanzania with narrator Angela Bassett (“9-1-1”) anthropomorphizing the characters as she introduces three lioness sisters on the hunt (“already they’re killing it”).

“The oldest is pregnant,” Bassett says. “The father didn’t stick around, but that’s not unusual for lions.”

Later, “Queens” shows how one lioness uses her feminine wiles to attract a male lion in an effort to protect her cubs.

“While she’s nursing, she’s not fertile, but that doesn’t mean she can’t fake it,” Bassett says with a wink. (Warning: Not all animals featured survive each episode.)

Personifying the animal “characters” helps suck viewers in and care more about the animals on screen. But crafting their stories was not easy.

“We wanted every animal from the tiniest ant to the biggest elephant to have their Hollywood moment and to give them dramatic storylines,” said show­runner/writer Chloe Sarosh last month during Nat Geo’s portion of the Television Critics Association winter 2024 press tour. “All our storylines are based on new science and from the people that spend their time in the field with (the animals).”

After the premiere episode, subsequent episodes include “Rainforest Queens” (9 p.m. March 4), “Tiny Jungle Queens” (10 p.m. March 4), “Savanna Queens” (8 p.m. March 11), “Mountain Queens” (9 p.m. March 11), “Coastal Queens” (10 p.m. March 11) and a making-of episode, “Behind the Queens” (11 p.m. March 11).

“Queens” executive producer Vanessa Berlowitz said focusing on female leaders in the natural world offered a wealth of new storytelling opportunities.

“What was different about this series is we gave the team permission to go with their hearts and just feel instinctively where the story was and where the best characters were,” Berlowitz said. “Conventionally, when I’ve worked on big (natural history) shows before, they’re like setpiece dramas that you always go through, and it often does involve the males because … they’re showy, they’re fighting, they’ve got the teeth, and the nails and the hair. … It was nerve-wracking for me, and I’ve been doing it a long time, to actually go in without that sort of set plan of set pieces. It’s just like, go for it, trust yourselves and the story will find you.”

Director of cinematography Justine Evans said viewers will get caught up in the animals’ stories.

“From a woman’s perspective, maybe you pick up on more of the details of what’s going on, the nuance of what’s happening between individuals,” Evans said. “When we were filming the Ethiopian wolves, this emotion of when the daughter of our matriarch female tried to return to the pack after having left, and she was just beaten up by the pack, by her own mother and all her family. It was a major behavioral moment but I felt so sad that she just couldn’t come home. And it’s life. That’s the way it goes. You have to leave. The girls have to go, but it felt so unfair. When you look at these female stories, you then focus on all these little details. They’re not always these big, fanfare moments, and big fights. But they are so critical and emotional.”