Greensburg

Just a quick TV recommendation for those of you looking for something interesting to watch during the summer downtime. I guess it's a double-recommendation: a new show for you to watch, on a brand-new network.

Discovery Home has been replaced by Planet Green, a channel dedicated to all things green. (Find out where to watch it here.) It just launched at the beginning of this month, and it's a really entertaining network so far. It has all the formulas for TV shows that are popular on other networks - home makeovers, celebrities, lifestyle makeovers, science and technology, etc. etc. - but it's all with a green twist. One of my favorite shows is "Wasted," which focuses on a different eco-disastrous family every week and shows them how to reduce their ecological footprint. If the family manages to reduce their footprint, they win the amount of money they are expected to save in reduced utility bills annually.

But the best show I've seen so far is "Greensburg." It is the story of Greensburg, Kan., a town of 1,500 people that was destroyed in 2007 by an F5 tornado. The residents decided to stay and rebuild the town - and they decided to rebuild it green. It's one of those Midwest, all-American towns full of people you can't help but love who all want to do the best for their community, and it's really interesting to see what they went through after the tornado and how they are pulling together to rebuild. The show doesn't sugar-coat the controversies that came up when city leaders decided to build green, either, which adds some drama and makes the show a lot more realistic.

I've been excited for this show since November, when the crew came to Greenbuild, the conference/expo that my employer puts together every year. I was given the duty of helping the cast and crew find their way around the conference, get into some of the educational sessions, etc. I'm not sure how it's going to fit into the show yet, but my understanding was that the Greenbuild part of the show will focus on some students who attended Greenbuild to learn all about building green.

Anyway, find Planet Green on your local cable provider, set the DVR to record "Greensburg," and enjoy! You've missed the first two episodes - it premiered Sunday night with two episodes - but I'm sure they will rerun it.