Long before Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, or the various and sundry National Geographic specials, there was Marlin Perkins and Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. Marlin hosted the weekly show from 1963 to 1985 with his co-host Jim Fowler. Later Jim and Marlin were joined by Stan Brock and Peter Gros. After Marlin left, Jim, Stan, and Peter kept the show going until 1988.

People liked to joke how it was Jim - a quarter of a century Marlin's junior - who usually got saddled with doing all the wild and crazy things like tagging an elk by jumping out of a helicopter. But considering their age difference, Marlin certainly did his share of the work, too. And it really did include stuff like wrestling alligators and netting irritated jaguars that he and Jim had to relocate.

Whether it was a show about the elephants from Africa's Okavango Swamp or scientists studying fowl cholera in the Sandhill Cranes on the Platte River of Nebraska, Wild Kingdom was always good family entertainment. You always knew that when you watched a film clip of a lion stalking his prey, the baby gazelle would get away.

The main focus of the the show was that Marlin and Jim (using the wildlife films of Warren Garst) would show how the animals lived in the Wild Kingdom. Of course, Marlin also made sure he spoke of the dangers human encroachment caused to the animals and how it hastened the destruction of their habitats. But he always did his best to take a positive and optimistic outlook and would mention when a region or a country he was visiting had established a new wildlife refuge or game park.

Of course, just as the wildlife refuges and game parks provide protection for the country's many animal species, so too can we always rely on the affordable and complete protection provided by Mutual of Omaha.