Phil Jackson brings a new philosophy to the Bulls after replacing Doug Collins and takes the Bulls to the next level. He manages to not only connect on a deep level with his players, but also install the Triangle Offense, a key turning point in Chicago's dynasty. The Bulls finally eliminate the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference finals and earns a shot at an NBA title. But controversy ensues when Detroit players walk off the floor before the end of regulation without engaging in the customary postgame handshakes.
Sam Smith's book 'The Jordan Rules' exposes the darker side of Michael Jordan's competitiveness, and questions arise about whether he has a serious gambling problem, but he remains focused on winning a new title in 1993. Dealing with the pitfalls of fame and attempting to complete the first three-peat leave Jordan increasingly exhausted and isolated.
Crushed by the death of his father, a mentally exhausted Michael Jordan retires in 1993 - to play baseball. The Chicago Bulls move on with Scottie Pippen in the lead role. In 1998, Jerry Krause confirms this will be Phil Jackson's last year as the coach of the Bulls.
Michael Jordan's return in 1995 energizes the Chicago Bulls, the city and the NBA, and the playoff loss the previous season fuels him to work harder than ever to get back on top. In 1998, Phil Jackson was given one final season with his legendary squad and thus the last dance of the 90s.
China's last empire, the Qing, lasted from 1644 to 1912. It began in violence and war as the Manchus swept down from the north, but invaders became emperors, with three generations of one family ruling the country. Among them, Michael Wood argues, was China's greatest emperor - Kangxi.
Under the Qing, China doubled in size to include Xinjiang in the far west, as well as Mongolia and Tibet, creating the essential shape of China today. The new dynasty tolerated a diversity of cultures and religions, including Islam. In Kaifeng, Michael visits a women's mosque with a female imam, a delightful scene that ends with laughter and selfies! The Qing also undertook huge cultural enterprises. At a traditional printing house where the wood blocks are hand-carved, we see how the Complete Tang Poems were reproduced - all 48,000 of them. We travel through the wintry countryside to a remote village where a hardy audience watch open-air opera in the snow and visit a painter's studio, and 'storytelling' houses in Yangzhou. In the 18th century, China was arguably the greatest economy in the world, and we get a fabulous sense of the rich culture that came with prosperity. But then came the clash with the British, in the first Opium War, when a British expedition destroyed the Qing navy and extracted territory and trading rights. We leave with a glimpse of the future. 'Every dynasty has risen and declined,' says Michael, 'and has needed new life to regenerate, and this time the catalyst was the British.' Among the ports China ceded was an almost uninhabited island, Hong Kong, one of today's greatest financial centres, and Shanghai, a small town then but now one of the greatest cities in world.
Fifty years ago there were close to half-a-million lions in Africa. Today there are around 20,000. To make matters worse, lions, unlike elephants, which are far more numerous, have virtually no protection under government mandate or through international accords. This is the jumping-off point for a disturbing, well-researched and beautifully made cri de coeur from husband and wife team Dereck and Beverly Joubert, award-winning filmmakers from Botswana who have been Explorers-in-Residence at National Geographic for more than four years. Pointing to poaching as a primary threat while noting the lion's pride of place on the list for eco-tourists-an industry that brings in 200 billion dollars per year worldwide-the Jouberts build a solid case for both the moral duty we have to protect lions (as well as other threatened "big cats," tigers among them) and the economic sense such protection would make. And when one takes into account the fact that big cats are at the very top of the food chain-and that their elimination would wreak havoc on all species below them, causing a complete ecosystem collapse-the need takes on a supreme urgency.
The Bulls finally eliminate the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference finals and earns a shot at an NBA title. But controversy ensues when Detroit players walk off the floor before the end of regulation without engaging in the customary postgame handshakes.