The program was hosted by actor/announcer
Frank Buxton and actress/vocalist
Virginia Gibson. The show's original studio announcer was ABC staff announcer
Bill Owen, who replaced Buxton as host in 1966, continuing through 1971. The episodes hosted by Buxton were mostly studio productions, video taped in black-and-white with occasional out of studio segments shot on 16mm film. Beginning with Owen, the episodes were shot in color, and involved much travel to on-site locations around the world. The actual on-air title of the series was named according to each year it was produced, beginning with ''Discovery '62
and ending with Discovery '71
(syndicated reruns only had the title Discovery''). The show's executive producer was Jules Power, the former co-producer of
NBC's
Mr. Wizard. The
Discovery format originally had Buxton and Gibson (joined by a
hound dog named Corpuscle) in studio, exploring various topics in science, culture, history and the arts, often with special in-studio guests. Later seasons of the show had Buxton and Gibson (and later Owen and Gibson, and sometimes either one alone) traveling on location (without Corpuscle) to different destinations around the globe in a documentary format.
Discovery was cancelled in 1971 and replaced by another ABC News production,
Make a Wish, which in turn was replaced by
Animals, Animals, Animals, broadcast from 1976 to 1981. ==Accolades==