National Geographic is releasing a new nature documentary, and it combines two things I love dearly in this world: octopuses and Paul Rudd.
The series, Secrets of the Octopus, will explore the world of octopuses with Rudd serving as narrator. According to a Disney+ press release, “Octopuses are like aliens on Earth: three hearts, blue blood, and the ability to squeeze through a space the size of their eyeball. But there is so much more to these weird and wonderful animals. Highly intelligent, octopuses can use tools, transform their bodies to mimic other animals and even communicate with different species, including us. The secrets of the octopus are more extraordinary than ever imagined.”
Octopuses are great, and so is Paul Rudd! I have high hopes for this series. Here’s the trailer:
To celebrate the news, here are some fun fact that I happen to know about Paul Rudd and octopuses.
Some fun octopus and Paul Rudd facts
- The appendages of octopuses (yes, that’s the correct plural term) aren’t called tentacles; they’re called arms. Each arm is covered with suckers that are as dextrous as human fingers and can taste whatever they’re touching.
- In 2021, People Magazine named Rudd the Sexiest Man Alive. Rudd claimed that his wife was “stupefied” by the decision.
- Octopuses’ brains are distributed throughout their arms! That means that each arm has limited autonomy, and it’s impossible to really comprehend how an octopus experiences consciousness.
- Rudd once told Seth Meyers that he and Jon Hamm both liked the same girl in college. We don’t know how she felt about either of them, but weirdly enough, I can vividly imagine what it’d be like to have Rudd and Hamm fighting over me. In fact, now that it’s in my head, I can’t stop imagining it.
- Researchers believe that octopuses are as smart as young children! They can also be jerks that get into fights over territory and squirt people with water when they’re feeling grouchy. So, yeah, they’re a lot like young children.
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is not a bad movie. I will die on this hill.
- Octopuses can change colors as a form of camouflage, but they’re colorblind. How do they do it!? Researchers have theories, but the answer is basically that they’re badasses.
- Rudd owns a candy store in New York called Samuel’s Sweet Shop! He probably won’t be there when you stop by, but you never know.
What were we talking about? Right—the new show. Secrets of the Octopus premieres on April 21, 2024, and will stream the next day on Hulu and Disney+. I got my octopus facts from The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery and Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith. My Paul Rudd facts came from years of unwavering devotion.
(featured image: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Night of Too Many Stars)
