What inspired the blockbuster TV series ​The Crocodile Hunters ​and led to a complete body of work for Steve Irwin and his wife?

The Crocodile Hunter is a wildlife documentary television series that was hosted by Steve Irwin and his wife, Terri. The show became a popular franchise due to Irwin's unconventional approach to wildlife. It spawned a number of separate projects, including the feature film The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course and two television spinoffs: Croc Files and The Crocodile Hunter Diaries. The series was presented on Animal Planet, becoming the network's highest-rated series at the time, and was in international syndication on networks worldwide.[4] The series aired 64 episodes during five seasons, from 1997 through 2004, with a pilot episode in 1996 and 13 specials into 2007; with a nearly 11-year run, the series is the second longest-running program of any Discovery Communications network, behind MythBusters.

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