Not down with “Up”? Discovery offers three reasons — make that nine — to avoid the multiplex and stay in this weekend. “Nature’s Most Amazing Events” (7 p.m., through 10 p.m., Discovery) unfolds over the next three nights, showcasing stunning photography of exotic creatures adapting to dramatic seasonal challenges.

Things kick off with “Arctic Summer” (7 p.m.). It’s no day at the beach. “Summer,” if not summer, begins in February when the first few rays of light break through after three months of darkness. Polar bears, it seems, would much rather hit the snooze button. The return of the sun means the end of easy pickings for them, as seals, their chief prey, have a much easier time escaping during the warmer months.

From November to February, bears only have to hang out by a hole in the ice to get a tasty blubber brunch. Forgive them for bingeing, because during the summer they can go months between meals.

But one bear’s nightmare is a narwhal’s delight. Schools of the rarely photographed arctic “unicorn” are captured scouring for avenues of open water in the ice sheet. There are also thousands of hungry migratory birds, and the little foxes that live to eat them. There are blubber-filled walruses that can devour thousands of seabed clams with a few casual scoops. These loud, seemingly lazy sun worshippers are not only ornery and given to thunderous rumbles, but they’re flatulent, to boot.

Pardon me for dwelling on the gas-passing walrus while there are so many rarified moments in “Amazing Events.” “Grizzly Wilderness” (8 p.m.) shows leaping salmon at camera speeds of 2,000 frames per second. “Pacific Feast” (8 p.m., Sunday) captures a sardine run using camera-stabilizing technology previously employed in big-budget feature films.

The documentary nerd in me quibbles a bit with the series’ amorphous title and “Nature’s Greatest Hits” approach. But this is from the people who brought you “Planet Earth.” Like that series, “Events” will have you glued to the couch or the EZ Chair, or whatever your natural habitat, staring slack-jawed at the screen, dazzled by the exotic action, curious creatures and splendid scenery, and wondering, how the heck did they get that shot?

And if you miss a single “Event,” the whole series will be available on DVD on June 16.

• Some years ago, I quit my job rather rashly. Before leaving, my boss gave me the chance to “consult” on a weekly basis. This didn’t stop the office manager and the office from throwing me a goodbye bash. But when I returned to “consult” the following Wednesday, a few colleagues seemed a bit confused, if not resentful. Didn’t we just drink (too much) to your departure? What are you still doing here?

• recall these hazy moments when I think of the last episode of “The Tonight Show” (10:35 p.m., NBC) with Jay Leno. As we’ve all heard, he’s leaving “Tonight” without departing NBC.

He’ll be back later this summer, to “consult” five nights a week at 10 p.m.

I’m not saying the new “Tonight Show” host Conan O’Brien (who appears with singer James Taylor as Jay’s final guests) is as confused and resentful as my old co-workers. But I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.

Tonight’s other highlights

• Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon star in the 2005 Johnny Cash biography “Walk the Line” (7 p.m., CBS).