Let's celebrate 2010 with a new series about planet Earth—without all those pesky people.

Life After People starts on the History Channel on January 5. I'm hoping for an extended version of The Road, without cannibals (and, unfortunately sans Viggo Mortensen.)

Check out the series Web site here for more end-time inspiration. Interesting that on the Web site there's no reference to Alan Weisman's The World Without Us, although it seems like that's where the series got its inspiration.

In every episode, viewers will witness the epic destruction of iconic structures and buildings, from the Sears Tower, Astrodome, and Chrysler Building to the Sistine Chapel - - allowing viewers to learn how they were built and why they were so significant. Big Ben will stop ticking within days; the International Space Station will plummet to earth within a few short years, while historic objects, like the Declaration of Independence and the mummified remains of King Tutankhamen will remain for decades.

The series will also explore the creatures that might take our place. With humans gone, animals will inherit the places where we once lived. Elephants that escape from the LA zoo will thrive in a region once dominated by their ancestors, the wooly mammoth. Alligators will move into sub-tropical cities like Houston - feeding off household pets. Tens of thousands of hogs, domesticated for food, will flourish. In a world without people, new stories of predators, survival and evolution will emerge.