How to watch Surviving Joe Exotic: stream the Tiger King documentary online from anywhere
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my
Back in March, we were literally a captive audience. Netflix docuseries Tiger King landed on the platform in the midst of worldwide lockdown; a fortunate synchronicity that helped capture the slack-jawed attention of millions. But the insane rivalry between Exotic and animal rights activist Carole Baskin overshadowed concerns about the welfare of the animals. The new documentary from Animal Planet turns our attention back to the razor-toothed mammals of Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, contemplating their fate after Exotic’s arrest. Read on as we detail how to watch Surviving Joe Exotic online.
This one-off documentary will air on Animal Planet from 10pm ET/PT on Saturday, July 25. Those without access to cable are best off streaming the show through an over-the-top service - YouTube TV offers the channel and is generally one of the most comprehensive ones around.
In footage from the trailer, filmed four months before his arrest, Exotic appears more abusive tyrant than the unhinged but charismatic zookeeper of Tiger King. Among other things, he appears to taunt caged tigers and abruptly fires his gun mid-interview at a crowing cockerel.
So, what about the animals left behind after he was jailed for 22-years on murder-for-hire charges; the tigers of his unorthodox park that he claimed once numbered 176? The documentary will answer these questions and more. In an ironic twist of fate, control of G.W. Zoo was recently awarded to his arch nemesis Baskin – “the Mother Teressa of cats” – after Exotic failed to pay her $1 million in trademark infringement suits dating back to 2013.
The lion’s share of the limelight has been on Exotic-Baskin, so now we’ll discover how the wild animals are faring in the aftermath of his arrest. If you’re curious about their story, then here's how to watch Surviving Joe Exotic online right now.
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How to watch Surviving Joe Exotic from outside your home country
If you’re away from home on business when Surviving Joe Exotic airs, or just taking a long-overdue vacation, it’s still possible to stream the documentary live no matter where in the world you are.
Downloading a VPN will allow you to connect to your usual service and access its live-TV stream and roster of on-demand shows. By changing your IP address, you can effortlessly view programming that would otherwise be regionally restricted.
Once installed, just select the location of your home country from the pre-defined list, and click connect! You’ll then be able to watch Surviving Joe Exotic online wherever you are, and see what went down at G.W. Zoo after its flamboyant proprietor was jailed.
There are hundreds of VPNs to choose from, but our favorite is ExpressVPN. It's quick, straightforward to install, and easy to use. It's also compatible with a wide range of devices, among them Apple TV, Xbox, PlayStation, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and iOS and Android software.
Express VPN's flexible 30-day money back guarantee is hard to refuse. Although, even more enticing is its annual plan, offering a 49% discount and 3 months extra FREE – a brilliant deal for an ingenious bit of kit.
How to watch Surviving Joe Exotic online in the US
Animal Planet will broadcast Surviving Joe Exotic at 10pm ET/PT on July 25 and simultaneously be streamed on the channel’s website service (which you can access by entering your cable provider login details).
If you’ve forgone cable, then Animal Planet is available on a few over-the-top streaming services - the most comprehensive of which is YouTube TV. Priced at $64.99 a month, it's a bit more expensive than some of its rivals, but is as complete a cable replacement that offers access to nearly all national channels and a huge number of regional networks as well.
Best of all, each account allows three simultaneous streams, so you could theoretically split a subscription with friends or family. It's compatible with Apple TV, Roku, Apple and Android, Samsung and LG smart TVs, and many others - as well as offering a 1-week long free trial and letting you cancel at any time. You can even pay with PayPal for added convenience.
Other US OTT services that feature Animal Planet include Philo TV and FuboTV, both of which also offer free trials.
US resident but currently outside of the country? You can access the same streaming services and content you would at home with the help of a good VPN, as per our guide above.
Can you watch Surviving Joe Exotic in Canada? Release date and Tiger King streaming details
Unfortunately, this creature-feature about Great Wynnewood Zoo post-Exotic hasn’t been made available in Canada. That’s not to say it might appear on Canada’s version of Animal Planet at a later date. But for now it’s nowhere to be seen in North America.
If you didn’t catch the original docuseries, then…well, come out from under that rock! The sensational Tiger King is far easier to access than Animal Planet’s follow-up, and all 8 instalments can be streamed exclusively on Netflix now.
There’s no free trial per se and it’s CND$9.99 a month for its entry-level plan; but if you’re dissatisfied with the service just cancel within 7 days for your money back.
American’s temporarily residing across the border keen to watch Surviving Joe Exotic as it airs, don’t worry. You can easily download a VPN and connect to your OTT service back home, and so enjoy the documentary as it’s being broadcast.
Surviving Joe Exotic: UK release and how to watch Tiger King
Sadly, Brits are being left out for now, too, with no Animal Planet network currently available in the UK. Amazon Prime Video hosts a selection of the channel’s documentaries ,though, so maybe in a few months Surviving Joe Exotic will have joined them.
In the meantime our British cousins will have to (re)acquaint themselves with Tiger King, and the bizarre misadventures of Joe Exotic – or Joseph Maldonado Passage as he’s known to his mom. It’s available through Netflix at the affordable cost of £5.99 a month, so you could binge Tiger King in addition to superb Netflix Originals like Sex Education and The Haunting of Hill House. Alas, there’s no free trial, but cancel whenever you like.
As we’ve already detailed, if you find yourself outside of your home country and unable to login to your Hulu, YouTube TV, or any other online account, than check out Express VPN to alter your IP address so you can connect to your preferred service and watch Surviving Joe Exotic online as it’s broadcast.
How to watch Surviving Joe Exotic online in Australia
There are few places more synonymous with wildlife than Australia, so it feels right that Animal Planet is available to stream through Foxtel Now - perhaps the only place in the world it's available outside of the US.
It’s not cheap though, as to get Animal Planet live and on-demand you must choose “All Packs” at AUS$104 per month, the only package to include “kids and docos” content.
On the plus side, with a haul of about 104 channels you’re only paying a dollar a month for each one, and getting a great mix of sports, blockbusters, HBO content, and Foxtel Original programming in the process. PLUS you’re eligible for a 10-Day Free Trial if you’re new to the service, which includes all add-on packs. Thank you Foxtel!
If you don't want the commitment or cost, then new Foxtel-affiliated streaming service Binge is also one to watch - we can't confirm if it will have Surviving Joe Exotic until the documentary has aired, but it typically gets everything Foxtel sooner rather than later.
Finally, if you want to recap the unbelievably bonkers story that started it all, then Tiger King can be streamed via Netflix for AUS$9.99 a month. Alas, there's no free trial here.
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Daniel Pateman is a freelance writer, producing articles across the cultural spectrum for magazines like Aesthetica, Photomonitor, The Brooklyn Rail and This is Tomorrow. He also provides text-writing services to individual curators and artists worldwide, and has had work published internationally. His favourite film genre is horror (bring on Scream 5!) and he never tires of listening to Absolute 80s on the radio.