‘Grizzly’ Truth: Bears Need Respect

From the grin-and-bear it file: “Growing Up Grizzly,” a warm, winning documentary for anyone who loves animals.

Brad Pitt, who worked with the prodigious Bart the Bear in “Legends of the Fall,” narrates this entertaining profile of Doug Seus, the talented trainer who raised two orphaned cubs he named Little Bart and Honey-Bump after their mother was killed by a hunter in Alaska.

“They have to be treated with respect,” says the patient Seus, a big, burly bear of a man who lives in northern Utah. “As much respect as you would give a human being.”

Bart comes at people “like a little bull,” says Seus’ wife, Lynne, who also works with the rambunctious siblings. Honey-Bump is bright and agile. Judging by the playful footage, their favorite activities are wrestling and rolling around in a nearby pond, where they take their first swimming lesson.

Seus’ time-tested philosophy for building a relationship with grizzlies is based on intense interaction and positive reinforcement. But he also believes in having fun.

The one-hour report covers their first year in Utah and charts the progress they made with Seus. It includes a trip to Los Angeles, where Seus worked with his other bear, named Tank, a grizzly hired for three months of work on “Dr. Dolittle 2.”

In one segment, Pitt gets up close and personal with Tank. “Being kissed by a huge grizzly was a little unnerving,” says the actor, “but it was an experience I’ll never forget.”

And viewers are unlikely to forget how the cubs respond to the affection lavished upon them by Seus.

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“Growing Up Grizzly” can be seen tonight at 9 on Animal Planet. The network has rated it TV-G (suitable for all ages).

Surf Report

SPORTS

Opening-round coverage of the U.S. Open tennis tournament begins at 8 a.m. on USA Network. CBS will carry late-night updates at 12:35 a.m.

The Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys play in the American Bowl, a preseason NFL football game in Mexico City (5 p.m. ABC).

SERIES

What has “Blind Date” wrought? For starters, there is “Shipmates” (3 p.m. weekdays. KCBS), a new dating show that follows singles aboard a cruise ship bound for the Bahamas, the Caribbean and other romantic destinations. It’s a three-day, two-night trip for each; if things don’t go well, there’s no jumping overboard, fellas.

SPECIALS

In “42 Up” (9 p.m. KCET), which was filmed in 1999, director Michael Apted provides a look at the individuals he has followed at seven-year intervals since 1964.