TxMike

I suspect they got Tom Hanks to narrate this because he is such a popular actor. But frankly, who narrates is mostly immaterial. Some complain about him but to me he does a fine job. Others would have also.

To the meat of the programming. When you consider how extensive "The Americas" is - North America, Central America, and South America - no program, no matter how detailed it is, could cover everything about all of it.

So what they did here is first, select regions, like the Gulf Coast or the Andes, etc. Then second, in each region focus on a very small number of very interesting aspects. Things we, the audience, would likely never learn about otherwise.

So what we get are, for a few examples, frogs that live at high elevation and die each night by freezing, then thaw back alive the next day. Or hummingbirds with two very long tail feathers, doing its mating dance. Or a duck that has special armor on its legs so that it can dive and feed safely in very hot water.

Each episode has things, fascinating things, that we would likely never be exposed to otherwise. And the photography is stunning.

We normally watch the weekly episode streaming on Peacock, the commercials are fewer and easier to handle.

Anthony Michael Hall has one of the feature roles in season three of the "Reacher" limited series. Now in his mid-50s, I watched this movie, "Weird Science", to recall what he was like as a 16-yr-old.

He plays Gary and along with his good friend Wyatt are among the unpopular nerds. Wyatt's parents are going away for the weekend and the two boys begin to fantasize - what would their ideal woman look like, what characteristics would she have? Maybe they could do something with their computer?

This of course is a fantasy all the way. I remember 1984 very well, I was in my 30s and working in a scientific job with a technical company and I recall that home computers were still very new and no one really knew what all they could do. This fantasy plays on that.

So their experiment worked, the beautiful woman came alive in the form of Kelly LeBrock (about 24) as "Lisa." Much havoc follows her appearance.

The late Bill Paxton was Wyatt's mean older brother Chet. And a 19-yr-old Robert Downey Jr. Was one of the boys in school.

While everything is fantasy the filmmaker chose to put in a life lesson, about growing up and finding out who you really are, but that is secondary.

I watched it at home on a Blu Ray version issued in 2008. I was struck by how clear and sharp the video is, plus it has a couple of interesting "extras."

This movie became available streaming on Peacock this week. My wife and I, products of the 1950s, grew up with "The Wizard of OZ" and each of us has watched that movie numerous times.

In quick summary, we love everything about this movie. It starts with a recreation of the scene in "Wizard of OZ" where good witch Glinda is thriving and happy, while the Wicked Witch is dead. Then the whole movie is a flashback of sorts, showing the characters as very young children, growing up, attending Schiz University to learn magic, and their trip to OZ to meet the Wizard in his lair.

Not heavily advertised is the fact that this is just part one of a two-part movie. The second part presumably will come out later in 2025. So this part ends inconclusively.

All the characters are well-played, including Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard. But special mention goes to the two ladies, Erivo and Grande. Both are marvelous singers and each creates an authentic character. Interestingly both are tiny, each just barely taller than five feet.

At home, streaming, after our usual Saturday steak and wine dinner. A fitting punctuation mark.