As Earth Day arrives (Friday, April 22), the streaming networks and PBS are piling up specials. Here’s a round-up.
COMING UP
–Wednesday (April 20), then at pbs.org and the PBS Video app: PBS has “Changing Planet” at 8 p.m., launching a seven-year effort to study key areas. “Earth Emergency” follows at 10.
— Friday: Three films debut on Disney+ (see separate story). “Polar Bear” (shown here) is from the DisneyNature people, whose lush films are usually in theaters the week of Earth Day. The others are from National Geographic: “Explorer: The Last Tepui” follows Alex Honnold (the climber of “Free Solo” fame), as he leads a climb up a 1,000-foot cliff, so a botanist can study an “island in the sky.” Also, “The Biggest Little Farm: The Return” revisits John and Molly Chester, city people creating an eco-friendly farm in California.
— Friday and Saturday: BBC America has a marathon of lush documentary series. “Planet Earth” is 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, followed by the marine-world “Planet Earth: Blue Planet II” from 5-11 p.m. They then rerun – “Planet Earth” from 11 p.m. to Saturday at 9 a.m., “Blue Planet II from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, then “Africa” from 3-8 p.m.
— Also: The PBS Kids channel keeps adding Earth-themed animation. A new one this year, on “Elinor Wonders Why,” airs at 7 and 9 p.m. Friday. Others on Friday include eco-episodes of “Ready, Jet, Go” at 6:30 a.m., “Peg + Cat” at 7, “Super WHY” at 7:30, “Nature Cat” at noon and “Pinkalicious & Peterrific” at 3 p.m.
ARRIVED EARLY:
–Animated specials, new and old. “It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown” is on Apple TV+, joining Apple’s collection of past “Peanuts” films. “Happy Birthday, Earth Day,” on HBO Max, is a 1990 special with voices including Lainie Kazan and the late Christopher Reeve and Fred Gwynne. Both are a half-hour and kid-friendly.”
— On Paramount+, an “Earth Through Different Lenses” carousel, through April 26. “Wasteland” is a new four-parter, viewing waste-management in Alabama, New York, Florida and Iowa; “Bring Your Own Brigade” is a 2021 movie following people battling wildfires. Also, there’s “Aerial America,” plus aerial series on Africa, Greece and New Zealand, plus “Earth from Outer Space.” Other films include “America’s Badlands” and “Russia’s Wild Sea,” plus “Epic Yellowstone,” “Arctic Secrets,” “Undiscovered Vistas” and more.
— Discovery+ has a collection (through Sunday, April 24) of films it made, plus ones from its related channels. Its originals include films from Ellen DeGeneres (“Endangered”), former Wall Street lawyer Patrick Dykstra (the eight-part “Chasing Ocean Giants”) and several celebrities – Matt Damon, Jane Fonda, Adrian Grenier, etc. – in 8-12minute films, packaged as “Action Planet Climate Challenge.” From Animal Planet is “Crikey! It’s the Irwins.” From the BBC are several films with David Attenborough – “The Mating Game,” “A Perfect Planet,” “Planet Earth II” and (also with Prince William) “The Earthshot Prize.’ Others (from BBC and/or the Discovery Channel) include “Mysterious Planet,” “The Story of Plastic,” “Wild Africa: Rivers of Life” and “Judi Dench’s Wild Borneo Adventure.”
— And Netflix calls this Earth Month, with a “One World, Infinite Wonder” collection of 170 films. That’s led by “Our Great National Parks,” a spectacular five-parter in which Barack Obama ranges from his native Hawaii to his father’s Kenya homeland. Others include “Our Planet,” “Animal” and “David Attenborogh: A Life on Our Planet.” It also includes some mainstream shows, from “Bill Nye, the Science Guy” to “Don’t Look Up” (2021), the piercing, Oscar-nominated sorta-comedy about choosing to ignore a problem.