Aerial America, Vol. 1

The information content is lame but the aerial photography is great.

I love these shows. I like to watch them before bed to relax and learn some history. We homeschool our son and this is a great tool for his learning as well. I can’t wait to see Vol.2

The documentary should have been named Northern California. No mention of Southern California. Beautiful footage but incomplete.

The California episode should be called San Francisco. That's what it was mostly about. I found it almost boring. How can a show titled "California" leave out the giant redwoods in Humboldt county and the Avenue of the Giants, Hollywood, Los Angeles, and most of all Yosemite. I mean seriously. There wasn't even a mention of Yosemite. I was very disappointed and this episode was promptly deleted. I wish I could get my money back.

Aerial America is one of the best television shows in history! Not only is this unique program shown on the Smithsonian Channel informative & educational but is also an excellent visual experience. Whenever I sit down to watch an episode I feel completely captivated and inspired by each U.S. state.

My disappointment with the Florida episode echoes that of other reviewers who note that an episode may focus on a limited part of a state. This episode concentrates on South Florida--houses of celebrities, urban areas, and some agricultural activities dominate the footage. The way certain companies are featured makes me wonder if these paid for the coverage. Central Florida consists of more than just citrus groves (large tracts of which have, in fact, been abandoned in recent years). Places in the Panhandle and North Florida, also known as the "Other Florida", get a few brief scenes, but areas like Panama City are not really representative of this rolling, forested, and hugely rural part of the state. The cities of Destin and Pensacola aren't shown. There's way more to Florida than bikini-clad spring breakers and celebrities with quirky homes. It's too bad the coverage in this episode is so uneven and that some beautiful natural areas like Paynes Prairie, Apalachicola Bluffs, and Wakulla Springs weren't included.

This episode spent far too long talking about Miami (with a fair bit of St. Augustine thrown in). It wasn't until the last 6 minutes that it ventured up to the panhandle. When it did, all it covered was the 2000 election recount in Tallahassee and "Girls Gone Wild" in Panama City. It completely glossed over the natural beauty of the Emerald Coast and its beaches that consistently rank in the top 10 of the world's best. The Smithsonian ought to be ashamed of themselves for producing such a lopsided documentary.

The scenery shots alone of the greatest spots in the 50 states are worth watching. The show is well put together, is informative, and is very entertaining. Watching this show really makes me just want to get out there and actually go visit these places. Highly recommended.

The choice of things to showcase and discuss in the script is moronic...no joke. There's more talk about sex, prisons, and death in Colorado, than the National Parks. Florida has several awkward and annoying such choices as well. Too much pop culture talk and not enough natural/cultural talk. What weirdo wrote these scripts and made these choices?

Quite a mesmerizing and hypnotic program. It's a shame some feel they're entitled to seeing their city. There's only so much that can be shown in 50 minutes...