Q: I wondered if you knew anything about Chris Kimball, host of "America's Test Kitchen." He has been absent for the past month or so.

A: Kimball left the show in 2015 on poor terms with the show's producing company, ATK. The company even has a website, whywearesuing christopherkimball.com, which contends that he "poached our employees," usurped "relationships with critical vendors and underwriters" and took proprietary information "to launch a business that unfairly copies ATK." According to the Boston Globe, Kimball countered that he was forced out of ATK and that the company unfairly interfered with his new business, Christopher Kimball's Milk Street.

Journey ends for 'Marco Polo'

Q: One of the more incredible Netflix offerings was "Marco Polo." Will there be another season of this well-acted and beautifully filmed show?

A: No. Netflix decided to end the series after two seasons.

The marriage flopped

Q: I'm confused about the relationship of Christina and Tarek on "Flip or Flop." Are they still married?

A: Christina and Tarek El Moussa split in 2016 after seven years of marriage and two children: daughter Taylor, 6, and son Brayden, 18 months. With an array of personal challenges, strains had become so bad that Christina told People magazine, "We weren't able to properly communicate anymore. It got to the point where we weren't even driving to the set together." They have continued to work on the show, with its seventh season coming. Tarek told NBC's "Today" show "I'm not going to say it was easy ... [but] we love filming — that's our job. We've been doing it a long time, and we love releasing a good product for our fans. We just had to fight through it, and be the best we could, and I think it turned out great." Even if that does not work out long-term, HGTV has spinoffs ready with new hosts, including "Flip or Flop Vegas" starting April 6.

Tarek and Christina El Moussa

Vietnam TV flick

Q: Years ago I saw a part of a film on TV that was set during the Vietnam War. The main character is a long-haired hippie who gets drafted and has to go to boot camp. His fellow recruits give him a hard time, even after his hair is shaved off. The drill sergeant also singles him out for abuse, and at one point makes him stand with his arms straight out, holding a bucket of wet sand in each hand. The hippie goes into a meditative state, which allows him to transcend the rigor of doing this indefinitely. I missed the rest of this movie, and I can't remember the title. Do you have any ideas?

A: You are most likely thinking of "Tribes," a made-for-TV movie that premiered on ABC in 1970. Jan-Michael Vincent played the young soldier; Darren McGavin was his sergeant, and Earl Holliman played a villainous drill instructor. Tracy Keenan Wynn and Marvin Schwartz wrote the Emmy-winning script; Joseph Sargent directed. It is also known as "The Soldier Who Declared Peace."

E-mail brenfels@gmail.com.