Anyone else remember watching educational shows on PBS in the classroom? By that, I don't mean the really big shows like the ol' Sesamaroo. I mean shows that were relatively obscure.
Most of these shows were only 15 minutes per episode. They were mostly filmed in the 1970s but aired well into the 1980s.
Here's some examples...
'Inside Out'
'Self Incorporated'
'Cover To Cover'
'Truly American'
'Ripples'
'Studio See'
I also remember a show that had a puppet called Clyde the Frog.
A few episodes stick out in my mind. I remember an 'Inside Out' where a boy walks around in a city in Quebec and keeps asking people, "Do you speak English?" He gets really mad when they reply in French. There was also a 'Self Incorporated' where a boy enters a photography contest, and his rival ruins his photo negatives by stepping on them. I think both of these are up on YouTube now.
I'm still looking for an old show like this where some kid tramples another kid's toy dinosaur collection.
Quote from: bandit957 on January 15, 2019, 07:48:41 PM
Anyone else remember watching educational shows on PBS in the classroom? By that, I don't mean the really big shows like the ol' Sesamaroo. I mean shows that were relatively obscure.
Most of these shows were only 15 minutes per episode. They were mostly filmed in the 1970s but aired well into the 1980s.
Here's some examples...
'Inside Out'
'Self Incorporated'
'Cover To Cover'
'Truly American'
'Ripples'
'Studio See'
I also remember a show that had a puppet called Clyde the Frog.
A few episodes stick out in my mind. I remember an 'Inside Out' where a boy walks around in a city in Quebec and keeps asking people, "Do you speak English?" He gets really mad when they reply in French. There was also a 'Self Incorporated' where a boy enters a photography contest, and his rival ruins his photo negatives by stepping on them. I think both of these are up on YouTube now.
I'm still looking for an old show like this where some kid tramples another kid's toy dinosaur collection.
Bill Nye
3 2 1 Contact
Square One Television
Amigos
Now for one that I am trying to find that fits your description:
No school that day so I was watching PBS during a non P.B.S. Kids block. There was tons of perhaps American Public Television or other random TV mini series not meant for children.
I do not remember any thing about it except for the title segment and the credits segment (but obviously not the title it self.)
It was perhaps a math programme as it had various geometric shapes flying towards the screen as if you were moving forward. It was made with a crude computer simulation with accompanying electronic keyboard music. The melody is not unlike X-Files Theme.
The end credits segment is similar, same music, same grid environment from an old computer simulation, but instead of geometric shapes, it now contains the end credits in the same position, appearing to fly towards the screen until out of view, one after the other.
We didn't have TV's in classrooms at the time, but I was on an episode of Cover to Cover (with Jon Robbins) in 1964. Taped at WETA studios, but I have no idea if they were in Shirlington, VA at the time. 15 minute B&W show; the book was Wind in the Willows. I gave reports on 2 of the characters- Toad and another. Another classmate gave 2 others.
Time for a trip to the attic to find my "script" . I'd give plenty for a copy of that tape that was undoubtedly erased shortly after broadcast.
I don't recall ever watching these 15-minute series in the classroom. We did, however, use worksheets taken from The Letter People (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV0w_IqcDcA&list=PLqdwg22h9u3LVDhrpblAx2oZIeWUIHTTo) when I was in kindergarten, even though we never watched any of the TV installments in class. It blew my five-year-old mind when I stumbled onto a Letter People episode on TV at home one day. The idea that something could exist both in school and on television in the "real world" was an epiphany, strange as that sounds.
My daughter has really taken to The Letter People, and many episodes are available on YouTube. Watching them now, I can appreciate the little sprinkling of adult humor in the series. For example the recurring game show host character's voice is a dead ringer for Paul Lynde. In another episode when a pet dragon named Dolly runs away and later comes home, the owner's relieved reaction is "Well hello, Dolly. It's so nice to have you back where you belong!" I'm sure the jokes went over all of the kindergartners' heads.
Another 15-minute series my daughter enjoys is The Write Channel (https://youtu.be/GnIcNH07tws). It's an interesting combination of stop-motion animation and live action. An anthropomorphic bug (R.B. Bugg) is an aspiring reporter for a fictional TV station, and he's aided by news director/anchor Red Green (no, not that Red Green). On the show, R.B. watches an event unfold and then turns in a rough draft of a story that's full of short, repetitive sentences. (Bill went to the fair. Jan went to the fair. It was the state fair.), then Red helps him revise and combine the sentences (Bill and Jan went to the state fair.)as disembodied white hands move the words around on screen. Unfortunately, only a couple of episodes are available online.
Many of these 15-minute series were distributed by the Agency for Instructional Television (AIT) or its predecessor, National Instructional Television (NIT). Some of the short subject films directed toward older children and teenagers are, in my opinion, if not great filmmaking, at least adventurous and reflect a certain zeitgeist of the late '60s and '70s that films could connect with young people in a manner that would challenge their perceptions of the world and inspire them to think. One Inside/Out that stuck with me was a vignette (https://youtu.be/UwQ0nZY6ycg) in which we see a boy being bullied relentlessly throughout the day by a classmate...even after school and into unfamiliar territory as the victim tries to lose his bully. At the end, the bully falls off a ladder and is laying in pain on the ground as we see the victim finally turn around and confront the bully. Will he help the bully up? Kick him while he's down? It was an interesting installment.
Of the various AIT series, one that I particularly like is Thinkabout (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4kPdILoLSM&list=PLllZn0B_ivUKNagMaYlEtWwoQgnjcXnY-), which is focused on developing critical thinking skills in young adults. In addition to having a great analog synth theme and some very '70s Scanimate-like graphics in the intro, some of the episodes are rather well done. Many of the installments are available on YouTube.
My kindergarten class had the inflatable Letter People, but I don't remember the TV show.
Not really. Bill Nye was common in Middle School, but most things we watch in school are taken from Youtube.
Bill Nye and Where's Carmen San Diego
Square One TV or GTFO
Quote from: abefroman329 on January 16, 2019, 09:09:26 AM
Square One TV or GTFO
The geometry teacher at my high school would start every semester with this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqIki33mTgs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqIki33mTgs)
Anyone remember a math show in the '80s? It wouldn't be 'Square One', for Wikipedia says that didn't debut until 1987. The show I'm talking about would have aired around 1985, though it probably wasn't much older. It featured a man and a woman singing about math.
Another show I remember is 'Mulligan Stew'. I think that's where I learned the 4 food groups. (Although around here back then, everyone thought the 4 food groups were Dubble Bubble, Bubble Yum, Bubblicious, and Bazooka.)
Quote from: bandit957 on January 16, 2019, 10:24:07 AM
Anyone remember a math show in the '80s? It wouldn't be 'Square One', for Wikipedia says that didn't debut until 1987. The show I'm talking about would have aired around 1985, though it probably wasn't much older. It featured a man and a woman singing about math.
Sounds like Square One to me.
I remember National Gergraphic films.
Quote from: bandit957 on January 16, 2019, 10:24:07 AM
Anyone remember a math show in the '80s? It wouldn't be 'Square One', for Wikipedia says that didn't debut until 1987. The show I'm talking about would have aired around 1985, though it probably wasn't much older. It featured a man and a woman singing about math.
There was a show called "Mathnet", which was a spoof of "Dragnet". It starred James Earl Jones as the chief of the Mathnet detectives. They didn't do any singing though.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GJmWPNckrpo
Another one I remember was 'Slim Goodbody'. He was a guy who looked sort of like Richard Simmons, but he had all his internal organs and veins painted on his body.
Quote from: cjk374 on January 18, 2019, 11:08:54 PM
There was a show called "Mathnet", which was a spoof of "Dragnet".
Mathnet was a sketch on
Square One, not its own show (unless it was spun off at some point that I'm not aware of).
Quote from: bandit957 on January 18, 2019, 11:26:26 PM
Another one I remember was 'Slim Goodbody'. He was a guy who looked sort of like Richard Simmons, but he had all his internal organs and veins painted on his body.
I remember seeing Mr. Goodbody in school, but not as a TV program. We saw short segments in the form of still filmstrips with audio accompaniment.
Television, did you say television? We were lucky to have a radio! Back in 6th grade the station which had coverage for most of the county, AM of course, would do an educational show broadcast once a week. That was it for us back in the mid Sixties in terms of any sort of technology allowing us students to glean information from outside the school.
Want a side order of boring? When it rained, which was often on the southern Oregon coast, we would be taken to the multipurpose room to watch 16mm films about, get this, golf tournaments! Another wasted opportunity for either education or playtime.
Those were the days. Yeah, right...LOL! Today the digital attractions are so attractive that they are as potent as heroin in terms of addicting the user. Maybe we did have it better back then.
Given that "Sesame Street" was just a TV broadcast instead of an interactive online program, I would say it was the MVP for educating preschoolers when it first came out and it would still be a valuable item in the teaching arsenal. "Brought to you by the number 3". It was a major help to my nieces who were around in that era.
Rick
Quote from: nexus73 on January 19, 2019, 09:49:02 AM
Television, did you say television? We were lucky to have a radio! Back in 6th grade the station which had coverage for most of the county, AM of course, would do an educational show broadcast once a week. That was it for us back in the mid Sixties in terms of any sort of technology allowing us students to glean information from outside the school.
Want a side order of boring? When it rained, which was often on the southern Oregon coast, we would be taken to the multipurpose room to watch 16mm films about, get this, golf tournaments! Another wasted opportunity for either education or playtime.
Those were the days. Yeah, right...LOL! Today the digital attractions are so attractive that they are as potent as heroin in terms of addicting the user. Maybe we did have it better back then.
Given that "Sesame Street" was just a TV broadcast instead of an interactive online program, I would say it was the MVP for educating preschoolers when it first came out and it would still be a valuable item in the teaching arsenal. "Brought to you by the number 3". It was a major help to my nieces who were around in that era.
Rick
I thought that tvs were mainstream by the 50s.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 19, 2019, 10:50:24 AM
I thought that tvs were mainstream by the 50s.
Not in schools. Those things cost money. And where would you put the antenna? The school wasn't wired for video, and because many were constructed with thick brick or stone, rabbit ears wouldn't have picked up well.
We saw film strips with sound on record players - "bing".
And sometimes movies, if the teacher could figure out how to thread the projector. By about 4th grade, there were always a few students in the class who could do it better than the teacher.
Quote from: briantroutman on January 19, 2019, 09:09:57 AM
Quote from: cjk374 on January 18, 2019, 11:08:54 PM
There was a show called "Mathnet", which was a spoof of "Dragnet".
Mathnet was a sketch on Square One, not its own show (unless it was spun off at some point that I'm not aware of).
I doubt it was a spin-off. I just didn't remember Square One.
Quote from: bandit957 on January 18, 2019, 11:26:26 PM
Another one I remember was 'Slim Goodbody'. He was a guy who looked sort of like Richard Simmons, but he had all his internal organs and veins painted on his body.
I remember seeing Mr. Goodbody in school, but not as a TV program. We saw short segments in the form of still filmstrips with audio accompaniment.
For some reason, I thought Slim Goodbody was part of Capt. Kangaroo. Again, I could be wrong. That was 35-40 years ago for me.
Damn I need to quit doing that math. The number keeps getting bigger. X-( :-(
I remember in one classroom in grade school we had something called U-Film, which lets you make your own flimstrips by drawing on the filmstrip with markers.
I could have sworn there was also a show called 'Watch Your Language', which I only remember because it sounds like an adult scolding a kid for cussing.
Quote from: US71 on January 17, 2019, 11:26:11 AM
I remember National Gergraphic films.
Same here. Lots of those in the early 90's in junior high. I actually enjoyed a lot of them, though it wasn't cool to admit it at that age.
Quote from: SectorZ on January 19, 2019, 06:50:41 PM
Quote from: US71 on January 17, 2019, 11:26:11 AM
I remember National Gergraphic films.
Same here. Lots of those in the early 90's in junior high. I actually enjoyed a lot of them, though it wasn't cool to admit it at that age.
We saw some in the early '90s in high school, but I thought they were pretty slow-paced and not too exciting, even if they had important subject matter. Some of them were really old. I remember a really old National Geographic film about poaching.
Quote from: bandit957 on January 19, 2019, 06:54:52 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on January 19, 2019, 06:50:41 PM
Quote from: US71 on January 17, 2019, 11:26:11 AM
I remember National Gergraphic films.
Same here. Lots of those in the early 90's in junior high. I actually enjoyed a lot of them, though it wasn't cool to admit it at that age.
We saw some in the early '90s in high school, but I thought they were pretty slow-paced and not too exciting, even if they had important subject matter. Some of them were really old. I remember a really old National Geographic film about poaching.
Speaking of old NatGeo's, when I was young, the local library had a collection of their magazines going back to before the Great War AKA World War I. Those were fun to read!
Rick
Quote from: nexus73 on January 20, 2019, 10:11:41 AM
Quote from: bandit957 on January 19, 2019, 06:54:52 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on January 19, 2019, 06:50:41 PM
Quote from: US71 on January 17, 2019, 11:26:11 AM
I remember National Gergraphic films.
Same here. Lots of those in the early 90's in junior high. I actually enjoyed a lot of them, though it wasn't cool to admit it at that age.
We saw some in the early '90s in high school, but I thought they were pretty slow-paced and not too exciting, even if they had important subject matter. Some of them were really old. I remember a really old National Geographic film about poaching.
Speaking of old NatGeo's, when I was young, the local library had a collection of their magazines going back to before the Great War AKA World War I. Those were fun to read!
Rick
My parents had 10+ years of them that they tossed when I was in high school. We were moving (again) and dad was tired of moving them
I don't know whether it was a PBS show, but I remember at some point in grammar school we watched a show each week called "Metric Marmalade." I don't remember much about it beyond the name and that it was about, obviously, weights and measures. This was the late 1970s/early 1980s, so we spent a lot more time on metric measurement than we did on the US system because the US was supposed to be switching soon. I still have a better sense for metric units than I do for American units.
I vaguely remember some other educational show about nutrition. Again, no idea what network it was on, and I don't know what it was called, but I remember vaguely there was some sequence where there was a musical riff that repeated something like four or five times, with the characters singing the name of one of the four basic food groups after each repetition and the piece finally ending with them singing, "and that's a balanced diettttttttt.....to UUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSS!" (I think the main reason I remember this is that one kid in our classroom found that bit very entertaining and sang a disturbing imitation of it at other times of the week.)
PBS, like any UHF channel, wasn't always the easiest channel to receive in those days, so I have no idea what channel carried this material. Couldn't have been pre-recorded because the schools didn't have VCRs until maybe 1985.
Edited to add: A Google search turned up the article below indicating that "Metric Marmalade" was created by a guy from Richmond, though it doesn't say what channel aired the show in Northern Virginia.
https://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/sailor-bob/Content?oid=1376031
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 20, 2019, 10:44:13 AM
I vaguely remember some other educational show about nutrition. Again, no idea what network it was on, and I don't know what it was called, but I remember vaguely there was some sequence where there was a musical riff that repeated something like four or five times, with the characters singing the name of one of the four basic food groups after each repetition and the piece finally ending with them singing, "and that's a balanced diettttttttt.....to UUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSS!"
That might have been 'Mulligan Stew'. It sounds vaguely familiar.
Schools around here got VCR's in the mid-'80s, and one of my first memories of it was sneaking into a classroom to program it to tape over some other show with 'Sesame Street'.
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 20, 2019, 10:44:13 AM
PBS, like any UHF channel, wasn't always the easiest channel to receive in those days...
Perhaps a nitpick, but in many major cities, the major public television station was on a VHF channel (Boston - 2, New York - 13, Philadelphia - 12, Pittsburgh - 13, Chicago - 11, Atlanta - 8, Miami - 2, Houston - 13, Dallas - 13, Phoenix - 8, San Francisco - 9, Seattle - 9). Washington was a bit of an exception with WETA being on channel 26–Los Angeles was another notable exception.
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 20, 2019, 10:44:13 AM
"Metric Marmalade." ...I have no idea what channel carried this material.
One of the most prolific producers and distributors of educational video materials from the '70s through the '80s (perhaps peaking around the height of the metrification craze) was the Educational Film Center of the Northern Virginia Educational Telecommunications Association (http://image.wikifoundry.com/image/3/b2951081904574db65f9d6dcd7658dfe/GW329H254). Given the geographic proximity and the subject matter, I think it's reasonably likely that EFC produced and distributed the series in cooperation with the Agency for Instructional Television and that it would have aired on WETA in the Washington metro area.
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 20, 2019, 10:44:13 AM
Couldn't have been pre-recorded because the schools didn't have VCRs until maybe 1985.
As to how the broadcast would have been played in schools, there are a few possibilities. From the '50s through the '80s, many buildings of various types had large rooftop antennas connected to coaxial cables running to rooms throughout the building. Individual rooms would be outfitted with a jack that looked just like the kind used for cable TV, but rather than connecting to a cable company's network, it connected to the large antenna–which was capable of pulling in a much stronger signal than rabbit ears connected to an individual set. So even if you couldn't pick up the local public TV station reliably at home, a school's industrial-grade antenna might have.
Another possibility is that your classroom
was connected to cable, even though cable might not have been widespread in household use at the time. I understand that offering free or low-cost cable to schools and municipal buildings was a common tactic cable companies used to ply local officials and get favorable franchise agreements.
And yet another possibility (though less likely) is that the school might have been using microwave. I've read stories about schools and public broadcasters in the '70s and '80s setting up pilot programs to deliver educational programs to schools through direct microwave links, but these were expensive and typically funded by some kind of "experimental educational technologies" grant from state government.
In general, I think scheduling and technical constraints dramatically limited the practical use of television in the classroom until the '80s, when school districts could outfit rooms with consumer-grade videocassette or laserdisc players at reasonable cost. Prior to that, scheduling would have been a nightmare. Let's say the local public television station aired Metric Marmalade at 11 a.m. That might have been fine for the fourth period math class, but what about the other math sections? With a VCR, the math teacher could record Metric Marmalade on TV once, then play it for each section on-demand throughout the course of the day.
It does seem like the TV stations were clearer at school than at home. Our clearest PBS station at home would have been Channel 54, and most schools I attended at the time were close enough to Channel 54's tower that they should have had no trouble picking it up. I know we did watch these shows as they aired (rather than taping them with a VCR), because I remember that right before the show started, the station aired a little digital clock showing when the show would start.
I also remember that the TV was on a large shelf with wheels that could be rolled into the classroom. In early grade school, we actually used a black-and-white set.
The name "Mulligan Stew" sounds vaguely familiar.
As far as antennas/cable/etc., for the most part I recall our TV reception at home being better than the reception at school (and we didn't have cable at home until late 1986). They regularly wheeled in a TV to show space shuttle launches and landings and the reception was always grainy, whereas at home we could watch just fine. I really have no idea what the setup was other than that it was very unlikely to have been cable.
I worked at the public library for years in the '90s, and I remember my boss talking about how the TV in the meeting room was hooked up to a satellite dish. She got really mad once because somebody unhooked the TV from the dish somehow.
My schools had CATV but curiously also at least one Satellite Dish. The principal said that it still works and I think it was for "Channel One News" which the receiver was in a back room of the library. It could be watched live or taped; The receiver was this huge metal box with what looked like a TV VCR Combo inside it. I do not remember how they broadcasted it to the class rooms. But eventually most teachers decided not to watch it.
We never had Channel One, and I always thought the whole idea was idiotic anyway. I'm guessing Channel One would have started when I was in high school, but I never saw it.
We had Channel One at the public HS I went to in GA, though I think that was just for freshman year. As I recall, the big concern with it was that it was mostly commercials.
If you did not get to watch Channel One News, you did not miss any thing.
Quote from: In_Correct on January 22, 2019, 10:53:39 AM
If you did not get to watch Channel One News, you did not miss any thing.
I really have no recollection of whether it was good journalism, or whether it had a notable slant, just that it seemed to be a means to an end of showing commercials to a captive audience that couldn't opt out.
Channel One sucked because it was....news. I don't watch news now. I didn't care much about it then. The teachers were so hell bent on making sure we watched Ch. 1, we would be given a quiz on what was just on the damn TV!
Talking about news, when I was middle school, I watched something called CNN student news. It wasn't very liked but I found it ok.
We watched Inside-Out in 2nd and 3rd Grade. One episode that stands out in my mind was titled "I Dare You", where a group of kids were giving each other risky dares. The final one -- and most dangerous -- was where a girl was asked to stand on the road in front of an approaching VW microbus "and stop it". She envisions what the possible outcomes were if she took the dare (if she failed, it wasn't pretty!), but the episode ended before she made a decision.
A show we watched in 4th was titled "Other Families, Other Friends", where they traveled around the world and interviewed ordinary families. At least 2 episodes were about each location; 4 of the shows focused on Cape Jones, a remote, isolated settlement on the James and Hudson Bay in northern Quebec. I think this was also produced by NIT. Next to nothing was found on Google.
Still another show from that school year was "Let's All Sing with Tony Saletan". (This was our music class!) In each episode, the host would teach us a song on his guitar, though one or two episodes focused on other instruments like the dulcimer. This included some classics like "Aiken Drum" and "Mi Chacra". Also "The Foolish Frog", which he said he learned from Pete Seeger himself! The show was produced by Western Instructional Television. Thanks to FB, someone sent me several videotaped episodes on DVD!
Regarding Channel One; although that was after my time, I remember what the premise was. The company provides the TVs and the satellite-receiving equipment for free, in exchange for a daily, mandatory viewing of their news report by the student body. Of course, this included maybe 2 minutes of advertising, as part of the business model. It sounded good "on paper", but, as others have mentioned, there was some backlash against forced viewing of commercials, regardless of the reason. One political cartoon explained the feeling well. A TV in the classroom is showing a commercial for "Junkos" chips, while a kid in class is reading a textbook. A stereotypical-looking older female teacher says to him something like "Young man, stop reading and watch TV or you'll be in big trouble!"
It might have been Inside Out when this happened. The plot was that one teen had gotten a pack of playing cards with nudes on them, and showed them to his friends. The teacher immediately freaked out, and turned off the TV. Hey, the pictures were covered up by the cards in front of them. This is being shown on TV. They know what they are doing. Still, the teacher thought she saw more than what she saw and we saw the crime without the punishment.
News traveled fast, and there were a few students who were out of class when this show came on. When they came back, they asked, "How was the nudie show?"
Other episodes gave me the creeps anyway. There was one episode where teens were smoking inside (smoking what, I don't know) and heard their parents coming, so they desperately sprayed air freshener to cover up. Watching this show seemed too much like hanging out with the bad kids, and not in a good way.
'Self Incorporated' had really creepy theme music. It was a synth theme that sounded sort of like the little PBS bumpers back then, only slower.
We had Channel 1 in school, as the first thing done when returning from lunch break. I tried to watch it because I was actually interested in news, but the rest of class saw it as an extended time to horse around and were usually loud enough that I couldn't hear the audio. The teachers saw this a period where they didn't have to manage the classroom, so they didn't have much interest in making anyone pipe down. As time passed, they kind of stopped bothering to even turn it on.
As I got older, I started recognizing how some teachers used TV time as an excuse to get out of the actual job of teaching. (Why bother putting in the effort to make an engaging lecture about the Civil War when Ken Burns exists?) Football coaches that were required to also teach classes were particularly prone to this strategy.
Quote from: lepidopteran on January 23, 2019, 09:43:02 PMRegarding Channel One; although that was after my time, I remember what the premise was. The company provides the TVs and the satellite-receiving equipment for free, in exchange for a daily, mandatory viewing of their news report by the student body.
Unless the TVs and the satellite dishes could be used for something other than watching Channel One, I don't see how this was a good deal for the school.
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 24, 2019, 12:17:20 AMAs I got older, I started recognizing how some teachers used TV time as an excuse to get out of the actual job of teaching. (Why bother putting in the effort to make an engaging lecture about the Civil War when Ken Burns exists?)
At least Ken Burns' Civil War documentary was scholarly and (probably) historically accurate. Can't say the same for Glory, Braveheart, and The Patriot, all of which have been show in history classes and presented as faithful to historical record.
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 24, 2019, 12:17:20 AMFootball coaches that were required to also teach classes were particularly prone to this strategy
The only athletic coach I had that taught a non-PE class and was good at it was a tennis coach, and I think he preferred to be called "Mr. Burton" vs. "Coach Burton" in the classroom.
Quote from: abefroman329 on January 24, 2019, 09:03:09 AM
Quote from: lepidopteran on January 23, 2019, 09:43:02 PMRegarding Channel One; although that was after my time, I remember what the premise was. The company provides the TVs and the satellite-receiving equipment for free, in exchange for a daily, mandatory viewing of their news report by the student body.
Unless the TVs and the satellite dishes could be used for something other than watching Channel One, I don't see how this was a good deal for the school.
They did not provide us any televisions. The Televisions and the wiring had to be provided by the school. Channel One News only provided satellite dish and receiver / television monitor / VHS Recorder device for the school campus library to be broadcasted to the school's televisions.
The VHS recorder tapes the live broadcast and gives the capability for the librarians to make copies for the teachers to play separately, as well as the capability for the librarians to play it or even replay it for the entire school all day long.
Since no one has mentioned it yet, I remember that Anderson Cooper got his start on Channel One.
Remember this? This was a song, not a TV show, but here it goes...
"This is a song about colors...Colors...You see 'em all around...Red on a stop sign, green on a tree...Blue in the sky and sea..."
Quote from: bandit957 on January 24, 2019, 12:04:54 PM
Remember this? This was a song, not a TV show, but here it goes...
"This is a song about colors...Colors...You see 'em all around...Red on a stop sign, green on a tree...Blue in the sky and sea..."
No.
Remember this? This was a song, not a TV show, but here it goes...
"When you're headed for first, and you feel somethin' burst, diarrhea..."
Quote from: abefroman329 on January 24, 2019, 12:28:39 PM
Remember this? This was a song, not a TV show, but here it goes...
"When you're headed for first, and you feel somethin' burst, diarrhea..."
"Sittin' in the tub, and the water turns to mud, diarrhea..."
"Sittin' on the pot, and you give it all you got, diarrhea..."
"You think it's really gross, but it's really good on toast, diarrhea..."
"Comin' home from Mexico, when you stop at Texaco, diarrhea..."
Quote from: abefroman329 on January 24, 2019, 12:02:56 PM
Since no one has mentioned it yet, I remember that Anderson Cooper got his start on Channel One.
As well as Lisa Ling, Tracy Smith, and Serena Altschul (at least these are the ones I can remember who are still involved in TV journalism in some fashion, the latter two both still with
CBS Sunday Morning).
Quote from: rawmustard on January 24, 2019, 12:43:50 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on January 24, 2019, 12:02:56 PM
Since no one has mentioned it yet, I remember that Anderson Cooper got his start on Channel One.
As well as Lisa Ling, Tracy Smith, and Serena Altschul (at least these are the ones I can remember who are still involved in TV journalism in some fashion, the latter two both still with CBS Sunday Morning).
Huh, didn't know that. I remember Serena Altschul from MTV News, but I don't know if that was before or after Channel One.
I can't say I ever would have thought Mo Rocca would do so well on CBSSM, but his stories are always delightful to watch.
I remember another show which I don't remember the name of, but I think the host's name was Phyllis Martin. I think she was also a business reporter on some of the TV stations.
I think her PBS show was about great inventions. I remember she showed a clip of a glassblower blowing glass, and she said something like, "Your cheeks may puff out like this when you are blowing bubbles with bubble gum." I burst out laughing!
They really should call them glassbubblers.
Quote from: abefroman329 on January 24, 2019, 09:03:09 AM
Quote from: lepidopteran on January 23, 2019, 09:43:02 PMRegarding Channel One; although that was after my time, I remember what the premise was. The company provides the TVs and the satellite-receiving equipment for free, in exchange for a daily, mandatory viewing of their news report by the student body.
Unless the TVs and the satellite dishes could be used for something other than watching Channel One, I don't see how this was a good deal for the school.
My high school got Channel One around the time when I was in 10th grade (circa 2000). I don't know for certain who paid the tab for what components, but as part of the rollout, each classroom (that served as a homeroom) was outfitted with a mid-sized CRT TV (about 25") and VHS VCR. Prior to that, the school had a limited number of TVs and VCRs, mounted in pairs on rolling carts, that would be wheeled into rooms as needed when teachers wanted to show videos in class.
The new TVs that were installed as part of the Channel One program were connected via coaxial cable and apparently able to receive some assortment of standard TV channels. I remember that vividly because this then-new TV connectivity allowed nearly everyone in my school to watch United 175 crash into the south tower of the World Trade Center live (until the principal, sounding somewhat flustered, came on the PA system and announced that all TVs were to be turned off for the remainder of the day). But aside from 9/11, teachers used the new Channel One-installed TVs when showing videos in class.
The Channel One News program was run during our roughly 20-minute homeroom period at the very end of the day. I just recall the program and the accompanying in-your-face advertisements as seeming to try too hard (and failing) to be cool and "extreme" , in the lexicon of the day. Even as a teenager, the program's journalism seemed lightweight to the point of making
USA Today look intellectual. Assuming that Channel One laid out a hefty sum to get their programming into the classroom, they didn't get their money's worth. Many homeroom teachers would forget and turn on the TV late...or not at all. Eventually, the principal started to make announcements reminding teachers to turn the TV on, but even then, not all complied. Most students ignored the TV, and frequently the afternoon announcements would cut Channel One short.
Kindergarten: The Letter People
1st Grade: Reading Rainbow
3rd-5th Grade: Bill Nye the Science Guy
6th-8th Grade: Channel One
I also remember watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? at home in the afternoons. I still think Carmen Sandiego is the reason I love geography.
Quote from: abefroman329 on January 24, 2019, 12:28:39 PM
Quote from: bandit957 on January 24, 2019, 12:04:54 PM
Remember this? This was a song, not a TV show, but here it goes...
"This is a song about colors...Colors...You see 'em all around...Red on a stop sign, green on a tree...Blue in the sky and sea..."
No.
Remember this? This was a song, not a TV show, but here it goes...
"When you're headed for first, and you feel somethin' burst, diarrhea..."
When you're standin' on the ladder and you feel something splatter...
Also, this is on point:
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190125/4683f22d7e5755b1768d071fcc182bbf.gif)
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 24, 2019, 09:38:37 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on January 24, 2019, 12:28:39 PM
Quote from: bandit957 on January 24, 2019, 12:04:54 PM
Remember this? This was a song, not a TV show, but here it goes...
"This is a song about colors...Colors...You see 'em all around...Red on a stop sign, green on a tree...Blue in the sky and sea..."
No.
Remember this? This was a song, not a TV show, but here it goes...
"When you're headed for first, and you feel somethin' burst, diarrhea..."
When you're standin' on the ladder and you feel something splatter...
Also, this is on point:
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190125/4683f22d7e5755b1768d071fcc182bbf.gif)
Is that Baby Blues?
I only know the verses related to baseball.
That is indeed Baby Blues.
Other verses I can recall:
When you're drivin' in your Chevy and your pants feel heavy....
When you're up against the wall and you feel somethin' fall....
When it's runnin' down your leg like a soft slimy egg....
"When you're sittin' on the toilet, and you think you just destroyed it."
There once was a program called Ripple. It was a PBS show right around the Partridge Family/ Brady Bunch era.
Quote from: roadman65 on January 24, 2019, 10:27:50 PM
There once was a program called Ripple. It was a PBS show right around the Partridge Family/ Brady Bunch era.
Was it sponsored by Ripple?
Quote from: SCtoKC on January 24, 2019, 05:46:56 PM
Kindergarten: The Letter People
1st Grade: Reading Rainbow
3rd-5th Grade: Bill Nye the Science Guy
6th-8th Grade: Channel One
I also remember watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? at home in the afternoons. I still think Carmen Sandiego is the reason I love geography.
Channel One was canceled about 6 months ago, must not be popular anymore as I have never heard of other people doing it.
I remember a lot of shows like 'Ripples' and 'Inside Out' were on very old-style film, almost like a home movie from the 1960s.
"Sittin' on the sink, and something starts to stink..."
Does anyone remember Zoom?
I used to watch quite a lot of those shows on WTTW in Chicago, mostly Sesame Street, The Electric Company and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.
Quote from: dcharlie on January 25, 2019, 11:29:47 AM
Does anyone remember Zoom?
I recall there being a show of that name and I don't remember anything at all about it.
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 25, 2019, 12:08:34 PM
Quote from: dcharlie on January 25, 2019, 11:29:47 AM
Does anyone remember Zoom?
I recall there being a show of that name and I don't remember anything at all about it.
It was a 1970s kids' show that had a bunch of kids wearing striped shirts. I don't remember anything else about it.
There was a later version too, maybe 10 or 15 years ago, but I never saw it.
I can't remember a lot about Zoom either. But I know I loved it. I did see the redone version, but wasn't impressed. That could be because it truly wasn't as good, or I am much older now!
SCTV did a biting parody of ZOOM (and other similar shows) called Pre-Teen World (https://youtu.be/mFu4l8VR5GY).
My younger sister was a big fan of the '90s version, so I saw quite a few episodes of it. I've seen a few clips of the '70s version, and from what I've seen, two versions were very similar.
The show primarily took place on a single set (black background and giant, brightly colored set pieces including huge letters spelling out ZOOM), and it was anchored by about half a dozen pre-teens who would open and close the show with a choreographed song and dance (the show's theme song). The kids would do a few kitchen science demonstrations, sometimes household craft or art projects, and usually a viewer mail segment. There were some taped segments featuring "regular kids" out in the real world, and a few non-sequitur comedic sketches scattered throughout.
One of ZOOM's signatures was a pretty easy to crack secret language called "Ubbi Dubbi" –where a spoken message would be obscured by adding "ub" before every vowel sound in a word. So "Tune into ZOOM" would become "tub-oom ubin-tubo zub-oom" . Occasionally, the cast would perform entire sketches in Ubbi Dubbi.
It seems like the '70s version of 'Zoom' did a segment about bubble gum once. Or maybe I'm thinking of 'Studio See'.
Catherine O'Hara is a national treasure.
Quote from: bandit957 on January 20, 2019, 01:49:55 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 20, 2019, 10:44:13 AM
I vaguely remember some other educational show about nutrition. Again, no idea what network it was on, and I don't know what it was called, but I remember vaguely there was some sequence where there was a musical riff that repeated something like four or five times, with the characters singing the name of one of the four basic food groups after each repetition and the piece finally ending with them singing, "and that's a balanced diettttttttt.....to UUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSS!"
That might have been 'Mulligan Stew'. It sounds vaguely familiar.
....
I finally got around to looking this up on YouTube. You are indeed correct. I find it of mild interest to note that the stadium scenes here are rather obviously (to anyone from the DC area) RFK Stadium.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 25, 2019, 09:56:30 AM
Quote from: SCtoKC on January 24, 2019, 05:46:56 PM
Kindergarten: The Letter People
1st Grade: Reading Rainbow
3rd-5th Grade: Bill Nye the Science Guy
6th-8th Grade: Channel One
I also remember watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? at home in the afternoons. I still think Carmen Sandiego is the reason I love geography.
Channel One was canceled about 6 months ago, must not be popular anymore as I have never heard of other people doing it.
I can't believe Ch. 1 lasted THIS long! I remember my school getting it in the late 80s/early 90s.
Quote from: cjk374 on January 26, 2019, 07:06:14 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 25, 2019, 09:56:30 AM
Quote from: SCtoKC on January 24, 2019, 05:46:56 PM
Kindergarten: The Letter People
1st Grade: Reading Rainbow
3rd-5th Grade: Bill Nye the Science Guy
6th-8th Grade: Channel One
I also remember watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? at home in the afternoons. I still think Carmen Sandiego is the reason I love geography.
Channel One was canceled about 6 months ago, must not be popular anymore as I have never heard of other people doing it.
I can't believe Ch. 1 lasted THIS long! I remember my school getting it in the late 80s/early 90s.
Seems like it'd be a hell of a lot cheaper to stream the content via the Internet than to maintain all those televisions and satellite dishes.
Quote from: abefroman329 on January 26, 2019, 07:29:29 PM
Quote from: cjk374 on January 26, 2019, 07:06:14 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on January 25, 2019, 09:56:30 AM
Quote from: SCtoKC on January 24, 2019, 05:46:56 PM
Kindergarten: The Letter People
1st Grade: Reading Rainbow
3rd-5th Grade: Bill Nye the Science Guy
6th-8th Grade: Channel One
I also remember watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? at home in the afternoons. I still think Carmen Sandiego is the reason I love geography.
Channel One was canceled about 6 months ago, must not be popular anymore as I have never heard of other people doing it.
I can't believe Ch. 1 lasted THIS long! I remember my school getting it in the late 80s/early 90s.
Seems like it'd be a hell of a lot cheaper to stream the content via the Internet than to maintain all those televisions and satellite dishes.
There was no such thing as internet connection back then. But for the most recent installs, yes.
Quote from: dcharlie on January 25, 2019, 11:29:47 AM
Does anyone remember Zoom?
I remember they had "rapping" that was very different from what rap is now. People insist that rapping is a drug-induced condition, but it has much more innocent origins.
The main idea of Zoom is that the cast would perform scripts sent in by viewers, and I remember the Zip Code at the end of the song they sing of the address: "Boston Mass, oh two one three four. Send it to Zoom!" I was glad to see the same Zip Code on Frontline for a while, until they finally moved to a different part of town.
Quote from: ErmineNotyours on January 27, 2019, 11:00:26 PMPeople insist that rapping is a drug-induced condition, but it has much more innocent origins.
People also insisted the same thing about jazz. People are morons.
Quote from: ErmineNotyours on January 27, 2019, 11:00:26 PM
Quote from: dcharlie on January 25, 2019, 11:29:47 AM
Does anyone remember Zoom?
I remember they had "rapping" that was very different from what rap is now. People insist that rapping is a drug-induced condition, but it has much more innocent origins.
The main idea of Zoom is that the cast would perform scripts sent in by viewers, and I remember the Zip Code at the end of the song they sing of the address: "Boston Mass, oh two one three four. Send it to Zoom!" I was glad to see the same Zip Code on Frontline for a while, until they finally moved to a different part of town.
Heh. I remember the 1970s version of Zoom. Love that people now nostalgically remember the reboot.
Speaking of PBS, though a non-sequitur of sorts, I read this morning that Caroll Spinney aka Big Bird had once been considered for the Challenger Space Shuttle crew when NASA was first considering sending civilians.
Channel One News probably wanted its own proprietary hardware as much as possible. And actually there was Internet back then, but it was impossible to stream media. Now it is only expensive. Channel One News wanted to reach to a young audience with allowances and lunch money even if the school buildings did not yet have any way to view Channel One News. If the school had no connection at all or an insufficient connection, the costs for Channel One News to deploy its hardware would be equal the costs to deploy Fiber Internet Service. Another thing benefits Channel One News is that many schools heavily censor the Web Sites. Channel One News wanted to eliminate that possibility.
I have watched both versions of Zoom. The old version did indeed have a Piano Jazz theme. The late 1990s version used a much longer Rap variant.
The 1970s apparel included horizontal striped shirts. The 1990s version included a very bright mostly solid single colour shirts with the (updated) ZOOM logo on it.
The programme let viewers submit requests to them with a loss of ownership disclaimer at the end credits. The cast (replaced every year except 2 or 3 of them from the previous year, to not recur more than 2 years, except for Carolone Botelho) would read the submissions.
These submissions are performing arts, science experiments, recipes, debates, and community action.
It seemed to have inspired a Noggin show "Sponk!" that was very short lived. Hosted by Johnathan McClain, Karen Fowler, 8 cast members, 4 boys, 4 girls, 2 teams, 2 sitting out, with the occasional studio audience participant, and of course took submissions from the home audience. Also, a home audience viewer would win a small prize. These performances are not too different from Zoom. The main two differences is they divided into teams and their performances were timed with its buzzer the sound of a squawking chicken. The cast fought over the prized golden rubber chicken.
ZOOM segments were never timed.
Sponk!'s cast never changed as it was only one year of production.
A possible reason why neither show is on the air any more is be cause kids these days won't put their cell phones long enough to watch and participate Television.
If ZOOM ever returns, it will probably have a theme music consisting of squeaking mice.
I remember something in high school that I think was sort of like a poster version of Channel One. They had these huge posters that described different events and activities, and the lower portion of the poster was just a big row of ads. (I remember an ad for Sears with a drawing of a person opening their mouth, revealing the Sears logo.)
I also remember similar posters in college, but I don't think they had ads. I remember one of the posters featured a small photo of singer Jewel, and I think Jewel would have too much integrity to participate in a Channel One-style project.
One day, I noticed someone blew a bubble with bubble gum and stuck it over Jewel's face on this poster, to make it appear as if Jewel was blowing a bubble.
Quote from: In_Correct on January 28, 2019, 10:41:49 AMA possible reason why neither show is on the air any more is be cause kids these days won't put their cell phones long enough to watch and participate Television
Childrens' television programming still exists. They watch it on...their phones.
Good. But I still don't believe children today would actively participating in interactive programmes such as "ZOOM" and "Sponk!".
Quote from: In_Correct on January 28, 2019, 12:52:24 PM
Good. But I still don't believe children today would actively participating in interactive programmes such as "ZOOM" and "Sponk!".
I think you'd be surprised.
Quote from: abefroman329 on January 28, 2019, 11:04:55 AM
Quote from: In_Correct on January 28, 2019, 10:41:49 AMA possible reason why neither show is on the air any more is be cause kids these days won't put their cell phones long enough to watch and participate Television
Childrens' television programming still exists. They watch it on...their phones.
Some stuff on youtube is anything but kid friendly though.
The ironic thing about naming your program Channel One is that Ch. 1 VHF is not allowed to be used for any purposes due to interference with aviation and amateur radio users.
Quote from: bandit957 on January 28, 2019, 11:03:57 AM
I also remember similar posters in college, but I don't think they had ads. I remember one of the posters featured a small photo of singer Jewel, and I think Jewel would have too much integrity to participate in a Channel One-style project.
One day, I noticed someone blew a bubble with bubble gum and stuck it over Jewel's face on this poster, to make it appear as if Jewel was blowing a bubble.
We had posters like that in my college, Washington State University in 1988, posted by Whittle Communications, which I remembered was the owner of Channel One, which I luckily never saw. One poster was a large close up of political talk host Morton Downey Jr., which my roommate wanted when they changed the poster in a month. I found it wadded up in the trash, so I retrieved it for him.
I think Channel One provided the TVs that we watched the program on. The Channel One TVs were mounted on an arm that was mounted to the wall. They were set to automatically come on whenever it started. Later on, the school got some TVs on carts that were pushed around for showing movies, so I guess they either couldn't or didn't want to use or upgrade the Channel One TVs.
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 01, 2019, 06:13:38 AMThey were set to automatically come on whenever it started.
Well that says it all, doesn't it.
Quote from: RobbieL2415 on January 28, 2019, 10:12:55 PM
The ironic thing about naming your program Channel One is that Ch. 1 VHF is not allowed to be used for any purposes due to interference with aviation and amateur radio users.
Most cable systems and some satellite systems have a channel 1
but Even in Over The Air Digital Broadcasting the FCC has not approved a Virtual Channel 1.x