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Where have all the science shows gone?

By laelaps on February 24, 2008.

When I was younger, there always seemed to be some show about science on television. Outside of the documentaries on PBS, the Discovery Channel, or even A&E, there was a whole slew of science shows for kids that generally have become extinct without replacement (although some still live on in reruns). Here are the intros to the shows I can remember watching on Saturday mornings and after school;


















[I couldn't find the intro for Beakman's World, so here's a clip about elephants instead.]





There may be one or two that I left out, but even if I did there was obviously a glut of science (and math) centered programs on from the mid-80's through the mid-90's. There was a lot of junk on TV, too, but I was usually exposed to some neat experiment or idea every day because of one of these shows. Maybe I'm just an oddball, though; not every kid bugged their parents to go to museums, aquariums, or buy stacks of books about sharks & dinosaurs.

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I remember a few of those, too (of course, I lived out in the boonies of AZ and CA and didn't see PBS until I was about 12).

As to what happened to them? My guess is that they have been progressively defunded (either through lack of grants (public) or lack of advertising (commercial)). The last thing big business needs is a bunch of consumers and voters with good critical thinking skills.

I was terribly obsessed with dinosaurs... until pokemon hit like a wave of cute, quirky, japanese nonsense.

I miss Square 1. Those were some great afternoons spent watching Square 1 and 3-2-1 Contact. Thanks for the reminder!