“What sort of science would you like to watch on TV?”
February 23, 2022 7:26 AM Subscribe
S is for Science: The making of 3-2-1 Contact by Ingrid Ockert (Physics Today, January 2021) tells the story of the processes behind the creation of the beloved children's science show.
"One of Chen, Clarke, and Myerson Katz’s first studies gathered qualitative data on children’s bias toward scientists. Two hundred children in grades 4–6 at an elementary school in western New York were asked to write essays either describing the reasons why they might want to be a scientist or imagining the average day in the life of a scientist.
Discouragingly, boys and girls alike overwhelmingly believed that science was an intellectually exhausting, dangerous, and demanding career. Their perceptions reflected the way scientists were portrayed in movies and cartoons: as older men wearing white lab coats, hunched over their laboratory equipment. Most saw scientists as “very narrow human beings who spend their lives in labs and have little social interaction.” One boy wrote, “I would not like to be a scientist because I would not like to do what they do. They get up early in the morning.” The children understood the importance of scientific research—and some expressed an interest in learning about the human body—but they didn’t feel comfortable imagining themselves as future scientists.
The team’s magnum opus, “The Television Interest Survey,”6 came in 1978. More than 4000 children in five states completed the survey, which asked their opinions on a range of popular television programs, including The Six Million Dollar Man, The Muppet Show, and ZOOM. The researchers hoped that the selection of states—Massachusetts, Mississippi, Virginia, Illinois, and California—would encompass not only geographic but also ethnic and economic diversity. To make the questionnaire as accessible as possible, they designed it to be completed in just 20 minutes, with minimal literacy required. The study confirmed what the researchers had long suspected: Current television programs were not meeting the needs of scientifically minded children."
All of the fascinating (still functioning) links your heart desires can be found in this truly excellent previously from 2016. Happy Doubles Jubilee!
"One of Chen, Clarke, and Myerson Katz’s first studies gathered qualitative data on children’s bias toward scientists. Two hundred children in grades 4–6 at an elementary school in western New York were asked to write essays either describing the reasons why they might want to be a scientist or imagining the average day in the life of a scientist.
Discouragingly, boys and girls alike overwhelmingly believed that science was an intellectually exhausting, dangerous, and demanding career. Their perceptions reflected the way scientists were portrayed in movies and cartoons: as older men wearing white lab coats, hunched over their laboratory equipment. Most saw scientists as “very narrow human beings who spend their lives in labs and have little social interaction.” One boy wrote, “I would not like to be a scientist because I would not like to do what they do. They get up early in the morning.” The children understood the importance of scientific research—and some expressed an interest in learning about the human body—but they didn’t feel comfortable imagining themselves as future scientists.
The team’s magnum opus, “The Television Interest Survey,”6 came in 1978. More than 4000 children in five states completed the survey, which asked their opinions on a range of popular television programs, including The Six Million Dollar Man, The Muppet Show, and ZOOM. The researchers hoped that the selection of states—Massachusetts, Mississippi, Virginia, Illinois, and California—would encompass not only geographic but also ethnic and economic diversity. To make the questionnaire as accessible as possible, they designed it to be completed in just 20 minutes, with minimal literacy required. The study confirmed what the researchers had long suspected: Current television programs were not meeting the needs of scientifically minded children."
All of the fascinating (still functioning) links your heart desires can be found in this truly excellent previously from 2016. Happy Doubles Jubilee!
I have always wanted to live in the 321 Contact set, with the big greenhouse wall. And lots of space for both hanging out on groovy beanbag chairs and couches, and for projects and experiments!
posted by thefool at 8:15 AM on February 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by thefool at 8:15 AM on February 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
This was my favorite show as a kid. I loved the cast, the space, and especially the Bloodhound Gang (both of the theme songs are no infrequent earworms for me). I'm always surprised when my Gen X peers don't know it.
posted by kimdog at 8:28 AM on February 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by kimdog at 8:28 AM on February 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
also btw...
The Beautiful World of ZOOM, the Short-Lived PBS Show That Once Had More Viewers Than Sesame Street
posted by kliuless at 8:38 AM on February 23, 2022 [7 favorites]
The Beautiful World of ZOOM, the Short-Lived PBS Show That Once Had More Viewers Than Sesame Street
posted by kliuless at 8:38 AM on February 23, 2022 [7 favorites]
The theme song stayed with the times. Some wah wah action in the original, then by the late 80s it's leaning into synths and orchestra hits.
posted by StarkRoads at 8:43 AM on February 23, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by StarkRoads at 8:43 AM on February 23, 2022 [6 favorites]
I had a subscription to 3-2-1 Contact magazine which outlived the show by more than a few years.
We were still watching videos of specific episodes in middle school in early 1990s.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:47 AM on February 23, 2022 [7 favorites]
We were still watching videos of specific episodes in middle school in early 1990s.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:47 AM on February 23, 2022 [7 favorites]
Thanks for this post. I was 9 years old in 1980, and have probably seen every episode with the original cast several times. We didn't get cable TV in Chicago until the late '80s, so PBS was a mainstay of my latchkey childhood with my brothers. I loved this show. I had a big crush on Trini. I was so surprised to see Ricardo as a main character and Trini (in a tiny cameo) in the movie "The Warriors" some years later on VHS. I remember seeing Lisa cast in some paper towel commercial a few years later as a generic Mom character, and was somewhat crestfallen.
As a kid I thought the Bloodhound Gang was an older show they somehow mixed into the rest of the 3-2-1 Contact series, probably because it was shot on film and was art directed and shot so differently. It definitely had the grimy look of NYC circa 1980.
Off to YouTube.
posted by SoberHighland at 8:54 AM on February 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
As a kid I thought the Bloodhound Gang was an older show they somehow mixed into the rest of the 3-2-1 Contact series, probably because it was shot on film and was art directed and shot so differently. It definitely had the grimy look of NYC circa 1980.
Off to YouTube.
posted by SoberHighland at 8:54 AM on February 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
The Beautiful World of ZOOM, the Short-Lived PBS Show That Once Had More Viewers Than Sesame Street
Don't forget....
Square One TV, the '80s PBS Show That Made It Cool To Love Math
The Bloodhound Gang was cool and all, but the Mathnet episode where they go looking for the diamond that the thief drops in Monterey Bay was my favorite.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:58 AM on February 23, 2022 [12 favorites]
Don't forget....
Square One TV, the '80s PBS Show That Made It Cool To Love Math
The Bloodhound Gang was cool and all, but the Mathnet episode where they go looking for the diamond that the thief drops in Monterey Bay was my favorite.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:58 AM on February 23, 2022 [12 favorites]
When I was 10 our local PBS station once debated cancelling 3-2-1 Contact, and one of my friends and I were Very Angry about that. I remember discussing a plan to write a Very Impassioned Letter of Complaint as we sat in the climbing tree in her front yard one afternoon, complete with a pair of illustrations (one of a bored-looking family, captioned "Without 3-2-1 CONTACT", and then a second captioned "With 3-2-1- CONTACT" showing that same family excitedly watching TV and saying things like "Wow!" and "Look at that!").
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:26 AM on February 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:26 AM on February 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
We are going to take a trip--not in space, but in time
My name is Mark (Marc? I guess if it wasn't the actor's real name, there could have been some confusion about the spelling) This talking computer is one the most memorable things from my childhood. I still love to imitate the idiosyncratic computer voice.
The article was fascinating. Thanks!
posted by polecat at 9:30 AM on February 23, 2022 [6 favorites]
My name is Mark (Marc? I guess if it wasn't the actor's real name, there could have been some confusion about the spelling) This talking computer is one the most memorable things from my childhood. I still love to imitate the idiosyncratic computer voice.
The article was fascinating. Thanks!
posted by polecat at 9:30 AM on February 23, 2022 [6 favorites]
I watched 3-2-1 Contact pretty religiously as a kid, but also almost exclusively for The Bloodhound Gang. I’m not sure I even remember much else about the show. But I was addicted to mysteries from a young age.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 9:46 AM on February 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by DiscourseMarker at 9:46 AM on February 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
Saw every episode of the original run I can't think how many times. Trini at the Kiss Concert. Lisa blowing glass. Marc burning a marshmallow. Trini finding a dinosaur bone. Lisa learning about motorcycle engines (and the need to lean into corners). Marc and the Electron Microscope.
The Bloodhound Gang! It always bugged me that the youngest kid in the lineup would often change and they never referenced it. 10 SE Bay! Caesar Cipher on a belt! "You look like you got a shoeshine at the wrong end." "Now watch the great ricardo!" "You don't know beans about birds!"
and of course, "Mr Bloodhound isn't here!"
I watched some of the newer series but I was starting to age out. The main thing I remember now was being told that a banana is not modular.
Oh, and: Team Lisa.
posted by hearthpig at 9:57 AM on February 23, 2022 [4 favorites]
The Bloodhound Gang! It always bugged me that the youngest kid in the lineup would often change and they never referenced it. 10 SE Bay! Caesar Cipher on a belt! "You look like you got a shoeshine at the wrong end." "Now watch the great ricardo!" "You don't know beans about birds!"
and of course, "Mr Bloodhound isn't here!"
I watched some of the newer series but I was starting to age out. The main thing I remember now was being told that a banana is not modular.
Oh, and: Team Lisa.
posted by hearthpig at 9:57 AM on February 23, 2022 [4 favorites]
I remember as a kid calling in to PBS and donating $1.47 during a pledge drive because I loved that show so much. It was all the money I had.
posted by Quonab at 10:08 AM on February 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by Quonab at 10:08 AM on February 23, 2022 [9 favorites]
Every time I hear of the state, I think 10 SE Bay.
posted by SoberHighland at 10:15 AM on February 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by SoberHighland at 10:15 AM on February 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
Ah man I loved that show.
posted by gottabefunky at 12:21 PM on February 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by gottabefunky at 12:21 PM on February 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
I loved 3-2-1 Conact. Here's Suzanne Ciani on it.
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:13 PM on February 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:13 PM on February 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
Discouragingly, boys and girls alike overwhelmingly believed that science was an intellectually exhausting, dangerous, and demanding career.
Well, I mean...
...hunched over their laboratory equipment. Most saw scientists as “very narrow human beings who spend their lives in labs and have little social interaction.”
Umm....
"They get up early in the morning.”
Okay! Yes, here is where they are wrong.
posted by BrashTech at 1:55 PM on February 23, 2022 [6 favorites]
Well, I mean...
...hunched over their laboratory equipment. Most saw scientists as “very narrow human beings who spend their lives in labs and have little social interaction.”
Umm....
"They get up early in the morning.”
Okay! Yes, here is where they are wrong.
posted by BrashTech at 1:55 PM on February 23, 2022 [6 favorites]
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I only very vaguely know of the show's existence, which is weird 'cause I was a kid watching a lot of television at the time. I think it may have been a few years early for me and perhaps didn't get re-broadcast later? I watched the hell out of Mr. Wizard's World. . . so I almost certainly would have enjoyed it.
I'm going to have to have to explore these as a source of fun videos to share when doing outreach to kids. Anybody have favorite, few-minute long clips they still remember?
posted by eotvos at 8:05 AM on February 23, 2022 [2 favorites]