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3-2-1 Contact
1980 · TV series · 30 min episodes · 7 seasons
3-2-1 Contact is an American science educational television show that aired on PBS from 1980 to 1988, and an adjoining children's magazine. The show, a production of the Children's Television Workshop, teaches scientific principles and their applications. Dr. Edward G. Atkins, who was responsible for much of the scientific content of the show, felt that the TV program wouldn't replace a classroom but would open the viewers to ask questions about the scientific purpose of things.
3 positive2 neutralfrom 5 commenters
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5 comments on Hacker News
30 years ago my afternoon consisted of getting home at 2:30, watching The Disney Afternoon until about 5:00, then watching Square One, Reading Rainbow, and ideally 3-2-1 Contact (though it conflicted with The Mcneil-Lehrer News Hour that my mom always wanted to watch). Then it'd be on to The Cosby Show or Star Trek or some other sitcom. I think I averaged between 3.5-5 hours of TV per day. No cable.
I basically don't want TV anymore, and my kids are limited to 3 hours of screentime per day, which they basically only get on weekends. (They get maybe an hour during the weekday, but that's because their school/daycare/aftercare days are much longer than mine were as a kid). I do set limits for them, but both of them (preschool-age) are able to turn off the tablets on their own if faced with the choice of doing it themselves or having mommy & daddy do it.
I think the latter most became gender neutral because of the entry cry of the public television show “Three, Two, One Contact” in which a woman yelled “Hey You Guys” in what was clearly and inclusive manner.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-2-1_Contact
Most of the episodes for 3-2-1 Contact as well as Mr Wizard and other classics are on YouTube now, which is great!
Was that the show where they said "My name is Wednesday... it was a Tuesday?", might have been on right after 3-2-1 Contact? That show was awesome, now I'm going to have to find a few episodes for my kids! Thanks for the reminder.
Anyone remember the 3-2-1 Contact episode (PBS show in US) where they showed this? It blew my min as a child.
Which leads me to: are there any science shows of comparable or better quality for kids today? Reruns of an 80s show won't cut it -- science has advanced considerably in the last 30 years (e.g., the controversy section from the wikipedia entry, plus all that intrawebs stuff, etc.).