Favorite educational TV shows? [Archive]

bigred

14th May 2006, 10:06 AM

Mashuna

14th May 2006, 10:13 AM

It's never been the same since Johnny Ball stopped doing 'Think of a Number'.

Pauliesonne

14th May 2006, 10:19 AM

Oh, alot of programmes.......

One in particular is a programme called " The Mark Steel Lectures " where the comedian, Mark Steel gives authentic life stories about the following ( at least so far )....

Lord Byron (7 October 2003)
Isaac Newton (14 October 2003)
Sigmund Freud (21 October 2003)
Aristotle (28 October 2003)
Charles Darwin (4 November 2003)
Karl Marx (11 November 2003)

Ludwig van Beethoven (5 November 2004)
Leonardo da Vinci (12 November 2004)
Mary Shelley (19 November 2004)
Thomas Paine (26 November 2004)
Sylvia Pankhurst (3 December 2004)
Albert Einstein (10 November 2004)

Oliver Cromwell (23 February 2006)
Charlie Chaplin (2 March 2006)
Rene Descartes (9 March 2006)
Geoffrey Chaucer (16 March 2006)
Harriet Tubman (23 March 2006)
Che Guevara (30 March 2006)

T'ai Chi

14th May 2006, 10:29 AM

Everyone once in a while there will be some distance learning math or science program on public access.

I also like watching the channels that have the news and other programs in forgein languages.

Jorghnassen

14th May 2006, 10:29 AM

This one (http://radio-canada.ca/actualite/v2/decouverte/index.shtml) is a classic.

mumchup

14th May 2006, 11:09 AM

NOVA on PBS. I've been watching it since I was a kid, and it's still interesting and educational.

Jon the Geek

14th May 2006, 11:21 AM

History Channel (probably my fav)

[snip]

And once in awhile TLC or DISC will have something worthwhile, although they've gotten into some more sensationalist kinda garbage too.
And the History channel doesn't? They run the full gamut, from JFK assassination conspiracy theories to UFOs to signs of the Apocalypse. Not to say I don't watch them a ton, but they have almost as much sensationalist garbage as the Discovery channel.

To add to the conversation, though (rather than just naysaying), "Connections" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078588/) was great, although I think it had some inaccuracies. Also, "Rough Science" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363367/) is genius, and I hope they make another season eventually (or someone else uses the concept).

blutoski

14th May 2006, 02:13 PM

This makes up a large part of my TV watching. Far more interesting/entertaining than the rotted cabbage that is prime time TV...

Anyway mine:

Biography (the show and the channel)
History Channel (probably my fav)
Military Channel (mostly when they show "Wings" or the famous battles/campaigns episode)
Home Improvement Channels (HGTV, DIY, etc)

And once in awhile TLC or DISC will have something worthwhile, although they've gotten into some more sensationalist kinda garbage too.

Spinoff question: I'm sort peculiar in that I don't have TV, but I'd like to get a list of good skeptical shows for people who ask.

What are good skeptical shows? I've seen Mythbusters, and I think it counts.

Jabberwock

14th May 2006, 04:16 PM

I liked Mythbusters when it was about the experiment. Lately though, it seems to be more about being EXTREEEM or the people involved in the show.

bigred

14th May 2006, 07:55 PM

bigred

14th May 2006, 07:58 PM

NOVA on PBS. I've been watching it since I was a kid, and it's still interesting and educational.Excellent call (do they still do that same intro w/the horn-sounding synthesizer or whatever?). Grew up w/that also - in fact I think that's the granddaddy of em all.

And the History channel doesn't? They run the full gamut, from JFK assassination conspiracy theories to UFOs to signs of the Apocalypse. Not to say I don't watch them a ton, but they have almost as much sensationalist garbage as the Discovery channel.Really? Hadn't noticed, but I'll take your word for it. I don't recall them doing UFO stuff, but I do recall they had an inordinate amount of WW II stuff - which I love but cmon. I wish they'd do a lot more on ancient history.

Jon the Geek

15th May 2006, 04:17 AM

Really? Hadn't noticed, but I'll take your word for it. I don't recall them doing UFO stuff, but I do recall they had an inordinate amount of WW II stuff - which I love but cmon. I wish they'd do a lot more on ancient history.
The UFO stuff tends to be during the day. For example: http://www.historychannel.com/global/listings/series_showcase.jsp?EGrpType=Series&Id=10963893&NetwCode=THC

They also ran a series of "documentaries" about JFK conspiracy theories, including one that claimed that LBJ had his sister killed before moving on to JFK. When the LBJ Foundation started a slander lawsuit, the History Channel ran a show to apologize and debunk the show (which is about as good as you can do once you've run the program to begin with).

TX50

15th May 2006, 05:35 AM

The "Is It Real?" series which showed on National Geographic channel (here in
the Netherlands anyway) was excellent. It comprised a series of one hour
episodes on topics including "Spontaneous Human combustion", "Police
Psychics", "Alien abduction" and "Ghosts" and showed a refreshingly balanced
view. In each episode, they let the woos on to freely present their garbage
then took a serious look at the "phenomena" from a "rational" perspective.
The series featured people like Randi, Michael Shermer, Joe Nickell and Ray
Hyman on the side of rationality.

rats

15th May 2006, 05:50 AM

I don’t have a TV any more either, but always liked Local Heroes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Heroes) in the UK, particularly the reconstruction of experiments. And those pink cycling shorts were always a wonder!

Serenity

15th May 2006, 09:31 AM

I liked Mythbusters when it was about the experiment. Lately though, it seems to be more about being EXTREEEM or the people involved in the show.I know what you mean. I'm concerned Discovery Channels's Deadliest Catch series will be jumping the shark (or crab) by next season.

Jon the Geek- Glad to hear I'm not the only Rough Science (http://www.bbcworld.com/content/template_clickpage.asp?pageid=2784) fan around. I get the feel the show was made by real scientists. That home-spun quality to a show can be a refreshing change of pace vs. the barrage of video and sound effects studios add to shows these days to sustain our attention.

NobbyNobbs

15th May 2006, 10:44 AM

NOVA, of course.

Cosmos, when it was running. My dad has the entire series on tape. Gotta copy it.

And, for children, "Zoom" and "Liberty Kids".

bigred

16th May 2006, 05:05 AM

Cosmos, when it was running. My dad has the entire series on tape. Gotta copy it.

I'd think they have it on CD by now - I'd love to get a copy too.

stup_id

16th May 2006, 05:28 AM

I'm the only one who has seen "Beakman's show"? I think is a refreshing way of showing basic science to kids... without doing plain stupidities...

See ya!

Roboramma

16th May 2006, 06:51 AM

Some favourites:
All of David Attenbourogh's documentaries - the one about fossils, trials of life, the life of mammals, life of birds, blue planet...
I'm excited that he's got a new series now as well. Just waiting for the DVD!
Cosmos was excellent. I'd never seen it, but a couple of weeks ago I watched the full series on DVD. Very emotionally powerful guy that Sagan. Particularly when he talks about the whales, and also the great library.

There is a series in Canada on the Discovery Channel called "Daily Planet" that I watched when I was in high school, though at the time it was called "@discovery.ca". It was a great daily science news show, covering current events from a scientific perspective. Every day also had a segment by a scientist talking about his or her particular specialty. On fridays (I think), for instance, there was "weird and wonderful science", another segment was about chemistry, another about astronomy, etc. They even had a daily answering of viewer mail. I loved that show. I'm not sure how it is these days as it's been a long time since I've lived in Canada, and longer still since I was there with a TV.

Sometimes they strayed into the woo-ish, but on the whole they were pretty decent. Then again at the time I wasn't so much of a skeptic, but the show certainly inspired a real wonder for science - or at least fed it, anyway. Any Canadians out there still watching? Is Jay Ingram still hosting it?

Jabberwock

16th May 2006, 01:48 PM

I'm the only one who has seen "Beakman's show"? I think is a refreshing way of showing basic science to kids... without doing plain stupidities...

I saw it too! My kids and I loved it. It was replaced here with Bill Nigh which was entertaining, but not as much fun.

antihippy

18th May 2006, 03:47 AM

I second the Mark Steel Lectures. They are mostly fantastic. And he and I agree on The Da Vinci Code.

Oh so many; so little time!

Arthur C Clarke's one has to be in there as it was one that influenced me in my formative years.

Local Heroes and "What the ... Did For Us" are also excellent.

I'd also like to nominate several of Fred Dibnah's shows - they were really really good documentaries on Britains industrial heritage. Sadly he's died. I was surprised to learn that he, a working class steeplejack, had actually gone to art school!

I really like UKTV History although it can sometimes get disctinctly repetitive. Anyone who has never seen "The Great War" should wait and watch it's next airing. I doubt there are many better, more deperessing, accounts of WWI. A lot of the interviews on that show are of people now gone.

Then there's Timewatch, Dispatches and various others.

So many I could relate and so little time.

Two of my favourite all time Horizons are the Randi Homeopathy special and the 2 part debunking of Graham Hancock - this is the sort of programming that explains why we pay our television license.

There was also a really interesting futurology series, with excerpts of John Courtenay Grimwood's writing (specially for the show) examining the ethics of upcoming technology.

kittynh

26th May 2006, 05:16 PM

I loved the shows "The Secret Life of Machines" Hasn't been on in years, and it's very expensive to buy the series. But I personally learned HOW many of the machines I've used for years work.

I taped the one on the sewing machine for my quilt guild. Little old women were in awe, saying they just didn't KNOW and didn't think they were smart enough to KNOW how the machine worked. Or indeed why it was so very difficult to invent a sewing machine (imitating how a human sews was a mistake).

joesixpack

27th May 2006, 07:01 AM

Does anyone here remember Dr. Julius Sumner Miller? I loved his show on PBS when I was a kid. I used to fake being sick so I could stay home from school and watch it.

Katana

1st June 2006, 01:44 PM

That's Incredible!

A terrific lesson in poltergeist reenactments.

Kiwiwriter

1st June 2006, 01:51 PM

Sounds like an oxymoron, but there is good stuff out there.

First, my daughter (aged nine) became addicted to "Elegant Universe," hosted by Brian Greene. Wallis's view of me became enhanced when she found out Dr. Greene was my high school classmate, and I was able to get her an autographed copy of his latest book.

So when the volunteer science teacher came to her class to explain how water turns into steam, she grilled him with questions about "quantum mechanics" and "string theory" and "the 11th dimension." The poor guy, who is an actor trying to pay bills between Bromo-Seltzer spots, was baffled.

Now Wallis is writing a series of books (yes, books) on her adventures in the 11th Dimension. It's full of strings.

I loved "Connections," and have the book. I learned more about science and technology from that show and "The Day the Universe Changed" than at Stuyvesant High School.

The History Channel I give mixed reviews, on my web page:

http://davidhlippman.wildbillguarnere.com/more.php?id=A221_0_1_0_M

Truthfully, I think they can do better.

Discovery is pretty good, but TLC can drag itself down with Loch Ness Monster and other silly stuff.

Another show I liked, and it's gone now: "You Are There," with Walter Cronkite and other CBS reporters "covering" historical events like the Fall of Troy, the Zimmermann Telegram, Amelia Earhart's disappearance, and suchlike. It was fun and educational.

bjb

5th June 2006, 01:14 PM

My two favorites are "Guitar with Frederick Noad", which gave me a very good start with my guitar playing, and "The Power of Myth" from Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers. Although I am not religious, I learned to respect the teachings that the various religions have to offer. PBS re-runs the series every few years and now would be a good time to show it again. I have most of the episodes on tape and his ideas haven't become dated at all.

Scottch

5th June 2006, 01:21 PM

I used to love 3-2-1 Contact.

Got my interest in science and experiments. For classic science experiments though - Mr. Wizard's world forced me to become a physics teacher.

Scottch

opqdan

7th June 2006, 11:05 AM

I saw it too! My kids and I loved it. It was replaced here with Bill Nigh which was entertaining, but not as much fun.
I used to watch both, but I really liked Bill Nye better. A little while ago, he even came back with a new series called "The Eyes of Nye" which was meant for older people (probably the ones that had grown up watching his show). One of his episodes was about Pseudoscience and I believe he even had Dr. Shermer on it.

I hope that when I have kids, there will be shows that are as entertaining and educational. Of course, I will also be entertaining and educational whether or not I have a television to put in front of them.

Hotspur

7th June 2006, 11:52 AM

Back in the mid '70s, the late Steve Allen wrote and hosted a show on PBS called "Meeting of Minds" The premise was Allen was talk show host and the guests were characters from history. One show I remember had guests of Ulysses S Grant, Karl Marx, and Florence Nightingale. Very inventive writing

antihippy

8th June 2006, 01:21 AM

"The Secret Life of Machines"
The one about fax machines was great!

Rasmus

8th June 2006, 02:16 AM

Die Sendung mit der Maus (http://www.die-maus.de/index2.phtml?lang=en)

Tiny parts of the page are available in English; unfortunately it is never obvious if the next link will still have a translation.

http://www.schau-hin.info/uploads/pics/tip2_kuh-20060108100344416-312x240-e.jpg

Lothian

8th June 2006, 02:30 AM

How

SteveW

8th June 2006, 05:24 AM

I can't believe that no one has mentioned the one that started it all!

Mr. Wizard!!!!

alfaniner

8th June 2006, 07:12 AM

Shortly after I got cable I found this show "Fun & Games" (I think). It was a math-based game show that challenged members of the audience to use math and logic to solve puzzles. I believe it was an English programme.

Another one that I catch once in a while is an animated show that teaches algebra and other mathematical concepts. If I'd seen this one in high school those ideas would have made a lot more sense. There's nothing like seeing in action how sine, cosine, and tangent functions really work! Every time I see it I'm just absorbed -- wish I could find the entire series.

Deus Ex Machina

8th June 2006, 07:42 AM

Spinoff question: I'm sort peculiar in that I don't have TV, but I'd like to get a list of good skeptical shows for people who ask.

What are good skeptical shows? I've seen Mythbusters, and I think it counts.

Not that peculiar my wife and I came to the conclusion three years ago that what was offered on TV was all total dreck (with very very few exceptions) and as our only source of TV would be dish (we live out in rural Colorado) we just dropped it. And have not missed it one bit.

The History Channel - unless it has changed in the last three years was, IMHO, useless McHistory in bite size inaccurate nuggets interspersed with interminable advertisments for The Video Professor. I didn't find Discovery much better either.

I didn't get to watch TV except for very few exceptions when I was growing up until I was 17 - thanks to some strange circumstances - and apart from being absolutely lousy at most trivia games because of their propensity for old TV characters I am very very grateful.

One of the exceptions was the Moon landing - probably the best thing I can say about TV was that one beautiful moment.

Educational TV is an oxymoron.

ranson

14th June 2006, 08:51 AM

Macgyver

Always led to discussions with my dad on what worked, what wouldn't, what they left out so kids wouldn't blow themselves up, etc.

Conquest

Bite-size, but pretty accurate on the facts; very entertaining; and my kid is totally addicted. Also, my wife is strangely attracted to Peter Woodward, so I usually don't need an excuse to play it off the DVR.

brooklyn44

1st July 2006, 11:59 AM

I grew up watching "Mr. Wizard." I loved it and learned. I now watch endless repeats of "Bill Nye the Science Guy" with my grandkids and I'm crazy about the show.
I, too, have grown greatly disillusioned witht the McHistory Channel and the Undiscovered Channel.

renee

neon

1st July 2006, 12:03 PM

Square One TV
Bill Nye
The Living Planet

CriticalThanking

6th July 2006, 05:28 AM

Does anyone here remember Dr. Julius Sumner Miller? I loved his show on PBS when I was a kid. I used to fake being sick so I could stay home from school and watch it.Oh, to have had him for a professor! What a great intro to physics. Black and white, cheesy dramatic music to open/close the show, hair that must have been a makeup artist's nightmare... and it will always be a favorite.

It gets shown around here in the wee hours of the morning so I rarely get to see it. It is one of the shows I would pay to have on DVD, but I haven't seen it.

CT

BPScooter

7th July 2006, 11:30 PM

I remember really loving James Burke's Connections series and the books that went along with it. Those are probably still available on video.

Meeting of Minds was great!

I also like Michael Palin's travel series, can't remember offhand seeing much of them, I think one was Around the world in 80 day's sort of circumnavigation and the other was "pole to pole." I need to track those down.

My kid kind of likes Magic Schoolbus cartoons. I think Penn and Teller's 'BS' is educational :-) Rowan Atkinson hosted a history of comedy that I saw some of and thought was really great.