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Episode Idea - Bill Nye the Science Guy

HansHans
edited June 2011 in GeekNights
Hey guys, steal this idea, you don't even have to give me credit.

Do a show on Bill Nye the Science Guy! I spent most of 7th grade science class watching these videos (maybe it's because I was in Seattle), and I'd love to hear them lauded and/or ripped apart by an older, more discerning eye.

Comments

  • trogdor9trogdor9
    Hey, welcome to the forums. There's a thread for this already, though.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    edited June 2011
    I think ripping apart Bill Nye is unlikely. Bill Nye did for the 90's generation what Carl Sagan did for the 80's generation, albeit to a lesser degree. I wouldn't be the science guy I am today if it weren't for Bill Nye.
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • HansHans
    edited June 2011
    Thanks trogdor. If someone could delete the topic...?
    Post edited by Hans on
  • progSHELLprogSHELL
    Try whispering it to yourself.
  • SailSail
    Try whispering it to yourself.
    You can't do that once people have posted in it.
  • MattMatt
    My wife worked with Bill Nye on a show for a while at her old company. The guy actually has a bit of a douchey streak, and was known for his Christian Bale-esque rants. After a take: "Who the fuck wrote this shit? I can't believe I'm reading these lines" etc.
  • zehaevazehaeva
    No love for Mr. Wizard?!?!? To be honest I always thought that Bill Nye were a bit strange. This is most likely due to growing up with Mr. Wizard and then seeing Bill Nye when I were older and already knew everything he were on about.
  • RymRym
    Bill Nye was a little after my time in terms of kids' science shows.
  • MattMatt
    Mr. Wizard man here myself, although I'm probably at the tail end of generation that watched him. Born in '84, but I think I tended to consume things just a bit over my age range b/c I had an older brother whose interests were an influence.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Bill Nye was a little after my time in terms of kids' science shows.
    You missed out.
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    Bill Nye was a little after my time in terms of kids' science shows.
    Um, we're basically the same age, and I wasn't too old for Bill Nye.

    Then again, I do loves me some science.
  • RymRym
    edited June 2011
    Um, we're basically the same age, and I wasn't too old for Bill Nye.
    I'd been watching Mr. Wizard and another show (the name of which I can't recall) my entire childhood. That other show was on at like 6:00am on Saturday (Canadian TV I think?), and was pretty hardcore compared to Mr. Wizard in terms of actual science and math. Lots of diagrams and explanations.

    I also watched Square One quite a bit, though I remember finding 3-2-1 Contact to be OK, but not as engaging. There was a real-life surgery show I watched regularly as well (e.g., open heart surgery with commentary), plus Newton's Apple. Throughout the 80s, I watched me a lot of science. In the 80s.

    But Bill Nye? That started in late 1993. By then, I was well ahead of anything he had to teach me. Hyperspace was published the next year, and I was bussed over to the local high school to take AP Biology around that time.

    So, taking high school AP Biology when Bill Nye's show started, I can see why I wasn't super into it.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • Dragonmaster LouDragonmaster Lou
    I'd been watching Mr. Wizard and another show (the name of which I can't recall) my entire childhood. That other show was on at like 6:00am on Saturday (Canadian TV I think?), and was pretty hardcore compared to Mr. Wizard in terms of actual science and math. Lots of diagrams and explanations.
    Didn't get any Canadian TV where I lived, but I did love me some Mr. Wizard.
    I also watched Square One quite a bit, though I remember finding 3-2-1 Contact to be OK, but not as engaging. There was a real-life surgery show I watched regularly as well (e.g., open heart surgery with commentary), plus Newton's Apple. Throughout the 80s, I watched me a lot of science. In the 80s.
    I think I was on the tail edge of age relevance with respect to Square One (I was born in '76). However, 3-2-1 Contact, in its early years (up through '85 or so, if I recall), was awesome. When they ditched the "bunch of college-aged friends gathering in a basement/college workroom/etc." frame story for just having a bunch of kids on location without any frame story it kinda went downhill IMHO. I also loved me some Newton's Apple back in the day. I was also a big fan of Nova, although most of it was way over my head for my age (though the episode on proving the electroweak unification theory via discovery of the W and Z bosons at CERN made me seriously want to be a particle physicist for a while, despite only being about 8 years old at the time).
    But Bill Nye? That started in late 1993. By then, I was well ahead of anything he had to teach me. Hyperspace was published the next year, and I was bussed over to the local high school to take AP Biology around that time.

    So, taking high school AP Biology when Bill Nye's show started, I can see why I wasn't super into it.
    Yeah... I graduated high school in '94, so Bill Nye was definitely past my expiration date for kids' science shows too. Hmm, your school system sounds like it let you take AP Bio as a freshman or something (not sure exactly what our age difference is) -- mine pretty much limited it to being a junior or senior (usually senior as taking it as a junior often conflicted with other classes you'd need to take to graduate).
  • CramitCramit
    Square One and Newtons Apple were great...I need to see if my parents still have the 6 hour vhs tape we recorded of those.
  • gomidoggomidog
    I didn't have TV. I read books about space a lot, though, and my parents got me kits to do science with. We'd also go to the science center a lot.
  • RymRym
    edited June 2011
    Hmm, your school system sounds like it let you take AP Bio as a freshman or something (not sure exactly what our age difference is) --
    No, I was in middle school. Long story short: after my parents threatened to sue the school district for not accommodating my legally-recognized "special needs" as a "gifted" child per Michigan law, they bussed me to the high school to take AP Biology.

    It was supposed to be 9th grade physics, but the school district had a vested interest in me failing (so as to un-set the precedent I was setting). They bumped me into AP Biology expecting me to fail and drop out. Instead, I was top of the class (as a middle-schooler in a class full of seniors).

    Bonus: went to the proms for the high school instead of the middle school. ^_~
    Post edited by Rym on
  • Dragonmaster LouDragonmaster Lou
    Hmm, your school system sounds like it let you take AP Bio as a freshman or something (not sure exactly what our age difference is) --
    No, I was in middle school. Long story short: after my parents threatened to sue the school district for not accommodating my legally-recognized "special needs" as a "gifted" child per Michigan law, they bussed me to the high school to take AP Biology.

    It was supposed to be 9th grade physics, but the school district had a vested interest in me failing (so as to un-set the precedent I was setting). They bumped me into AP Biology expecting me to fail and drop out. Instead, I was top of the class (as a middle-schooler in a class full of seniors).

    Bonus: went to the proms for the high school instead of the middle school. ^_~
    Ah, sounds like a pretty good deal for you all-around. Nice! :)
  • DaikunDaikun
    Now on Netflix.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    Well, there goes my afternoon.
  • PeguPegu
    Looks like it's only in the US (or at least not in Canada). Good thing I set my VPS up to double as a VPN.
  • StarfoxStarfox
    Isn't... every vps a vpn? If you can ssh to it you can vpn with it.
  • Hitman HartHitman Hart
    I was more a fan of Beakman's World. That was on Netflix for a while. The science holds up decently well from the little bit I watched but the show itself did not age well.
  • sK0pesK0pe
    Pegu said:

    Looks like it's only in the US (or at least not in Canada). Good thing I set my VPS up to double as a VPN.

    That's the great thing about Netflix I have access to every movie or show on Netflix around the world.

  • edifolco25edifolco25
    Rym said:


    I also watched Square One quite a bit,


    I loved Square One as a kid! I still have lots of good memories of that show. Mathnet, the songs, and of course, Mathman. I always wanted there to be a Mathman video game to play in real life.
    I credit Square One as the show that gave me a leg up in early math class. I still remember having an argument in First Grade that negative numbers were a thing, while the teacher tried to insist that you could never have "less than nothing". Looking back at it... what a shit teacher.
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