MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SCREENING SERIES, THE:
BLAST FROM YOUR PAST: WHAT GEN X WATCHED,
PACKAGE 8: FOR KIDS/BY KIDS
Summary
Did you learn how to spell bologna from Oscar Mayer's
commercials and about conjunctions from "Schoolhouse
Rock"? If you answered yes to these questions, you must
be a Gen Xer, part of the first generation to watch
"Sesame Street," play home video games, and grow up
with a collective set of pop culture references heavily
influenced by a media-saturated world. Featuring shows
from "ABC Afterschool Specials" to "Zoom," this
screening series invites Generation X -- and all who
watched and enjoyed along with them -- to celebrate
television, the defining medium of its childhood.
For Kids/By Kids
The seventies and eighties gave Gen X youth many
television series featuring and/or inspired by kids.
Relive great moments like "Ubbi-Dubbi" weather reports
and "sliming" incidents with these children's favorites.
"Zoom: Premiere"
Premiering on WGBH in Boston in 1972, "Zoom" was one
of the first children's television shows hosted entirely
by kids (and using ideas sent in by young viewers). In
the premiere episode, the "Zoom" kids stage a play,
introduce the made-up language "Ubbi-Dubbi," which
became well known to Gen X kids, discuss their fears
about hospitals, perform the song "But the Cat Came
Back," and remind kids to write "Zoom." (1972; 30
minutes)
"The Electric Company: ee, ch, tion"
"Hey, you guyyyys!" Following up on the enormous
success of "Sesame Street," the Children's Television
Worshop "turned it on" and "brought you the power" with
this new educational series, directed toward older kids
which premiered in 1971. "The Electric Company"
developed kids' reading skills using animation and live
action. In this episode, kids learn the sounds "ee,"
"ch," and "tion." (1975; 30 minutes)
"3-2-1 Contact: Big Pizza"
"Contact . . . is the answer . . . is the reason . . . why
everything happens." This popular PBS series featured
science-related stories. In this episode, audiences
witness the creation of the world's largest pizza, an
eighty-foot wonder that fed over 25,000 people; take a
trip to New York's Bronx Zoo and visit with the
veterinarian Elizabeth Russo during her daily rounds;
see one of the biggest movable objects ever built by
humans -- a super-tanker used in the shipment of oil;
and visit the world's largest radio telescope at Arecibo
in Puerto Rico. (1980; 30 minutes)
"You Can't Do That On Television: War"
Best known for its sloppy "slimings," the Canadian show
"You Can't Do That On Television" was Nickelodeon's most
popular kids' show in 1984, airing five times each week.
In this episode, the cast of kids performs parodies and
sketch comedy on the subject of war. Adam and Alasdair
play "peace conference"; Ross and Christine debate
whether war is necessary; a wave of peace spreads over
the world in an "opposite" sketch; the cast tells
"locker room" jokes; Alasdair tries to outwit a firing
squad; and, of course, someone is "slimed." (1984; 25
minutes)
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: 2003
- RUNNING TIME: 1:51:33
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:76852
- GENRE: N/A
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Elizabeth Russo