April 14, 1993 (1993-04-14) – February 5, 1999 (1999-02-05)
Bill Nye the Science Guy is an American science education television program created by Bill Nye, James McKenna, and Erren Gottlieb, with Nye starring as a fictionalized version of himself. It was produced by Seattle public television station KCTS and McKenna/Gottlieb Producers, and distributed by Buena Vista Television with substantial financing from the National Science Foundation.[1]
The show aired in syndication from September 10, 1993, to February 5, 1999, producing a total of six seasons and 100 episodes; beginning with its second season, a concurrent run of the series began airing on PBS from October 10, 1994, and ran until September 3, 1999, as it continued to be distributed in commercial first-run syndication.[2] After the show's first run was completed, Nye continued to portray the Science Guy character for a number of short interstitial segments for the Noggin cable channel that aired during reruns of the show. A video game based on the series was released in 1996, and a subsequent television show aimed at adults, Bill Nye Saves the World, ran from 2017 to 2018 on Netflix.
Known for its quirky humor and rapid-fire MTV-style pacing, the show was critically acclaimed and was nominated for 23 Emmy Awards, winning 19.[3] Studies also found that people that viewed Bill Nye regularly were better able to generate explanations and extensions of scientific ideas than non-viewers.[4]
Format
Nye portrays a hyper-kinetic, tall, and slender scientist wearing a blue lab coat and a bow-tie.[5] He combines the serious science of everyday things with fast-paced action and humor. Each half-hour show begins with a cold open, where Nye introduces the episode's theme, which leads into an opening credit sequence, and featuring Nye in a computer-animated scientific world, along with his head spinning, radio frequencies, and plastic toy dinosaurs flying. In later seasons, the theme song was cut short by a static screen. After the opening credits (in most episodes), announcer Pat Cashman says "Brought to you by...", in which a product name is related to the episode's theme. Nye walks onto the set, which is called "Nye Laboratories", filled with scientific visuals including many "of science" contraptions announced dramatically, relevant to the theme of the episode. Science-related TV and movie parodies configure the facts of the episode's theme, along with parodies of TV commercials. The show has featured many guest appearances.[note 1] Each episode features Nye visiting many places relating to the episode's theme, showing interviews of people talking about their work and other contributions. At the end of each episode, Nye thanks the viewers for watching, before explaining in a clever description of a theme's activity. The closing credits roll over bloopers from the episode.
Segments
Way Cool Scientist: A way cool scientist discusses the fact of the episode's theme. The scientist uses simple language and clear examples to explain complex scientific concepts.
Consider the Following: Nye discusses a certain aspect of the episode's theme, which is science education. Nye often uses humor to make science education more accessible and enjoyable for students.
Nifty Home Experiment: A viewer demonstrates a simple home experiment that Bill Nye has done on his show. The viewer shows how to make a simple device that demonstrates a scientific principle.
Try This: A viewer presents a simple demonstration of how to use a product. The demonstration is so simple that it can be done by anyone.
Hey! Look at This: An expert provides a closer look at the episode's theme. The expert explains the theme and its relevance to the show's characters and plot. The expert also discusses the theme's significance in the context of the show's overall message.
Check it Out: A viewer of Bill Nye's programs is someone who is affected by environmental issues.
Clever Science Trick: A viewer of Bill Nye the Science Guy demonstrates a simple science trick. The trick is to make an object float in the air.
The Jackie Smazz Show: Pat Cashman plays a talk show host Jackie Smazz.
Great Moments in Science: Cashman narrates a historical event in science.
Great Moments in Communication: Cashman narrates an historical event in communication.
Pet Rock Theater: The act is performed by animated pet rocks. The act is a comedy routine that features the rocks performing various tasks.
Better Eating Through Kitchen Chemistry, and Hot Treats: Ian G. Saunders portrays Vivian Cupcake, who demonstrates scientific recipes.
Richie, Eat Your Crust: Bill Nye the Science Guy and the Family Crust perform a comedy act that revolves around encouraging the title boy to "eat your crust."
Did You Know That...: A female voiceover presents a factoid related to the episode's theme. When the lightbulb turns on, the voiceover says "Now you know."
Luna Van Dyke, Private Eye: Michaela Leslie-Rule portrays private investigator Luna Van Dyke, who focuses on a story that relates to the episode's theme.
Mind Your Manners with Billy Quan: The episode includes a martial arts film parody related to the episode's theme. The title character, portrayed by cameraman Darrell Suto, is based on Bruce Lee. These segments were originally featured on the sketch comedy TV series "Almost Live!"
Soundtrack of Science: This is a science-themed song parody featuring music videos related to the episode's theme.
Bill Nye was originally an engineer for the 747 airliner at Boeing, having moved to Seattle in 1977 after he was accepted for the position.[7] Nye began to perform stand-up comedy in his spare time after he entered and won a Steve Martinlookalike contest at a comedy club, which led to him meeting fellow comedians Ross Shafer and John Keister.[8] Nye eventually left Boeing in 1985 to join Shafer and Keister in writing and performing for Almost Live!, a then-fledgling sketch comedy television show produced by local NBC affiliate KING-TV.[5] During his tenure on the show, Nye began cultivating a science-explaining TV persona; the first instance of the persona occurred in 1985 when Nye called Shafer on-air to correct his pronunciation of the word "gigawatt", to which Shafer retorted, "Who do you think you are – Bill Nye the Science Guy?"[5][9][10] As a result, Nye was subsequently asked to give scientific answers to the show's call-in questions.[10] His persona's first on-air appearance, as it is contemporarily known, occurred on January 8, 1987,[6] by circumstance when the primary guest for that night's performance of Almost Live! called in to cancel their appearance; with no backup guest planned to fill the resulting empty time, the show's writers elected to have Nye demonstrate the household uses of liquid nitrogen.[8][11] During the demonstration, Nye submerged an onion in liquid nitrogen and proceeded to shatter it, receiving acclaim from the studio audience.[5]
As Nye produced more demonstrations for Almost Live!, he began to develop the idea of a show featuring his "Science Guy" persona; KING-TV declined his proposal, though he eventually received assistance from station alumni James McKenna and Erren Gottlieb.[5] Together, the group pitched the show as Watch Mr. Wizard meets Pee-wee's Playhouse, though the latter part was later replaced with MTV after the arrest of actor Paul Reubens for indecent exposure in 1991.[5][12] Their pitch lasted for four years, being declined by Fox and other networks over various concerns, until they convinced Elizabeth Brock of local PBS member station KCTS-TV to take a chance on the idea.[5][13] KCTS-TV commissioned a pilot for Bill Nye the Science Guy, which aired on April 14, 1993, on the station itself before airing on PBS stations nationwide for the rest of the month.[7][5] Nye successfully obtained underwriting from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.[7] Nye's program became part of a package of syndicated series that local stations could schedule to fulfill Children's Television Act requirements;[14] because of this, Bill Nye the Science Guy became the first program to run concurrently on both public and commercial stations.[14]
Theme song
The Bill Nye the Science Guy theme song was written by songwriter and former math teacher Mike Greene,[15] who also sang the "Bill Nye the Science Guy" refrain and the distorted voice saying "Bill Nye the Science Guy". The word "Bill" is repeated throughout as a percussive shout.
In developing the theme, Greene first came up with the melody, which he stated was inspired by Danny Elfman and his work with Oingo Boingo. When Greene was enlisted to write the theme song, the show's producers requested that the song "not sound like a kid's show"; the final result was accordingly uncommon for the time.[16] Greene initially sent the theme's producers a demo with Greene singing the theme. Greene then sent two alternate versions with professional singers. The producers ultimately chose to keep Greene's voice as they found it funnier.[15]
Set to a house beat, Greene enlisted rappers to repeat the word "Bill!" as a percussive shout, deliberately imitating the shouting featured in House of Pain's 1992 song "Jump Around".[16] "I can't name them, because it was against their contract to do outside things without permission from their record company," Greene noted. "It was kinda funny, because they were in my studio one day to record a song. I was working on the Nye theme as they walked in and I told them, 'Hey, do me a favor and go in the booth and chant 'Bill, Bill, Bill' over and over again.' They had no idea what it was for, but they're cool, so they did. It sounded great, so that's the version we kept. The show didn't air until a year later, so it wasn't until then that they understood what this was really for."[15] In a comment that Greene posted on Reddit in 2018, Greene mentioned that he believed that the rappers were from several groups in his studio on the day of recording, but the only rapper he could specifically recall was Bronz of A.L.T. & The Lost Civilization. The spoken female vocals were provided by Leslie Kyle-Wilson.[17]
Production
The show was created in 1992 by Bill Nye, James McKenna and Erren Gottlieb, produced by McKenna/Gottlieb Producers, Inc, in partnership with KCTS in Seattle. The following year, the production companies entered a distribution agreement with Buena Vista Television, a subsidiary of Disney.[1] As part of the agreement, the profits of the show were split between Disney and the production team, with Disney owning full distribution rights across linear television, home video, and digital streaming. McKenna and Gottlieb all met while McKenna was a producer on Almost Live!, a Seattle-based comedy show.[18]
The show has been likened to the next-generation version of Watch Mr. Wizard.[19][20] The show ran about the same time as and covered similar topics to Beakman's World, in fact sharing one crew member, editor/writer/director Michael Gross.
The show was primarily funded by the National Science Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the annual financial support from the viewers/stations of the PBS network. Other funding sponsors included Ore Ida, The Boeing Company (which Nye worked for until 1986, Boeing was also based in Seattle until 2001 when it relocated its corporate headquarters to Chicago, Illinois and later Washington, D.C.), and Intel. The syndicated airings were credited as being "Produced in Association with the National Science Foundation", while the PBS airings changed it to being "Produced in Association with Walt Disney Television".
The show began with a 26-episode order for the 1993–1994 television season.[21] After its initial success, it was renewed for a second 26-episode order for the 1994–1995 season, followed by 13 additional episodes for the 1995–1996 season.[22] In February 1996, it was renewed for two more years, bringing the final episode total to 100.[23] The final episode aired in 1999, well after production ended in 1997.
Despite Disney's association and ownership with the show, it has never aired on any network owned by Walt Disney Television in the United States (such as Disney Channel and ABC, the latter of which Disney would acquire in 1996, three years after the show premiered.)
In September 1999, Bill Nye signed a multi-year deal to develop and star in original programs for Noggin,[24] a cable channel co-owned by MTV Networks and the Children's Television Workshop (now known as Sesame Workshop). In addition to producing the new content, Noggin acquired all 100 episodes of Bill Nye the Science Guy; this made it the first-ever program acquisition by the channel.[25] Noggin and Nye chose not to develop new episodes of the show, and instead created original shorts featuring Nye, in character and costume from Bill Nye the Science Guy. In the shorts, Nye's "Science Guy" persona worked as the "head sparkologist" of Noggin,[26] and he tried to find out what topics sparked viewers' imaginations. Bill Nye told Multichannel News that he was interested in creating multiple original shows for Noggin, including a math-based series and one "showing kids how to exercise good judgment."[25]
Bill Nye also hosted "Noggin's What Sparks You? Special," a half-hour special that aired on April 7, 2000.[27]
Impact
Logo used for merchandise
In conjunction with the production of Bill Nye the Science Guy, KCTS-TV conducted several research studies that evaluated how effective the program was as an educational tool. In one study, it was found that viewers of the program made more observations and sophisticated classifications than non-viewers.[4] In surveys of elementary students who watched the program, most children concluded that Nye made "kids like science more". When surveyed whether Nye was a scientist or actor and comedian, most students asserted he was a scientist, though many said both. Students also described Nye almost equally as both "funny" and "smart", and believed he was a "source of good information."[28]
During its run, Bill Nye the Science Guy was nominated for 23 Emmy Awards, winning nineteen.[3]
Home media
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has released every episode individually on DVD,[29] but never released a full series set. Instead, each episode was released separately on its own DVD, for a total of 100 DVDs costing a combined $1,500. In the United Kingdom, it was distributed on VHS by ViewTech, Bristol. In 1994 and 1995, Walt Disney Home Video released five volumes of Bill Nye the Science Guy, such as "The Human Body: The Inside Scoop", "Powerful Forces: All Pumped Up", "Dinosaurs: Those Big Boneheads", "Reptiles & Insects: Leapin' Lizards", and "Outer Space: Way Out There". All five volumes were released on VHS, containing two episodes. As of May 2017, the 1996 episode "Probability" is edited from its original airing, with a segment removed featuring a cast member saying there are only two genders. Netflix denied allegations they edited it (their new series Bill Nye Saves the World features Nye stating gender is on a spectrum) saying "It was delivered to us that way by Buena Vista TV."[30]
A set of 31 episodes is also available for purchase on the iTunes Store, though they have been split into two separate volumes; one containing 14 episodes[31] and the other containing 17 episodes.[32]
Despite Disney's involvement in the series, the series has not been available on Disney+ due to a dispute with Nye over revenue sharing.[33]
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