| Bill Nye the Science Guy | |
|---|---|
A shot of the opening sequence. |
|
| Format | Children's television series/Education |
| Created by | Bill Nye James McKenna Erren Gottlieb |
| Presented by | Bill Nye |
| Starring | Suzanne Mikawa, Ivyann Schwan, Jaffar Smith, et al. |
| Narrated by | Pat Cashman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 100 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Elizabeth Brock, Erren Gottlieb, James McKenna |
| Producer(s) | Bill Nye |
| Running time | 26 minutes |
| Production company(s) | KCTS Seattle Rabbit Ears Productions Disney Educational Productions |
| Distributor | Disney-ABC Domestic Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | PBS |
| Audio format | Dolby Surround |
| Original run | September 10, 1993 – June 20, 1998 |
Bill Nye the Science Guy is an educational television program that originally aired from September 10, 1993 to June 20, 1998, hosted by Bill Nye and produced by Buena Vista Television. The show aired on PBS Kids and was also syndicated to local stations, making it the second first-run television program behind The Open Mind. It still airs on some PBS stations as an educational program for in-school use. Each of the 100 episodes aims to teach a specific topic in science to a preteen audience. The show is frequently used in schools as an education medium.
Created by comedian Ross Shafer and based on sketches on KING-TV's sketch program Almost Live!, Bill Nye the Science Guy was produced by KCTS-TV of Seattle.
Bill Nye the Science Guy has won 19 Emmy Awards.
Contents |
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. Before this show, Bill Nye had previously worked alongside Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future: The Animated Series, where Nye played Doc Brown's assistant and demonstrated several experiments.
Bill Nye the Science Guy has been likened to a modern Mr. Wizard. Bill's TV persona is a tall and slender scientist wearing a blue lab coat and a bow-tie. He mixes the serious science of everyday things with fast-paced action and humor. Each show begins with Bill walking onto the set, called "Nye Labs", which is filled with scientific visuals (including many "of science" contraptions announced dramatically, such as "The slingshots of Science!") relevant to the topic of the show. Most episodes contain a mock song parody and music video in the "Soundtrack of Science" by "Not That Bad Records", substituting a scientific roundup of the episode for the lyrics to a popular song. Each show ends with Bill explaining his departure in a clever description of an activity on topic. The credits sometimes rolled next to a series of outtakes from the episode.
Another popular member of the cast is the announcer Pat Cashman, whom Nye knew from his time on Almost Live!. Some announcers who subbed in for Cashman include Ernie Anderson, Gary Owens, and Brian Cummings. In 1996, Bill made a guest appearance on Cartoon Network's talk-show Space Ghost Coast to Coast in its twenty-fourth episode, Boo! with Michael Norman. A year later, he made an appearance on PBS Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
Aside from Bill himself, one of the most memorable things about Bill Nye the Science Guy is its theme song. The bass-heavy theme is set to a Hip hop beat with Bill's name shouted throughout the duration of the song. The sound and speed fluctuations of the voice were accomplished through a vocoder and electronic pitch fluctuation. The theme song is credited to Mike Greene.
The show's episodes consisted of several compositions from Associated Production Music. Some featured tracks include:
Many of these tracks were also featured in SpongeBob SquarePants. Another common track used was the theme from the English show Dave Allen At Large, here used as the theme from "The Jackie Smazz Show." "Killer Birds" was used in an All That episode.
A computer game for the series, titled Bill Nye the Science Guy: Stop the Rock!, was released in 1996 for PC and Macintosh by Pacific Interactive. In the game, a large meteoroid called "Impending Dumé" threatens to make a catastrophic collision with the Earth. A team of scientists develop a laser satellite-controlling computer system called MAAX (Meteorid and Asteroid Exploder) to destroy the meteoroid; however, MAAX develops a personality of its own (in an obvious parody of the sentient computer HAL from the film and novel 2001: A Space Odyssey) and refuses to save the planet unless Earth's scientists can solve seven science riddles. Nye Labs decides to take on MAAX's challenge, and the player, depicted as the newest member of the Nye Labs team, is asked to solve these riddles using Nye Labs' equipment before Impending Dumé hits (represented through an in-game timer). The game featured a fully explorable Nye Labs, as well as video cut scenes featuring Bill Nye and other Nye Labs scientists. However, the characters and cast members from the TV series, sans Bill Nye and a few others, do not appear in this game, instead being replaced by game-exclusive Nye Labs team members and new actors.
| Season | Episode number | Episode name | "Soundtrack of Science" Parody song |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
1 | Flight | Nyevana - "Smells Like Air Pressure"
Parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana |
| 2 | Earth's Crust | Magmadonna - "Crust" | |
| 3 | Dinosaurs | J.C. - "Mr. Dino"
Parody of "Mr. Wendal" by Arrested Development |
|
| 4 | Skin | No music video | |
| 5 | Buoyancy | Sure Floats-a lot - "Bill's Got Boat"
Parody of "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot |
|
| 6 | Gravity | Attraction Action - "G-R-A-V-I-T-Y"
Parody of "Twilight Zone" by 2 Unlimited |
|
| 7 | Digestion | Dy Gestion - "Can't Eat This"
Parody of "Can't Truss It" by Public Enemy |
|
| 8 | Phases of Matter | Phaze Change - "Solid Liquid Gas"
Parody of "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" by Digable Planets |
|
| 9 | Biodiversity | Bio Di Versity - "We're all Connected"
Parody of "Connected" by Stereo MC's |
|
| 10 | Simple Machines | The Pulley Ramp Five - "ABC's of Machinery"
Parody of "ABC" by The Jackson 5 |
|
| 11 | The Moon | The Lunatics - "Moon Cycle"
Parody of "Bicycle Race" by Queen |
|
| 12 | Sound | Gloria Wavelength and the Vibrations - "Sound is a VIBE"
Parody of "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor |
|
| 13 | Garbage | Trash E. Trash - "R.E.C.Y.C.L.E."
Parody of "Respect" by Aretha Franklin; artist name is a parody of Doug E. Fresh |
|
| 14 | Structure | Stress N' Tension - "Let's Talk About Stress"
Parody of "Let's Talk About Sex" by Salt-n-Pepa |
|
| 15 | Earth's Seasons | A Tilted Development - "Rhyme and Season"; artist name is a parody of Arrested Development | |
| 16 | Light & Color | The Bent Wavelengths - "Light and Colour" Parody of "Sweating Bullets" by Megadeth |
|
| 17 | Cells | Mighty Chondria - "Cellular Haze"
Parody of "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix |
|
| 18 | Electrical Current | Billy Ray Cyrcuits - "AC/DC Charge"
Parody of "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus |
|
| 19 | Outer Space | Elve Centuri - "Celestial Hotel"
Parody of "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley |
|
| 20 | Eyeball | The Eye Doctors - "Two Eyes"
Parody of "Two Princes" by The Spin Doctors |
|
| 2 | 21 | Magnetism | N.S. Cool J. - "Opposites Attract"
Parody of "Insane in the Brain" by Cypress Hill; artist name is a parody of LL Cool J |
| 22 | Wind | Wind Dee - "Wind Is In Your Hair"
Parody of "Groove Is in the Heart" by Deee-Lite |
|
| 23 | Blood and Circulation | AB+ - "Blood Stream"
Parody of "Love Shack" by The B-52's |
|
| 24 | Chemical Reactions | Chemical Reactions - "Don't Try This at Home"
Parody of "State of Attraction" by Paula Abdul |
|
| 25 | Static Electricity | The Sticky Socks - "Static Electricity"
Parody of "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors |
|
| 26 | Food Web | Food Webby Web - "(It's The) Food Web"
Parody of "Who Am I (What's My Name)?" by Snoop Dogg |
|
| 27 | Light Optics | Queen Lighteefa - "B.E.N.T."
Parody of "U.N.I.T.Y." by Queen Latifah |
|
| 28 | Bones and Muscles | Steppenbone - "Bones in my Body"
Parody of "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf |
|
| 29 | Oceanography | Gulfstream Girls - "Deep Ocean Currents"
Parody of "California Girls" by The Beach Boys |
|
| 30 | Heat | LeHot - "LeHeat" | |
| 31 | Insects | UB Buggy - "Jah Mon, Insects Rule"
Style Parody of UB40 |
|
| 32 | Balance | Torquer - "Balance This"
Parody of "Get Off This" by Cracker |
|
| 33 | The Sun | Deep Yellow - "My Favorite Star"
Parody of "Highway Star" by Deep Purple |
|
| 34 | Brain | En Lobe - "Whatta Brain"
Parody of "Whatta Man" by En Vogue with Salt-n-Pepa |
|
| 35 | Forests | John Cougar Loggincamp - "Second Growth"
Style Parody of John Mellencamp |
|
| 36 | Communication | Mary Chapin Communicator - "How Can We Communicate"
Parody of "He Thinks He'll Keep Her" by Mary Chapin Carpenter |
|
| 37 | Momentum | Momentisey - "The Faster You Push Me"
Parody of "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get" by Morrissey |
|
| 38 | Reptiles | No music video - the commercial-free PBS version of the episode, however, had a brief spoof entitled "Cold Blooded".
Parody of "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner |
|
| 39 | Atmosphere | Warm -n- Wetta - "Fresh Aire"; artist name is a parody of Salt N Pepa | |
| 40 | Respiration | Ali Veoli - "What A Pair"
Style Parody of Tatyana Ali |
|
| 3 | 41 | The Planets | No music video |
| 42 | Pressure | PSI Garden - "Pressure"
Parody of "Spoonman" by Soundgarden |
|
| 43 | Plants | Rhoda Dendron - "Cross Pollination"
Parody of "Human Behaviour" by Björk |
|
| 44 | Rocks and Soil | Sedimentary Fools - "Rocks Rock Harder"
Parody of "Basket Case" by Green Day |
|
| 45 | Energy | The ERG's - "N-R-G"
Style Parody of the Beastie Boys |
|
| 46 | Evolution | Evolver - "Survival"
Style Parody of Veruca Salt |
|
| 47 | Water Cycle | J.A.C. - "Water Cycle Jump"
Parody of "Jump" by Kris Kross |
|
| 48 | Friction | Grace Slip - "Friction Happens"; artist name is a parody of Grace Slick | |
| 49 | Germs | Dose of Soap - "Just Wash Your Hands"
Parody of "Don't Turn Around" by Ace of Base |
|
| 50 | Climates | Climate Report - "Whether the Weather"
Parody of "Lucas With The Lid Off" by Lucas Secon |
|
| 51 | Waves | Big Amplitude - "Baby I Love Your Wave"
Parody of "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain (originally by Peter Frampton) |
|
| 52 | Ocean Life | James Baleen - "Power To The Plankton"
Style Parody of James Brown |
|
| 53 | Mammals | Fake Fur - "Jennifer's A Mammal"
Parody of "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies |
|
| 54 | Spinning Things | House of Spin - "Spin Around"
Parody of "Jump Around" by House of Pain |
|
| 55 | Fish | Salmon Dave - "I'm a Sole Man"
Parody of "Soul Man" by Sam & Dave |
|
| 56 | Human Transportation | Carpoolio - "Move Groove"
Parody of "Fantastic Voyage" by Coolio |
|
| 57 | Wetlands | Maria and the Mudflats - "Where The Land is Wet" | |
| 58 | Birds | LL Bloo J. - "Talkin' Bout Birds"; artist name is a parody of LL Cool J | |
| 59 | Populations | Shirell Crow - "All We Need To Do"
Parody of "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow |
|
| 60 | Animal Locomotion | Bjorn Turun - "Loco Motion"
Parody of "Everything Zen" by Bush |
|
| 4 | 61 | Rivers and Streams | Talking Headwaters - "Take Me To The River"
Parody of "Take Me to the River" by Talking Heads |
| 62 | Nutrition | Knute Trishan - "Good Food" | |
| 63 | Marine Mammals | Marina Cesealia - "Breathe Like Me"
Parody of "I Know" by Dionne Farris |
|
| 64 | Earthquakes | Mistah Richter - "Earthquake Rumble" | |
| 65 | NTV Top 11 Video Countdown | Mudhoney - "Bill Nye The Science Guy Theme" | |
| 66 | Spiders | Foo Spighters - "This is A Spiders Life"
Parody of "This Is a Call" by Foo Fighters |
|
| 67 | Pollution Solutions | No music video | |
| 68 | Probability | Steven Odd - "50 Fifty" | |
| 69 | Pseudoscience | Dare L. Pseudo - "Pure Proof"
Parody of "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters |
|
| 70 | Flowers | Daisy Birdsenbees - "So Many Flowers" | |
| 71 | Archaeology | Mob Barley - "Diggin'"
Parody of "Jamming" by Bob Marley |
|
| 72 | Deserts | Deserette - "Always Dry"
Parody of "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette |
|
| 73 | Amphibians | P-Swamp All Stars with DJ Hoppy - "The Amphidelic Mothership Metamorphisis"
Style Parody of George Clinton the P-Funk All Stars |
|
| 74 | Volcanoes | Volcanque - "Lavaflows"
Parody of "Waterfalls" by TLC |
|
| 75 | Invertebrates | S. Khar Go - "Crawl Away"
Parody of "Runaway" by Janet Jackson |
|
| 76 | Heart | Vinny Vein and the Pumpers - "Gimme Back My Heart" | |
| 77 | Inventions | En Vent and the Process - "It's An 'ing Thing" | |
| 78 | Computers | La Binary - "One Zero 001"
Parody of "Be My Lover" by La Bouche |
|
| 79 | Fossils | Etchton Stone - "Fossil Man"
Parody of "Rocket Man" by Elton John |
|
| 80 | Time | The Tim E. Zone Experience - "Time Time Time Time Time..."
Parody of "Time Has Come Today" by The Chambers Brothers |
|
| 5 | 81 | Forensics | Krime Seen - "We Will Find You"
Parody of "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions" by Queen |
| 82 | Space Exploration | The Space Princess of Galactic Grooviness - "Planets All"
Parody of "Set You Free" by Planet Soul |
|
| 83 | Genes | Alice in Genes - "It's Called Genetics"
Parody of "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine'; artist name is a parody of Alice In Chains |
|
| 84 | Architecture | The Artist Formerly Known as Archie T. - "Makin' Plans"
Parody of "All Mixed Up" by 311; artist name is a parody of The Artist Formerly Known As Prince |
|
| 85 | Farming | Chris Ballew - "Farm Food"
Parody of "Peaches" by The Presidents of the United States of America, of which Ballew himself is a member |
|
| 86 | Life Cycles | Roberta Fungi - "Everything Has A Life Cycle"
Parody of "Killing Me Softly" by Roberta Flack |
|
| 87 | Do-It-Yourself Science | Nye & The Family Crust - "Do It Yourself Science"
Parody of "Hell" by Squirrel Nut Zippers; artist name is a parody of Sly and the Family Stone |
|
| 88 | Atoms | Third Nye Blind - "Atoms in My Life"
Parody of "Semi Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind |
|
| 89 | Ocean Exploration | The Posies - "Voyage of the Aquanauts" | |
| 90 | Lakes and Ponds | The Foggy Boyz - "Fond of Lakes and Ponds"
Parody of "Tha Crossroads" by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony |
|
| 91 | Smell | Turbinator Two - "Come On Use Your Brain (Smell This)"
Parody of "C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)" by Quad City DJ's; artist name is a parody of Terminator 2 |
|
| 92 | Caves | Batilda & Guano - "Cave Thing"
Parody of "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches & Herb |
|
| 93 | Fluids | Weflo - "Drip it" | |
| 94 | Erosion | Earth, Wind & Ice - "Causing the Erosion"
Style Parody of No Doubt; artist name is a parody of Earth, Wind & Fire |
|
| 95 | Comets and Meteors | Halley Comet - "Got Me Looking"
Parody of "Shadowboxer" by Fiona Apple |
|
| 96 | Storms | Mighty Might Thundertones - "Stormin'"
Style Parody of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones |
|
| 97 | Measurement | The Meter Men - "Every Measurement You Make"
Parody of "Every Breath You Take" by The Police |
|
| 98 | Patterns | Downward Spiral - "Patterns of Joy"
Style Parody of The Prodigy |
|
| 99 | Science of music | "There's Science In Music"
Parody of "The Time Warp" by Richard O'Brien |
|
| 100 | Motion
June 28, 1998 |
Slow Moe - "All in Motion"
Parody of "Hot for Teacher" by Van Halen |
|
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