Back in the early 80’s, if I was out sick from school, I would often watch PBS during the morning. They had educational programs that were better than some of the reruns that were on.
There was never any schedule of what was shown. You would just tune in and have to wait to see what was next.
When there was one intro, I was always very happy.
THINK ABOUT. That still stands as one of my favorite theme songs. Just writing this I’ve had to play it back five or six times.
The show that followed was normally about someone involved in some moral dilemma. At the end, he would have to figure out what to do.
It was meant to show in classrooms and then the students would discuss what happened. It aired from the late 70’s to early 80’s.
THINK ABOUT was produced by the Educational Film Center, the Northern Virginia Educational Telecommunications Association and The Agency for Instructional Television. Exxon funded it as well. So, it was all propaganda. But it worked.
In fact, I’m sure if it was around today, the next generation would be better off. It is certainly better than HANNAH MONTANA or THE WIGGLES. What do kids learn from them? (I’m starting to sound old).
Here is the closing theme.
I would love this, and other PBS shows so much, that I would often prolong my illness so I could stay home and watch the next day.
There were two other similar shows, INSIDE OUT and TRADE OFFS. Both are worthy of their own entry in this series, but there are no clips on YouTube.
EDIT (5-15-10): I just found this video for INSIDE OUT.
NOTE: This post contains YouTube clips. If unable to view and reading from an outside site, click through to view.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
FORGOTTEN TV: THINK ABOUT (1970's - 1980's)
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5 comments:
I don't know, the music is pretty creepy to me. Seems like something David Cronenberg would use in one of his films.
Jim, I'm not sure if we are the same age, but do you remember a show called Alphabet Soup? That was such a strange show when I was a kid. Haven't been able to dig it up. Maybe just a figment of my feverish imagination as I was no doubt home sick watching it as well.
I don't think I watched it but I found this about ALPHABET SOUP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet_Soup_(TV_series)
Man the things you said about thinkabout, inside/out, and trade-offs they bring back a lot of memories and when I was sick I use to wait to see if they would come on too. I agree with what you said 100%. I wish the would put them out on DVD. I miss those day with heartfelt feelings.
Wow, does that open a low flood gate of memories. Yes, I too can remember sitting up in bed with a thermometer sticking out of my mouth watching these shows in the middle of the day. It was kind of a guilty pleasure. But maybe we were just being "tricked" into getting our education, even outside the classroom. For some reason the even more memorable theme song for TRADE OFFS pops into my head every once in a while. No citation of that on YouTube, unfortunately. Almost as if it were just a figment of our collective imaginations...
My 6th grade "economics" class teacher would sometimes wheel out one of those prehistoric carts with a mounted TV/VHS (or was it Beta) and actually show us episodes of TRADE OFFS. Come to think of it, the vice principal used that strategy for after school detentions, too.
This is sooo cool. I am 39 and I remember Think About. We watched it in 5th grade I believe it was. The music rocked and it was so cool to watch it when home sick from school. Age sucks! :-)
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