Bill Nye the Science Guy

Bill Nye the Science Guy
Created by	Bill Nye James McKenna Erren Gottlieb
Presented by	Bill Nye
Starring	Chais Dean Suzanne Mikawa Ivyann Schwan Jaffar Smith
Narrated by	Pat Cashman
Theme music composer	Mike Greene
Opening theme	"Bill Nye the Science Guy"
Composer(s)	Mike Greene Tom McGurk Tiny Hat Orchestra Charlotte S. Landberg Jonathan S. Merrill
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	100
Production
Executive producer(s)	Elizabeth Brock Erren Gottlieb James McKenna
Producer(s)	Simon Griffith
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	KCTS Seattle McKenna/Gottlieb Producers, Inc. Rabbit Ears Productions Walt Disney Television
Distributor	Buena Vista Television
Release
Original network	Syndicated (1993-1998) PBS (1994-1999)
Picture format	480i SDTV
Audio format	Dolby Surround
Original release	September 10, 1993 (1993-09-10) – June 20, 1998 (1998-06-20)

Bill Nye the Science Guy is an American half-hour live action science program that originally aired on PBS from September 10, 1993 to June 20, 1998 and was also syndicated by Walt Disney Television to local stations. It was hosted by Bill Nye. The show aired for 100 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. Known for its quirky humor and rapid-fire MTV-style pacing, the show won critical acclaim and was nominated for 23 Emmy Awards, winning nineteen.^[1] Studies also found that people that viewed Bill Nye regularly were better able to generate explanations and extensions of scientific ideas than non-viewers.^[2]

Origins and creation

Bill Nye The Science Guy, wearing his trademark blue lab coat and bowtie

While performing in a sketch comedy television show in Seattle called Almost Live! during the 1980s, Nye cultivated a science-explaining TV persona. One famous incident on the show led to his stage name. He corrected another host, John Keister, on his pronunciation of the word "gigawatt", and the nickname was born when Keister responded, "Who do you think you are—Bill Nye the Science Guy?"^[3] In 1993, he developed a Bill Nye the Science Guy pilot for PBS member station KCTS-TV in Seattle. Nye collaborated with James McKenna, Erren Gottlieb and Elizabeth Brock to plan and create the show for KCTS.^[4] The group pitched the show as Mr. Wizard meets Pee-wee's Playhouse.^[5] He successfully obtained underwriting from the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Energy. Nye's program became part of a package of syndicated series that local stations could schedule to fulfill Children's Television Act requirements.^[6] Because of this, Bill Nye the Science Guy became the first program to run concurrently on both public and commercial stations.^[6]

Format

Nye plays a hyperkinetic tall and slender scientist wearing a blue lab coat and a bow-tie.^[7] 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 topic, which leads into an opening credit sequence, as Nye is seen floating through a montage of science images. In later seasons, the theme song was cut short by a static screen. After the opening credits, announcer Pat Cashman would say "Brought to you by...", in which a product name was related to the episode's topic, followed by Nye walking onto the set, called "Nye Laboratories", which is filled with scientific visuals including many "of science" contraptions announced dramatically, relevant to the topic of the episode. Parodies of movies and television shows configure the facts of the episode's topic. Guest appearances included Christopher Walken, Samuel L. Jackson, Harrison Schmitt, Jenna von Oÿ, Robin Leach, John Ratzenberger, Ross Shafer, Graham Kerr, Gene Siskel, Roger Ebert, Bob Ross, Willard Scott, Richard Karn, Soundgarden, Kenny G, Pat Sajak, Vanna White, Cirque Du Soleil, Suzanne Somers, The Flying Karamazov Brothers, Pat Cashman, John Keister, Candace Cameron, Alfonso Ribeiro, Sinbad, Edgar Martínez, Nate McMillan, Mudhoney, Drew Barrymore, and Taran Noah Smith. Each episode also featured Nye in diverse places, focusing on the episode's topic.

There are several individual segments that are featured in each episode, such as "Way Cool Scientist", which features an expert on the episode's topic, "Consider the Following", where Nye discusses a certain aspect of the episode's topic, "Nifty Home Experiment", where the audience is shown how to do a simple home experiment relating to the episode's topic, "Try This", where the audience is shown how to try a simple demonstration relating to the episode's topic, "Hey! Look at This", where the expert shows us how to give us a closer look by relating to the episode's topic, "Check it Out", where the audience is shown how to affect their environmental issues by relating to the episode's topic, "Clever Science Trick", where the audience is shown how to do a simple science trick relating to the episode's topic, and "Did you know that...", where an interesting factoid related to the episode's topic was presented. "Luna Van Dyke, Private Detective" was one of the recurring segments on the show. The segments feature private detective Luna Van Dyke focusing on a story related to the episode's topic.

Most half-hour episodes contain a mock song parody and music video in the "Soundtrack of Science" by "Not That Bad Records". "Not that bad" is a catchphrase that Nye will often say in those episodes, substituting a scientific roundup of the episode for the lyrics to a popular song. This is usually the last segment of each episode. Each half-hour show ends with Nye saying, "Well, that's our show. Thanks for watching. If you'll excuse me, I've got some..." before explaining his departure in a clever description of an activity on topic, followed by him saying "See ya!" afterwards. After that, a female announcer says "Produced in association with the National Science Foundation". The credits sometimes rolled next to a series of outtakes from the episode. Other times, outtakes are shown at the time they actually happened.

In a study that evaluated the pacing of 87 popular children's programs, Bill Nye the Science Guy was found to be the fastest-paced show on television, with a pacing score of 56.90.^[8]

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.^[9] 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 broadcasting, home video, and digital streaming. McKenna and Gottlieb all met while McKenna was a producer on Almost Live!, a Seattle-based comedy show.^[10]

The announcer for the program was Pat Cashman, whom Nye knew from his time on Almost Live!.

Before his show launched, Nye had previously worked alongside Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future: The Animated Series, where he played Doc Brown's assistant and demonstrated several experiments.^[11]

The show has been likened to the next-generation version of Watch Mr. Wizard.^[12][13] 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.^[14]

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, and Intel.

Despite Disney's association and ownership with the show, it has never aired on ABC or any network owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group.

Impact

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.^[2] 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."^[16]

Episodes

100 half-hour episodes were produced.

Awards

During its run, Bill Nye the Science Guy was nominated for 23 Emmy Awards, winning nineteen.^[1]

Daytime Emmy Awards

• 1996 – Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series – Erren Gottlieb, Bill Nye, James McKenna, Scott Schaefer, Adam Gross and Seth Gross
• 1996 – Outstanding Sound Editing – Michael McAuliffe, Sony Felberg, Vince Werner, Dave Howe, Ella Brackett, Thomas McGurk and Jim Wilson
• 1997 – Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series – Kit Boss, Erren Gottlieb, Michael Gross, James McKenna, Bill Nye, Ian G. Saunders, Scott Schaefer and Darrell Suto
• 1997 – Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series – Darrell Suto, Michael Gross, Erren Gottlieb and James McKenna
• 1997 – Outstanding Single Camera Editing – Darrell Suto, Michael Gross, Felicity Oram and John Reul
• 1997 – Outstanding Sound Editing – Thomas McGurk, Michael McAuliffe, Sony Felberg, Vince Werner, and Dave Howe
• 1998 – Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series – Erren Gottlieb, James McKenna, Bill Nye, Michael Gross, Darrell Suto, Scott Schaefer, Kit Boss, Lynn Brunelle, Michael Palleschi, Ian G. Saunders and Simon Griffith (Tied with Sesame Street)
• 1998 – Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series – Bill Nye
• 1998 – Outstanding Single Camera Editing – Darrell Suto, Michael Gross, Felicity Oram and John Reul
• 1998 – Outstanding Sound Editing – Dave Howe, Thomas McGurk and Michael McAuliffe
• 1998 – Outstanding Sound Mixing – Dave Howe, Thomas McGurk, Michael McAuliffe, Bob O'Hern, Resti Bagcal and Marion Smith
• 1999 – Outstanding Children's Series – Erren Gottlieb, James McKenna, Elizabeth Brock, Jamie Hammond, Hamilton McCulloch and Bill Nye
• 1999 – Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series – Michael Gross and Darrell Suto
• 1999 – Outstanding Single Camera Editing – Felicity Oram, John Reul, Michael Gross and Darrell Suto
• 1999 – Outstanding Sound Editing – Dave Howe, Thomas McGurk and Michael McAuliffe
• 2000 – Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series – Bill Nye, Michael Gross, Darrell Suto, Ian G. Saunders, Michael Palleschi, Lynn Brunelle and Mike Greene
• 2000 – Outstanding Children's Series – James McKenna, Erren Gottlieb, Elizabeth Brock, Jamie Hammond and Bill Nye
• 2000 – Outstanding Sound Editing – Dave Howe, Michael McAuliffe and Thomas McGurk
• 2000 – Outstanding Sound Mixing – Dave Howe, Michael McAuliffe, Thomas McGurk, Myron Partman and Resti Bagcal (Tied with Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show and Bear in the Big Blue House)

Home media

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the series in its entirety on DVD, as part of the series' 20th anniversary.^[17] In the United Kingdom, it was distributed on VHS by ViewTech, Bristol.

As of May 17, 2015, a 31 episode collection is available for streaming on various platforms through Netflix.^[18] 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."^[19]

The same 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^[20] and the other containing 17 episodes.^[21]

Video game

A computer game based on the series, titled Bill Nye the Science Guy: Stop the Rock!, was released in 1996 for Windows and Macintosh by Pacific Interactive.^[22]

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 (Meteoroid and Asteroid Exploder) to destroy the meteoroid; however, MAAX develops a personality of its own 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 Nye and other Nye Labs scientists. However, the characters and cast members from the TV series, sans Nye and a few others, do not appear in this game, instead being replaced by game-exclusive Nye Labs team members and new actors.

Syndication

Since 2016, reruns of Bill Nye the Science Guy have been aired on MeTV on Sunday mornings.^[23]

See also

• Bill Nye Saves the World
• Stuff Happens
• The Eyes of Nye
• Carl Sagan
• Universe of Energy – an attraction at Walt Disney World's Epcot starring Bill Nye.
• Bill Nye–Ken Ham debate

References

External links

• Bill Nye, The Science Lab Official Site
• Bill Nye, the Science Guy on IMDb
• Bill Nye the Science Guy at TV.com
• Episode Review "The Sun", Deep Yellow's "My Favorite Star".
• Video (02:47) - Epic Rap Battles of History: Sir Isaac Newton vs Bill Nye.
• Bill Nye the Science Guy at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television results.
• Human Timeline (Interactive) – Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016).