Discovery (American TV series)

Discovery is an American television program, produced by ABC News, that was geared towards children and teenagers. The program began in October 1, 1962 as a weekday afternoon series. In September 1963, the show moved to midday Sunday, and remained on the air until September 5, 1971.[1]

Virginia Gibson and Frank Buxton with baby bloodhound, Corpuscle, 1962.

Overview

The program was hosted by actor/announcer Frank Buxton and actress/vocalist Virginia Gibson. The show's original studio announcer was ABC staff announcer Bill Owen, who replaced Buxton as host in 1966, continuing through 1971. The shows hosted by Buxton were mostly studio productions, done in black-and-white. Beginning with Owen, the shows were produced in color, and involved much travel to on-site locations. The actual on-air title of the series was named according to each year it was produced, beginning with Discovery '62 and ending with Discovery '71 (syndicated reruns only had the title Discovery).

The show's executive producer was Jules Power, the former co-producer of NBC's Mr. Wizard.[2] The Discovery format originally had Buxton and Gibson (joined by a hound dog named Corpuscle) in studio, exploring various topics in science, culture, history and the arts, often with special in-studio guests. Later seasons of the show had Buxton and Gibson (and later Owen and Gibson, and sometimes Gibson alone) traveling on location (without the dog) to different destinations around the world in a documentary format.

Discovery was replaced in 1971 by Make a Wish, which in turn was replaced by Animals, Animals, Animals in 1976 (and ended in the summer of 1981).

Accolades

Discovery was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program several times, winning in 1964.

References
  1. Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 151–152. ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.
  2. New York Times obituary on Discovery executive producer Jules Power
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