Bill Nye the Science Guy is an American half-hour
live action science program that originally
was syndicated by Walt Disney Television to
local stations from September 10, 1993 to
June 20, 1998 and also aired on PBS from 1994
to 1999.
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.
Studies also found that people that viewed
Bill Nye regularly were better able to generate
explanations and extensions of scientific
ideas than non-viewers.
== 
Origins and creation ==
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?"
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.
The group pitched the show as Mr. Wizard meets
Pee-wee's Playhouse.
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.
Because of this, Bill Nye the Science Guy
became the first program to run concurrently
on both public and commercial stations.
== Format ==
Nye plays a hyperkinetic tall and slender
scientist wearing a blue lab coat and a bow-tie.
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.
== 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.
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.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.The show has been likened
to the next-generation version of Watch Mr.
Wizard.
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, 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.
=== Soundtrack ===
The Bill Nye the Science Guy theme song was
written by former math teacher Mike Greene.
"The thing that they told me was they did
not want it to sound like a kid’s theme
song," Greene explained.
"They didn’t want it to be safe, basically.
They didn’t want to make it sound like stuff
that’s already been done.
They wanted it to be something that was adventurous
and a little bit more daring than what a theme
song, at that time, would be.
It was much more common to have a song that
would be like, 'Bill Nye’s gonna teach you
some science.'
Something that’s a little bit cheesier.
They wanted to go as far away from cheesy
or safe as they could get."Greene said that
he was inspired by Danny Elfman and Oingo
Boingo when composing the theme and used his
voice for singing the "Bill Nye the Science
Guy" refrain.
"I used my voice for the first demo to send
to the producers, Jim and Erren," he said.
"After they approved it, I hired singers because
I wanted to make it better.
I hired a guy to sing it who sounded pretty
cool.
He had like a rock‑and‑roll kind of voice,
so it sounded pretty slick.
Then as another option, I hired a girl to
sing it to give it a bit more R&B kind of
sound.
Then I sent those versions to Jim and Erren,
and they said, 'Why have you got them on it?
We want your voice.
It’s funnier.'
I thought, 'My voice is funnier???
Good thing I’m not touchy about my singing!'
So we kept my voice on there."Set to a house
beat, Greene enlisted rappers to repeat the
word "Bill!" as a percussive shout.
"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."
== 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.
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."
== Episodes ==
100 half-hour episodes were produced.
=== Season 1 (1993–94) ===
Season 1 of Bill Nye the Science Guy consisted
of 20 episodes.
=== Season 2 (1994–95) ===
Season 2 of Bill Nye the Science Guy consisted
of 20 episodes.
=== Season 3 (1995) ===
Season 3 of Bill Nye the Science Guy consisted
of 20 episodes.
=== Season 4 (1995–97) ===
Season 4 of Bill Nye the Science Guy consisted
of 20 episodes.
=== Season 5 (1997–98) ===
Season 5 of Bill Nye the Science Guy consisted
of 20 episodes.
== Awards ==
During its run, Bill Nye the Science Guy was
nominated for 23 Emmy Awards, winning nineteen.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.
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.
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."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
and the other containing 17 episodes.
== 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.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 ==
Reruns of Bill Nye the Science Guy aired on
Noggin (now Nick Jr.) from 2000 to 2002.
Since 2016, reruns of the program have been
aired on MeTV on Sunday mornings.
== 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
