Bill Nye the Science Guy is a live action
educational television program that originally
aired from September 10, 1993 to June 20,
1998 and was hosted by William "Bill" Nye.
The show aired on PBS Kids and was also syndicated
to local stations.
Each of the 100 half-hour episodes aims to
teach a specific topic in a natural science
to a preteen audience.
The show is frequently used in schools as
an education medium, and it still airs on
some PBS stations for this reason.
Synopsis
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 half-hour show begins with Bill 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 show.
Most half-hour 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 half-hour show ends with Bill explaining
in a clever description of an activity on
topic.
The credits sometimes rolled next to a series
of outtakes from the episode.
Soundtrack
The show's memorable bass-heavy theme song
is set to a house 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 show's episodes consisted of several compositions
from Associated Production Music.
Some featured tracks include:
"Acts of Heroism"
"Blood in the Gutter" by Laurie Johnson
"Dramatic Impact #3" by Ivor Slaney
"The Gunfighter" by Ennio Morricone
"Hit and Run" by Ralph Dollimore
"Killer Birds" by Gregor Narholz
"Saw Theme"
"Spindlelegs" by King Palmer
"Graveyard"
Many of these tracks were also featured in
SpongeBob SquarePants, Camp Lazlo, All That,
KaBlam! and The Ren and Stimpy Show.
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."
Production
Created by comedian Ross Shafer and based
on sketches on KING-TV's sketch program Almost
Live!, the show was produced by Disney Educational
Productions and KCTS-TV of Seattle.
The announcer was Pat Cashman, whom Nye knew
from his time on Almost Live!.
The theme song is credited to Mike Greene.
Before this show, Bill 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, editordirector Michael
Gross.
Episodes
100 half-hour episodes were produced.
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
"Lost Episodes"
Awards
Bill Nye the Science Guy was nominated for
twenty-three Emmy Awards and won nineteen
during its run.
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
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
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.
Video game
A computer game for 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 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.
The game featured a fully explorable Nye Labs,
as well as video cut scenes featuring Bill
and other Nye Labs scientists.
However, the characters and cast members from
the TV series, sans Bill and a few others,
do not appear in this game, instead being
replaced by game-exclusive Nye Labs team members
and new actors.
See also
Stuff Happens
The Eyes of Nye
Universe of Energy – an attraction at Walt
Disney World's Epcot starring Bill Nye.
External links
Bill Nye, The Science Lab Official Site
Bill Nye, The Science Guy at Disney.com
Bill Nye, the Science Guy at the Internet
Movie Database
Bill Nye the Science Guy at TV.com
Episode Review "The Sun", Deep Yellow's "My
Favorite Star".
Bill Nye - Popular Video – Warning That
Creationism Threatens Science Education in
The United States.
Bill Nye the Science Guy-related interview
videos at the Archive of American Television
results
Video - Epic Rap Battle of History: Sir Isaac
Newton vs Bill Nye
References
