Let's begin...

Beakman's World, CBS
IMDb; Retro Junk; Sony Pictures; TV.com; Wikipedia

Zaloom! This was a cool show. You could learn about science and stuff, of course, but it was really fun. We have this wacky scientist named Beakman with hair that was more Kramerish than Kramer's. There was a giant rat in a man suit... um, I mean, a giant man in a rat suit... named Lester, who was pretty funny. There were like three different girls who were also on the show. First was Josie, who was my absolute favorite; yes, we like her. Then there was Liza, who was okay, too. Then there was Phoebe, who was also okay I guess. Did I mention Josie was my favorite? Anyway, there were also a couple penguins who would watch the show and comment on it, Don and Herb. They were funny. I dunno what else to say. I miss this show. It was way better than Bill Nye the Science Guy (though that show was okay, too). Anyway...

Bill Nye the Science Guy
IMDb; Retro Junk; TV Tome

Didn't watch too much of this, but it was okay. I liked the parody videos and stuff. This comedian pretending to be a scientist um, taught kids about science, and stuff. Dunno what else to say. It wasn't nearly as good as Beakman's World.

The Electric Company, PBS
IMDb; Retro Junk; Toonarific; TV Tome

Hey! You! Guys! Um... I barely remember this at all. But anyway, at some point early in my life, I think TV was basically three things: Mr. Rogers, The Electric Company, and Sesame Street. And this was probably my favorite. Despite the fact that Sesame Street was a Muppetish show from Jim Henson. Of course, I remember Sesame Street much better. Oh well. Hmmm, but this show was just kinda crazy. Plus it had Spiderman in it. I dunno what else to say, except that it has great nostalgic value for me. Oh, and it reran on Noggin for awhile, but I don't think it still does, which is a shame, even though I don't get that channel.

Ghostwriter, PBS
IMDb; Retro Junk; TV Tome

Not a great show, but anything that encourages reading probably can't be all bad. And I learned the word "bodega." And, um, hmmm... Lenni and Tina were kinda cute, I guess. Anyway, this group of kids were befriended by some weird sort of thing which might be a ghost, who can only communicate by moving letters around to make words... on paper, computer screens, in the air, wherever. And together they solved mysteries. Not much else to say. It reran on Noggin for awhile, but I don't think it still does.

The Letter People
IMDb; TV.com; Wikipedia

Um. Not sure how much I ever saw of this, if anything. But I do remember that in kindergarten, there were inflatable Letter People sitting on like a shelf that ran all around the room, or something. This being so long ago, I'm not sure how I felt about that. Might've liked them, might've hated them. I must've seen some of the show sometime, though it may not have been til years later, in reruns somewhere. And I have to say, it looks to me now like just about the creepiest, weirdest thing ever. Seriously, it scares me, and I find myself wondering whether I was scared by it when I was a little kid. If you've never seen any of it, you could check out some clips on YouTube.

Anyway, the Letter People were these puppets or whatever, each of whom represented a different letter, and they'd each have a word that started with that letter, like Miss A was Miss A-choo (she was always sneezing), for example. But they'd each use lots of words that started with their own letter. And sing songs about it. And kids were supposed to learn the alphabet and stuff.

That's all I can say. I include this entry out of a sense of nostalgia, or whatever. I dunno. I guess the Letter People are still around, in some more modern educational program, but I know nothing of that. Hopefully it's less weird....

Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Nickelodeon
IMDb; Nickelodeon; TV.com; Wikipedia

Well, I haven't watched alot of this, and I'm not sure it's particularly educational, but still this seemed the best page to stick it on. There's this kid named Ned Bigby who has this guide to surviving school. It's full of tips for handling various situations. Situations which come up in the course of the episodes. Things happen to him and his friends, Moze (who we like), and Cookie. And any number of other kids at school may be involved, but the show revolves around these three. And there are plenty of teachers who are played by people I've seen in other stuff. And a janitor who helps the kids out sometimes. And Ned fairly often addresses the camera directly, to dispense a tip from his guide, for the benefit of viewers. Of course he also shares his tips with his friends. And that's about all I feel like saying, except that the show can be very mildly amusing.

Reading Rainbow, PBS
IMDb; Retro Junk; TV Tome

Of course, I haven't watched this in years, but I used to quite like it. It's hosted by Levar Burton, of course. It's supposed to teach kids to enjoy reading, though I personally never needed any special enticement. I've always thought that reading is one of the greatest things in the world. But anyway, it's a really important show for kids to watch. But you don't have to take my word for it....

Square One TV, PBS
IMDb; Retro Junk; TV Tome

Reruns on Noggin, maybe?
Anyway, um... this show was funny. The point was to teach math to kids. I think the people in it knew how uncool they were, and I think they didn't bloody well care, they were just having fun doing their jobs. That's what it looked like to me, anyway. And that's cool. Anyway, yeah, funny stuff, all the dumb sketches and songs and whatnot. Great fun. Occasionally there was even someone sort of famous on, such as Bobby McFerrin. Plus the Mathnet stories at the end were great. Absolutely classic. Kate Monday was better than Pat Tuesday. George Frankly was great. Anyway. Um, I miss this show. I must still sing some of the songs to myself, now and then. Or something, I dunno. Anyway....

Street Cents, CBC
IMDb; TV Tome

A show for teenage consumers or whatever, though I think anyone could probably get some useful advice out of it. The original hosts were Benita, Jonathan, and Jamie. Also originally there was this whole fictional plot to go along with the reviews of various consumer products and whatnot, wherein there was this sort of evil corporation called Buyco, and the head of the company had this bumbling lackey named Ken Pompadour who um... Well he was supposed to... I don't know what, exactly. Make product placements on the show, or something. Buyco made a bunch of junk that sucked. Whatever. Eventually I think the head of the company went to jail or something, and Ken took over. He wasn't as evil, really. Meanwhile, as the years wore on, one by one the original hosts would disappear. And whenever one left, some new host would replace them. Jonathan was the last original host to leave. (He got his own sort of ridiculous talk show I never really watched, called Jonovision [IMDb; TV Tome].) Some of the replacement hosts who started when any of the originals were still there, were okay. But it's been years since I've been interested in watching any of this, or in the hosts. The fictional aspects, including Ken, seem to be gone I think. Oh, also they used to have mascots, like um, pigs or hedgehogs or whatever. Whenever one mascot left, it'd be replaced. They were each named after a different coin. But it doesn't seem like there've been any of them for awhile, that I know of.

3-2-1 Contact, PBS
IMDb; Retro Junk; Toonarific; TV Tome; Wikipedia

I vaguely recall it. It does have nostalgic value to me. Anyway, it was good to teach kids about science and then reward them with a little Bloodhound Gang mystery (Retro Junk; Wikipedia). It was kind of fun, and I miss it. I think there were two or three sets of hosts over the years....