It Was a Thing on TV: Episodes 493 & 494 -1970s and 1980s 15-minute education shows on PBS/Bob

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This week on It Was a Thing on TV we close out Back to School 2024 week and then we honor a recently departed TV legend.

First, it's time for the final entry of Back to School 2024. This time, we're focusing on educational shows. Everybody remembers shows like 3-2-1 Contact, The Electric Company, and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. But do you remember some of the 15-minute shows like Wordsmith and Math Wise? If not, we have you covered in this episode about educational shows which generally ran from about 9 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon from the 1970s through the early 1990s.

To see many of the shows mentioned in this episode and more, visit https://libraries.indiana.edu/agency-instructional-technology-ait.

Then, Bob Newhart struck gold with The Bob Newhart Show in the 70s and Newhart in the 80s through 1990. Could Newhart do it again with another self-titled endeavor? Bob was a clever and funny show, but it didn't have a certain something that both his previous shows had. Despite quality names as guests including a future Friend, the show was saddled with bad time slots and only lasted a handful of episodes into its second season.

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Timestamps

0:52 - 1970s and 1980s 15-minute education shows on PBS

43:20 - Bob