Bill Nye the Science Guy: the Importance of Children's Educational Tv

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For me, my grandmothers tapes were better than any TV. They were my comfort when I was sick, they were there for me every time I moved, or when my parents would fight. I would re watch my favorite Bill Nye episode on architecture and I felt at home. One of the most important things Bill Nye the Science Guy taught me was how to love learning. Bill was funny, smart, and he made things so easy to understand. He made learning not feel like a task. On top of that, I got to see people who looked like me doing the science I was learning about. I’m talking about both the fact that it was nice to see other kids on screen but also girls and kids of color. The show was full of real kids as opposed to characters, which wasn’t something television shows had a lot of yet surprisingly. Most shows featured adults or creatures and puppets talking in simple language at kids, it was cool to see other kids actually involved in a show for kids. And to top it off, they were kids of all different races, boys and girls. It made science, a daunting subject for many, seem more accessible and fun. I don’t even think I was aware that I was watching a “science show” I was watching entertainment that happened to teach me a great deal.

One of the main reasons I picked Bill Nye the Science Guy, and the topic of TV in the 90’s in general is because for me they are both things steeped a deep nostalgia. While I love Bill Nye as a work outside of its time context, the reason I have such a deep love for it is because of a deep nostalgia I have for the simpler times of my life. This is something that I think is widespread in American culture toady, the power of “comfort media” specifically for those who lived through or were born in the 90’s. It is the decade of nostalgia. A time many are always remembering as “simpler,” a time that is always being reminisced upon with articles like “Which 90’s TV shows do you remember” and used in memes that express feelings of childishness and fear of adulthood. The decade in which Bill Nye was produced is just as important and informing as the content of the show itself; had I been a kid growing up in any other time period and watching this show out of its 90s context, I can guess it would not produce the same feelings of familiarity and comfort that it is able to bring me now.

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