3-2-1 Contact
NR
8.2
1980
3-2-1 Contact is an American science educational television show that aired on PBS from 1980 to 1988, and an adjoining children's magazine. The show, a production of the Children's Television Workshop, teaches scientific principles and their applications. Dr. Edward G. Atkins, who was responsible for much of the scientific content of the show, felt that the TV program wouldn't replace a classroom but would open the viewers to ask questions about the scientific purpose of things.
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Episode 65 : Crowded/Uncrowded: Human Survival/Controlling Densities
February. 15,1980
REHASHED FROM PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Lisa rides a hot-air balloon. FILM INSERT: The elephant struggles for survival in Africa. ADDITIONAL: The black hole.
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Episode 64 : Crowded/Uncrowded: Down Among the Atoms (Liquids & Solids)
February. 14,1980
Marc adds too much food coloring to the frosting on a birthday cake for his sister, starting a discussion of molecular density in solids and liquids. The Bloodhound Gang solves ""The Case of the Cackling Ghost.""
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Episode 63 : Crowded/Uncrowded: Contrasts in Densities of Materials
February. 13,1980
Trini pilots around New York City in the Goodyear blimp. Lisa gets to ride a hot-air balloon. The Bloodhound Gang gets an eyesight-full in Part Two of ""The Case of the Cackling Ghost."" (Concludes in next episode.)
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Episode 62 : Crowded/Uncrowded: Optimum Populations in Nature
February. 12,1980
A wildlife expert visits the workshop to extoll on the impact humans have had on animals such as the wolf. FILM INSERT: Kudzu takes over parts of the South. The elephant struggles for survival in Africa. The Bloodhound Gang is called up to a lady's mansion in Part One of ""The Case of the Cackling Ghost.""
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Episode 61 : Crowded/Uncrowded: Human Crowding
February. 11,1980
The workshop welcomes a guest to discuss the human psyche of crowding.Film inserts: Building a skyscraper; the Gui people of Africa do a little minor socializing; New York City life.THE BLOODHOUND GANG: ""The Case of the One-Ton Jewel,"" a one-shot mystery in which an auction is apparently selling a fragment of a white dwarf.
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Episode 57 : Big/Small: Animal Habitats
February. 26,1980
Everyone is perplexed when they find bugs living on just about everything. Trini examines a salt marsh. (Continues in Episode 59.) A guest biologist discusses water and food chains.Film insert: elephants' needs for survival.ANIMATION: Ants.THE BLOODHOUND GANG: ""The Case of the Dead Man's Pigeon,"" a one-shot adventure in which a lawyer is trying to swindle a niece from her inheritance.
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Episode 56 : Big/Small: Animal Sizes/Scaling
February. 25,1980
At the Bronx Zoo, Lisa goes on the rounds with a young veterinarian feeding baby animals. Marc visits Miami Seaquarium to see whales trained.Film insert: Leaf-cutter ants; flea circus.ANIMATION: Do you know how difficult an ant would be if it were the size of an elephant?THE BLOODHOUND GANG: ""The Case of the Professor's Fleas,"" a one-shot mystery surrounding a flea circus that has had all its stars stolen.
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Episode 55 : Surfaces: The Atmosphere
April. 11,1980
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Episode 53 : Surfaces: Surface Tension and Bubbles
April. 09,1980
Lisa rides a hot-air balloon and gets tips from a glassblower on making goblets. A film insert discusses bubbles and how they are used. The Bloodhound Gang is kidnapped in Part One of ""The Case of the Thing in the Trunk."" (Concludes in next episode.)
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Episode 52 : Surfaces: Shapes and Functions at the Surface
April. 08,1980
Field locations include cacti in the Arizona desert, a Zamboni, and a scanning electron microscope. The Bloodhound Gang decodes Mr. Bloodhound's whereabouts in ""The Case of the Missing Bloodhound.""
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Episode 51 : Surfaces: Protection
April. 07,1980
Clothes are humans' number-one source of protecting the skin. Trini finds out what clothing works best when climbing a mountain. The Bloodhound Gang is confronted with ""The Case of the Missing Bloodhound.""
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Episode 50 : Order/Disorder: Sum of Its Parts
April. 04,1980
A composer visits the workshop to discuss writing music. Marc sees the specialized work of honey bees. Trini gets the full story on setting up a rock concert.
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Episode 49 : Order/Disorder: Disordered
April. 03,1980
Marc, Lisa, and Trini become helter-skelter at the beginning, but they calm down and devise plans. In the process, Lisa finds a pattern for her quilt. On location, Lisa sees a sewage treatment plant in Chicago. The Bloodhound Gang gets to the bottom of ""The Case of the Secret Message.""
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Episode 48 : Order/Disorder: Social Order
April. 02,1980
Animals keep a semblance of order, whether they are bees in a hive or people in the Kalahari Desert searching for melons. Music and games are also part of social order, as we shall see. The Bloodhound Gang is perplexed by ""The Case of the Secret Message."" (Concludes in next episode.)
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Episode 47 : Order/Disorder: The Body – An Ordered System
April. 01,1980
A student of neuropharmacology visits the workshop to discuss the order of the human body and all its systems. Marc observes how a pacemaker works. Trini seeks how a doctor could restore a boy's sight by replacing damaged corneas. The Bloodhound Gang puts out an APB to crack ""The Case of Mr. Q.""
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Episode 46 : Order/Disorder: Regular Patterns
March. 31,1980
Lisa is looking for a quilt design, which she can't quite place. Trini suggests that Lisa use a computer to create a new quilt design. Marc sees ordinary objects look extraordinary through the scanning electron microscope. The Bloodhound Gang is called to investigate ""The Case of Mr. Q."" (Concludes in next episode.)
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Episode 45 : Near/Far: Knowing Where You Are
March. 07,1980
RECYCLED FROM THE PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Marc sees a sailing ship chart its return course and observes how a blind boy finds his way around; astronauts training for navigating the space shuttle.
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Episode 44 : Near/Far: Space Travel
March. 06,1980
This program goes to Houston to observe the space shuttle. The Bloodhound Gang has to stop a swindle in ""The Case of the Educated Pig.""
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Episode 43 : Near/Far: Mapping and Navigating Over Earth
March. 05,1980
For the bulk of the show, a guest at the workshop is Willis Brown, a transcontinental pilot who discusses air travel. Trini examines homing pigeons. Marc goes on a sailing adventure.THE BLOODHOUND GANG: ""The Case of Princess Tomorrow, Part Three."" (Repeat of a mystery installment from Noisy/Quiet: Music. Recycled for the only time in the series.)
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Episode 42 : Near/Far: Mapping and Navigating Near Home
March. 04,1980
Marc visits a researcher determining how bees communicate. Then, in a segment previously used in Light/Dark: The Eye, Marc watches a visually-impaired boy navigate around his neighborhood.THE BLOODHOUND GANG: ""The Case of Princess Tomorrow, Part Two."" (Recycled from Episode 3 – for the only time in the series) All of Princess Tomorrow's predictions appear to have come true. This prompts the gamblers to fork over money to Professor Diablo to get predictions on the next horse race. (Concludes in next episode.)
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Episode 41 : Near/Far: Seeing Isn't Always Believing
March. 03,1980
Lisa and Trini enter an Eames Room to play tricks on Marc. Marc gets an up-close look at things through a scanning electron microscope. The Bloodhound Gang is called on to observe an apparent prognosticator in Part One of ""The Case of Princess Tomorrow.""
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Episode 38 : Light/Dark: Electromagnetic Spectrum
February. 20,1980
Trini follows the crew that sets up the lighting on a Kiss concert (recorded during their 1979 tour). At the workshop, Trini uses a prism to split white light into the color spectrum. Lisa witnesses an infrared camera. (Includes additional material not seen in Episode 31.) Marc learns that butterflies and flowers bear ultraviolet light.THE BLOODHOUND GANG: ""The Case of the Thing in the Trunk, Part One."" (Recycled from Episode 18) The gang discovers a stolen mummy in the trunk of a car – and are locked themselves in the back of a van. (Concludes in next episode.)
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Episode 34 : Hot/Cold: Heat and Work
January. 24,1980
Lisa is bitter over her cold. As Marc and Trini try to warm her spirits, Lisa thinks back to her visits with the motorcyclist and the hot-air balloons. The Bloodhound Gang must work quickly to crack ""The Case of The One-Ton Jewel.""
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Episode 33 : Hot/Cold: How Hot or Cold Can It Get?
January. 23,1980
Marc and Trini relate temperature to each other as they make ice cream and candied apples respectively. Lisa demonstrates extreme cold temperatures with liquid nitrogen. A ""volcano chaser"" visits the workshop to discuss volcanoes. On location, Lisa visits a glassblower. She also visits a volcano that is almost ready to erupt. (This is different from the footage used in Episode 14.)ANIMATION: Increasing heat of objects in degrees Celsius.THE BLOODHOUND GANG: ""The Case of the Professor's Fleas,"" a one-shot mystery surrounding a flea circus that has had all its stars stolen.
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Episode 32 : Hot/Cold: Animal and Plant Adaptations
January. 22,1980
The desert and polar regions demonstrate how plants and animals react to extreme heat or cold. The Bloodhound Gang unlocks ""The Case of the Secret Message.""
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Episode 30 : Food/Fuel: The Sun Makes Everything Go
February. 08,1980
RECYCLED FROM THE PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Gasohol, Baker's Akers, baking bread. Another sequence believed to be in this episode is a race of fuel efficiency between a school bus and a car (which is seen in the ehow called Big/Small: Volume & Efficiency.
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Episode 29 : Food/Fuel: Fueling Machines
February. 07,1980
True fuel is discussed in this episode, first with the 1980 phenomenon ""gasohol"" and with real gasoline at a motorcycle race. The gasohol segment takes Lisa to a rural factory where corn kernels, with enzymes and yeast, are fermented into alcohol to be mixed with gas. Lisa and the farmer then use it to drive a tractor. The Bloodhound Gang is confronted with ""The Case of the Dead Man's Pigeon.""
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Episode 27 : Food/Fuel: Human Food
February. 05,1980
Marc illustrates the truth about calories while baking a pizza. A group of school kids at Staten Island learn about nutrition. Lisa's cousin, a lumberjack, visits the workshop to demonstrate the ""horizontal chop.""ANIMATION: A concatenatious song on all the fuels that make up a winning bicyclist.THE BLOODHOUND GANG: ""The Case of Mr. Q, Part One."" A rare hybrid seed is under ransom. (Concludes in next episode.)
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Episode 23 : Communication: Machinery of Communication
March. 19,1980
After two days and contact, Marc sends out the Goodyear Blimp for Trini. Marc visits Bell Laboratories to see a computer that is programmed to speak (intermixed with portion of Human Voice animation from Episode 1).Film insert: ""How A Television Works"" song (filmed at Connecticut Public Television with some stars of Sesame Street.ANIMATIONS: Sound vibrations; telephones.THE BLOODHOUND GANG: ""The case of the Cackling Ghost, Part Three."" The gang discovers that Edmund had poured pheromones on a sheet to attract enough moths that would simulate the ghost.
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Episode 20 : Fast/Slow: Time and Time Again
February. 01,1980
REHASHED FROM THE PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Lisa checks out a professional motorcycle racer (filmed Oct. 1979) and witnesses the wicked tides at the Bay of Fundy. A make-up artist transforms Marc into an old man, explaining human aging along the way. ANIMATION: Speed of various animals.Fresh items for end of week: Karate is more than fights – it can be graceful dance called kata.ANIMATION: One billion years of Earth change is compressed into 1¾ minutes.
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Episode 17 : Fast/Slow: Rhythms of Nature
January. 29,1980
Lisa gets some instructions on rhythms from a professional drummer and witnesses the wicked tides at the Bay of Fundy. Trini examines migratory birds. Marc learns about human heartbeats and how a pacemaker works. ANIMATION: Heartbeat. THE BLOODHOUND GANG: ""The Case of the Flying Clock, Part Two."" Vikki sees through the clock collector's claim that he could identify the burglar. Ricardo recovers the precious flying clock.
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Episode 16 : Fast/Slow: Speed Up, Slow Down
January. 28,1980
Trini and Lisa stage a surprise birthday party for Marc. It revolves around a tape recording which Marc must play at various speeds. Features Harry Blackstone's complex magic acts (with one trick slowed down).ANIMATION: How cartoons are made.THE BLOODHOUND GANG: ""The Case of the Flying Clock, Part One."" (Recycled from Forces: Buoyancy and Gravity) A clock collector files an insurance claim that a precious clock has been stolen. (Concludes in next episode.)
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Episode 15 : Growth/Decay: Cycles Upon Cycles
March. 14,1980
REHASHED FROM THE PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Lisa sees a volcano that is almost ready to erupt. Marc learns about the growth of corn and pigs at the Bakers Akers farm. ANIMATION: One billion years of Earth change is compressed into 1¾ minutes; Gloria wants to be a mechanic; the moving rocks of Earth; average life spans of various species. Film insert: Leaf-cutter ants.Fresh items for end of week: Trini discovers how old car parts are reused. Lisa and Trini discover how Marc operates his volcano.
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Episode 14 : Growth/Decay: Human Cultures/Land Forms
March. 13,1980
Lisa sees a volcano that is almost ready to erupt. Marc demonstrates a model volcano. Trini joins a group of young archaeologists uncovering fossils along the Illinois River.ANIMATIONS: The moving rocks of Earth; one billion years of Earth change is compressed into 1¾ minutes.THE BLOODHOUND GANG: ""The Case of the Missing Bloodhound, Part Two."" Mr. Bloodhound has left behind another secret message for the gang, which leads them directly to the kidnappers.
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Episode 10 : Forces: A Spectacle of Forces
March. 28,1980
REHASHED FROM THE PREVIOUS FOUR EPISODES: Roller coaster design; stuntman; orbiting satellites. Also: what forces propel a bicycle.
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Episode 9 : Forces and Machines
March. 27,1980
Hurricane Rufus strikes the workshop. Calmer discussion of the Earth's forces are seen at a circus, in the paths of satellites, and at the Bay of Fundy. The Bloodhound Gang teams up to solve ""The Case of the Flying Clock.""
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Episode 5 : Noisy/Quiet: Range of Vibration
January. 18,1980
Lisa, Marc, and Trini are given a puzzle. They hear a bell ring and, as instructed, put the bell in a closed jar and take out some of the air with a vacuum pump. Since they don't hear the ringing, they begin to wonder: Is the bell broken?
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Episode 4 : Noisy/Quiet: Music
January. 17,1980
Dizzy Gillespie shows off his jazz talents. Trini checks out the behind-the-scenes work at a Kiss concert. The Bloodhound Gang cracks the Case of Princess Tomorrow.
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Episode 3 : Noisy/Quiet: How People & Animals Use Sound
January. 16,1980
Lisa goes to Hawaii to see how dolphins use sonar. Another segment sees sonar of bats. Trini sees an ultrasound apparatus at work. The Bloodhound Gang finds a wrinkle in The Case of Princess Tomorrow.
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Episode 1 : Noisy/Quiet: Production & Processing of Sound
January. 14,1980
A sixty-second tease introduces the cast and previews some of their scientific adventures. This is followed by a four-minute film showing the recording of the 3-2-1 Contact theme. (See Quotes.) While Lisa and Marc talk on a steel-can telephone of the youth, Trini tries to fool them with ""Stan the Robot."" But nobody is fooled, thanks to a device that maps out sound patterns. Marc visits Bell Laboratories to see a computer that is programmed to speak.ANIMATIONS: Telephones; human voice.THE BLOODHOUND GANG: ""The Case of the Educated Pig,"" a one-shot mystery surrounding a pig that can supposedly answer multiple-choice questions.
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