5
votes

Back in the 80's there was a really neat educational show on PBS in NY. I remember having to wake up just before 6 am to watch it on a weekday right before school. The episodes might have only been 15 minutes long and the series was a short run there were only a dozen or less episodes. It might have been American but I think it could have also been Canadian.

The production was simple. It featured a male host who's set looked like an electronics workshop. He explained various electronic devices, computers and other technology. I remember it being a bit in-depth for a kids show. It focused at looking inside of things to see how they worked. Part of one episode I remember was when he explained how a modem worked by hooking a speaker to the handset of a phone in an acoustic coupler modem. You could hear how the digital data sounded as it was received and the data was displayed on a monitor.

I can barely remember it but one thing that stood out was the intro. The intro was a Rube Goldberg machine that towards the end started a Jacobs ladder which burned a stick which somehow turned on a neon sign. The neon sign was the name of the TV show.

This has been eating me up for a few days already. Google has found nothing for me and I really searched. I just hope someone can remember the name.

1 Answer 1

3
votes

Could it be "Acme School of Stuff" from 1988?

EDIT: Seems like a match. The opening depicted a Rube Goldberg machine that ends with a neon sign of the show's title, and it had a bit about a 300 baud modem (that ends with the host being spammed!):

1
  • YES! That is the show I was searching for. I can't believe someone figured it out. Thank you so much.
    – Mister Tea
    Nov 18, 2014 at 15:43

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