# Has there ever been any "cool/hip" educational pieces of media that actually worked on you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2017, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625 "2017-10-12T08:26:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/21 "2017-10-12T22:16:07Z")
I loved [Watch Mr. Wizard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watch_Mr._Wizard) when I was growing up. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/22 "2017-10-12T22:30:44Z")
> [@](#): > > “cool/hip” Why are you saying it like that? I’ll add my vote to _Schoolhouse Rock_ for its memorability. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/23 "2017-10-12T22:44:10Z")
IAN the OP and cannot speak for yadda yadda yadda, but I’m not sure Schoolhouse Rock was ever what the OP would have called “cool/hip”. Catchy, yes, and pleasant in that laid-back but earnest Sesame Streetish way. Nerdyfun, like Tom Lehrer’s Periodic Table song or the songs about “Silent E” and “-LY” on the _Electric Company_. But not **cool**. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/24 "2017-10-12T23:42:21Z")
[What](https://youtu.be/MSvJ9SN8THE) [about](https://youtu.be/x88Z5txBc7w) **[Animaniacs](https://youtu.be/Vvy0wRLD5s8)**? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/25 "2017-10-12T23:59:13Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Another vote for **Schoolhouse Rock**. > > I remember a film I saw at least twice back in school called **Hemo, the Magnificent** ; part of series of films made by Bell Laboratories back in the '50s. Don’t know if it was ever cool/hip, but I definitely remember it years later. I wouldn’t have recognized the name back then, but it was directed by Frank Capra. > > I also remember the **Life Science Library** book series. My uncle had the full set and I thought they were fascinating (well, a few volumes more than others). I happened to see him when he was planning to get rid of them, so he gave them to me. > > Nye got his start (pretty much) on a local Seattle show called _Almost Live_. He did Science Guy stuff, and other characters like a superhero who fought crime while racewalking. Considering how far he has come, it’s interesting to see some of the [early evolution](https://youtu.be/W9QwCVBENHM) of the character. The prequel to _Hemo_ was “Our Mr. Sun,” co-starring \>trumpets\< Eddie Albert (and his red hair). ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/26 "2017-10-13T00:26:52Z")
[We Didn’t Start The Fire.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/27 "2017-10-13T00:35:55Z")
Cheech and Chong got me interested in chemistry. 🙂 I watched Mr. Wizard. My daughters and I watched Mythbusters. Some of the episodes do a nice job showing problem solving and the scientific method. For example, they took samples throughout the building and grew cultures to find the dirtiest places. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/28 "2017-10-13T00:48:22Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > [We Didn’t Start The Fire.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g) What was _ever_ cool or hip about that song? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/29 "2017-10-13T02:03:57Z")
> [@Trancephalic](#): > > [What](https://youtu.be/MSvJ9SN8THE) [about](https://youtu.be/x88Z5txBc7w) **[Animaniacs](https://youtu.be/Vvy0wRLD5s8)**? [You’ll be happy to know Yakko’s World has been somewhat updated.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5YM6jqbUXE) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/30 "2017-10-13T02:09:55Z")
> [@bryan ekers](#): > > why are you saying it like that? > > I’ll add my vote to _schoolhouse rock_ for its memorability. “You’re eating hair!” ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/31 "2017-10-13T03:08:30Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I also remember the **Life Science Library** book series. My uncle had the full set and I thought they were fascinating (well, a few volumes more than others). I happened to see him when he was planning to get rid of them, so he gave them to me. I remember those when I was a wee one, and getting bummed out after reading that section about the woman with severe depression in…it was either the “Health and Disease” or “Drugs” volume. Devoured those [things](https://www.google.ca/search?dcr=0&biw=828&bih=674&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=life+Science+library+-+volumes&oq=life+Science+library+-+volumes&gs_l=psy-ab.3...29796.31740.0.32331.10.10.0.0.0.0.221.1028.5j3j1.9.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..1.3.584...0j0i30k1j0i24k1.0.uC7vi55j3w4). Wonder Showzen could be educational, with a little bit of swagger. [Or](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwvrGHsjD7g)…[something](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-KUbflnMEs). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/32 "2017-10-13T03:48:40Z")
Similar to _Schoolhouse Rock_ and _Horrible Histories_, there was a show in my native New Zealand in the 90s called _The Trivia Company_, comedy sketches involving interesting historical facts. We also had _[Tiki Tiki Forest Gang](http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7dab4629)_, which I puppeteered for briefly. It was a natural history puppet show, covering topics about animal conservation. \*_made by [some people I knew](http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7e058828) (I submitted some scripts too, but they didn’t get picked)_ ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/33 "2017-10-13T11:22:41Z")
_[Érase… una vez…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjB9CLIdgBU) un planeta triste y oscuro. Y la luz… al nacer… descubrió ¡un bonito mundo de color!_ It wasn’t sold as “cool” or “hip”, just as “educational”, but Once Upon A Time had a lot of people of all ages stuck in front of the TV. Of course any series involving history will have details which are told differently on different sides of a border, but even in those cases many people considered it interesting to see how the French looked at events for which we’d been “the other guys”. - There was at least another series, Once Upon A Time - The Human Body. It wasn’t as successful but let’s face it, the enormous soap opera we call “history” is a lot more interesting than capillaries and proteins. And I say that as someone whose dream job would have involved biochemistry. La bola de cristal, featuring Alaska as la Bruja Avería (“Breakdown, the Witch”), is considered to have been groundbreaking in many ways (for starters, picking a punk diva as the star, instead of someone cheerily bland). It was on screen when I was in college so I haven’t really watched much of it but I know it had high audiences and dared to speak about things other children’s programs did not. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/34 "2017-10-13T13:12:11Z")
It’s definitely NSFW and adult oriented but I love Thug Notes… like this gem: [Jane Eyre](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPlN_HIU55U) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/35 "2017-10-13T22:34:48Z")
I loved the show _Connections_. I know it was cool and hip by the lapel size of James Burke. > **[Connections (TV Mini Series 1978– ) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078588/)** > > Connections: With James Burke, Kenneth Kendall, Bruce Boa, Mark Wing-Davey. Follow James Burke through the history of science and technology in this collection of 10 1-hour episodes, starting with "The Trigger Effect." ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/36 "2017-10-15T02:01:16Z")
Hamilton Drunk History? > [@WordMan](#): > > I have gotten started on a number of topics I have been curious about via graphic novel books. **The Cartoon History of the Universe** by Larry Gopnik, for example, is frickin’ _brilliant_. It really is. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625/37 "2017-10-15T14:29:55Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > _[Érase… una vez…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjB9CLIdgBU) un planeta triste y oscuro. Y la luz… al nacer… descubrió ¡un bonito mundo de color!_ > > It wasn’t sold as “cool” or “hip”, just as “educational”, but Once Upon A Time had a lot of people of all ages stuck in front of the TV. Of course any series involving history will have details which are told differently on different sides of a border, but even in those cases many people considered it interesting to see how the French looked at events for which we’d been “the other guys”. Oh wow, you guys had that too? The show had a huge following here in Israel (although our opening titles were [a bit more terrifying](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6weAkWiRGb4)). Great - if somewhat dated - program, with a surprising amount of violence and nudity for a children’s show. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-any-cool-hip-educational-pieces-of-media-that-actually-worked-on-you/798625.md?page=1)