# I once saw a show... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577 "2012-11-30T15:53:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/1 "2012-11-30T15:53:57Z")
most probably on BBC, but it could also have been a BBC import on US public television. British presenter, talking about how an industry evolved in a certain area, because of the local natural resources, etc. It sounds quite boring and stuffy as I type it out, but it was really very fascinating. Unfortunately it’s been quite a while, and I don’t have hardly a detail to add, but it did seem to be part of a whole series in this vein. Any thoughts on what it could have been and if it can still be found, oh Teeming Millions? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/2 "2012-11-30T15:57:17Z")
How long ago? I watched _Connections_, presented by James Burke, back when I was in college (late '70s–early '80s). ---
**Author:** ![2\_Fat\_Cattle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/838e76/32.png) [@2\_Fat\_Cattle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_Fat_Cattle)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/3 "2012-11-30T15:57:57Z")
Sounds a bit like _[Guns, Germs and Steel](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475043/)_ ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/4 "2012-11-30T15:58:39Z")
Going back, as you say, quite a while, it could have been **Connections** or **The Ascent of Man** ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/5 "2012-11-30T16:14:56Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > How long ago? I watched _Connections_, presented by James Burke, back when I was in college (late '70s–early '80s). Got it in one! Sometimes I love this place, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/6 "2012-11-30T20:31:33Z")
There was also Connections 2 and 3 - followup series that were essentially more of the same. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/7 "2012-11-30T20:56:07Z")
Didn’t _Connections 3_ run 30 minutes and all MTV-y? I remember being disappointed. There was also _The Day The Universe Changed_. Liked that one too. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/8 "2012-11-30T21:12:13Z")
Yeah, _Connections 3_ was underwhelming. I liked Burke’s other series (plural), though. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/9 "2012-11-30T22:01:42Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Got it in one! Sometimes I love this place, thanks! Glad to be of service. 🙂 _The Ascent of Man_ was also a fascinating series; it was the first thing I remember watching regularly on PBS back in '75 (before even Monty Python was aired in my market). The creator/writer/presenter Jacob Bronowski conceived it in response to Sir Kenneth Clarke’s _Civilisation_, which he described as (as near as I can remember the quote) “a very good history of art, but to tell the story of mankind you’d need to talk about evolution, chemistry, physics, mathematics, architecture, agriculture…” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/10 "2012-11-30T22:36:40Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > most probably on BBC, but it could also have been a BBC import on US public television. British presenter, talking about how an industry evolved in a certain area, because of the local natural resources, etc. It sounds quite boring and stuffy as I type it out, but it was really very fascinating… I remember William Shatner, of all people, appearing in a mid-Seventies documentary series like that back when I was a kid. He was surprisingly good in it. Was there an American version of _Connections_? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/11 "2012-12-01T03:26:38Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Glad to be of service. 🙂 > > _The Ascent of Man_ was also a fascinating series; it was the first thing I remember watching regularly on PBS back in '75 (before even Monty Python was aired in my market). The creator/writer/presenter Jacob Bronowski conceived it in response to Sir Kenneth Clarke’s _Civilisation_, which he described as (as near as I can remember the quote) “a very good history of art, but to tell the story of mankind you’d need to talk about evolution, chemistry, physics, mathematics, architecture, agriculture…” Remember the part when he walked into the [pond at Auschwitcz?](http://youtu.be/dkgkook5jro). Nobody’s ever used TV to make as much sense as that. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/12 "2012-12-01T03:51:03Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > How long ago? I watched _Connections_, presented by James Burke, back when I was in college (late '70s–early '80s). God I loved that show! ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/13 "2012-12-01T04:04:51Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > God I loved that show! Me too, I got a season of DVDs last Christmas. What I loved in particular was how he’d take you on a long, winding road of coincidence+causality to show how a bunch of disconnected events could lead to a modern invention. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/14 "2012-12-01T04:38:10Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Me too, I got a season of DVDs last Christmas. What I loved in particular was how he’d take you on a long, winding road of coincidence+causality to show how a bunch of disconnected events could lead to a modern invention. Sometimes, though, the connections were a bit far-fetched. I remember one episode where the chain of events broke down completely (around the introduction of guncotton, I think). ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-saw-a-show/642577/15 "2012-12-01T05:18:06Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Remember the part when he walked into the [pond at Auschwitcz?](http://youtu.be/dkgkook5jro). Nobody’s ever used TV to make as much sense as that. I’ve never heard of this program. I’m now rectifying that, thanks.