Mission Statement
"Almost single-handedly, and with considerable resistance from
his own peers, [he] changed the face of science. He rescued the
wonders of science from their obscure, arcane, fiercely defended
citadels and presented them to us to examine and admire."
The above words were written about Carl Sagan and his development of
the television series Nova. A similar statement might be written
about Bill Nye "the Science Guy" and his program for
children on public television, or NOVA Science Now.
The Children's Television Workshop launched Sesame Street's
Science of Discovery season aimed at preschoolers on public
television... Popular Mechanics for Kids, a slapstick science show
for elementary school students, was syndicated in the 1990's.
Much has been written about making science fun and accessible to both
children and the general public, to prepare them for enacting
responsible environmental and chemical legislation in the face of
"junk science". These shows are making admirable first steps.
While Dr. Sagan's show examined issues somewhat dryly for an adult
audience on public television, and Dr. Nye's show takes a silly
approach to science for children, also on public television, there is
room for a responsible, informative program for all ages tailored for
the new millennium specifically targeting popular, newsworthy,
environmental issues.
The Professor K Show tackles the science issues which appear on the
six o'clock news every night. Professor K immediately grabs the
viewers' attention through the use of many characters (all played by
Professor K- as done successfully by Jim Varney (the Earnest...
series) and Marc Weiner (Weinerville), and most recently by Alton
Brown on Good Eats for the Food Network) developed during years of
improvisational performance training. Attention is maintained through
the use of popular analogies all viewers can appreciate, developed
through years of lecturing students. An online component of the show
encourages viewers to take action where they live and provides
sources of additional information, plus allows them to become
Associate Professors ("AP's"), exchanging ideas and
thoughts with other AP's around the globe.