3-2-1 Contact

In one very memorable episode of the 1980 season, one of the girls (I think it was Trini) went to a KISS concert to get a little behind the scenes introduction in how all the sound equipment was put together. They then played part of the concert. I was watching this episode with my friend and just as they were playing the concert, his dad walked in and got all upset that we were watching junk on TV. He didn't listen when we tried to explain that it was an educational program on PBS, and he forced us to turn it off!!!

The main difference between the first season and later seasons is that the original 321 Contact gang was composed of 2 girls and 1 guy, while later seasons saw the inclusion of a wise-crack prone kid. Thus, while the first season had a Three's Company vibe to it, later episodes had more of a Scrappy Doo vibe that got a little annoying.

I don't know that they ever made new Bloodhound Gang episodes. I kind of remember seeing the same ones over and over again even during the newer episodes.

I remember watching this show hundreds of times as a kid! Mind you, I loved the 1980 season with Trini, Mark, and that other gal (can't remember her name). A friend of a friend who's an actor in LA actually met Mark, and he's doin' okay. I didn't care for the other seasons, but I'd do anything to see the old 1980 episodes again.

Watching this show was an after school ritual for me. I still remember the episode where the kids were stranded in the middle of Death Valley and spelled out HELP in rocks, hoping for a plane to fly past them. Do you remember the bizzare episodes of the Bloodhound Gang? The science they taught everyone who watched it still haunts me to this day. Do you remember the pinhole camera in the back of the van when they got kidnapped by the art thieves, or the ladder the fat lady broke going up to the attic to get her mothball infested dress?? Am I the only one who remembers this stuff??

I saw probably the entire first season and I agree the show gradually became a little stale in following years.

Of course there was the bouncy theme song with a disco vibe, that included lines like "Contact/ it's the reason/ it's the moment/ when everything happens./ Contact.../ Let's make contact." Sounds vaguely like a proposition. Making science sexy, maybe. Someone should record a club remix.

Part of the footage that played along with this (aside from a Saturn V lift-off, an arc lamp, and I think an earth-mover) was of a frog wiping spittle off its eye in slow motion. This made me gag, especially since it came right before a slobbering infant. Of all the stock footage available, they chose two cuts with saliva to illustrate the wonders of the natural world.

All in all, it was a pretty good show. I didn't care for the fictional segment ("The Bloodhound Gang"), and I was embarrassed by its theme song.

It is probably difficult to make a show like this, since the children with an interest in science probably know a lot of the basics already, yet the ones with only a passing interest are the real target audience, since the makers wanted more to instill curiosity than to inform. There is no way this show could be considered to teach with any degree of rigor. It was essentially a succession of appealing or curious images that could be easily explained, with a sort of Encyclopedia Brown show tacked on.

Like the rest of the users, I watched the entire first season (probably while killing time, waiting for "Battlestar Galactica '80" to start) and then more or less lost interest. Even at 7 I remember thinking it was cool that Marc had this cool apartment/clubhouse that he got to share with two chicks. The fact that they mostly just hung out, doing strange science experiments, didn't phase me a bit. I guess that's just what a guy does with two chicks in their clubhouse. Unlike some of the other users, I really liked the Bloodhound Gang. I remember one episode in particular where they investigate a ghost at some old lady's house. Turns out her creepy son was doing it in order to get her to sell the place so he could pay off his gambling debts - not bad for a kids show. Plus, the ghost itself was really friggin' scary - it cackled and wiggled and, to be honest, scared the crap out of me. Turns out the son created the ghost by - and here comes the sciency aspect of the mystery - catching moths using pheromones and then illuminating the wriggling moths with a spotlight, creating the illusion of this amoeba-like squirming ghost. He also played creepy cackling music on his tape player for added effect. All in all the whole process seemed a little laborious, but then I guess it wouldn't have fit the show if they didn't get a chance to discuss moth pheramones. I also remember another bloodhound episode where this guy claimed someone had stolen his priceless grandfather clock. In reality, he wrapped it in plastic and dumped it in his well with the intention of using bags of salt to float it to the top so he could retrieve it after he collected the insurance money. Like one person said, very Encyclopedia Brown. Anyhow, great show and don't kid, that theme song rocked. Although the frog and baby were, admittedly, a bit gross.