3-2-1 Contact

PBS (ended 1988)

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Show Summary

Premiered: Jan 13, 1980
Status: Ended

The product of three years' development, 3-2-1 Contact (B. 1980 D. 1988) stands as the third-longest-running series ever produced by the Children's Television Workshop (as it was then called). Its premise was to bring the world of science, and all its excitement, to middle-school students, particularly girls and minorities. Through seven seasons, various hosts traveled around the world to find science in everything. Over the years, features such as clever animation, biographies, and the detective series The Bloodhound Gang were included. Complementing the series for middle-school students and teachers alike was 3-2-1 Contact magazine, edited by Jonathan Rosenbloom.''''In the first season of 3-2-1 Contact, three hosts Lisa, Marc, and Trini met at a regular set, called the "workshop," to discuss their scientific adventures. It looked every bit the science equivalent of The Electric Company, with loads of animation and regular celebrity segments. But the stars of the show were Lisa, Marc, and Trini, going off on scientific adventures (some of which were repeated numerous times throughout the season). The Bloodhound Gang, produced by Daniel Wilson Productions, featured wonderful mysteries (most written by Sid Fleischman) related to whatever theme 3-2-1 Contact was devoted to that week.''''The Bloodhound Gang, not to be confused with that musical act of questionable behavior, was a smart team of apprentices for the Bloodhound Detective Agency in (by all looks of things) Kenilworth, New Jersey. The gang consisted of Vikki, the super-observant leader; Ricardo, the photographer/amateur magician; and a younger member. The first season was divided between Zach and Cuff, both of whom ran the detective agency CB.''''After three years of rerunning 65 programs, CTW gave 3-2-1 Contact a new format for Seasons 2 and 3. Very little material was recycled within these programs, except for adventures of The Bloodhound Gang.''''A new team of characters Robin, Kathy, Miguel, and his ten-year-old brother Paco brought a new element of reality to the series. Their set was an average basement. Another co-star, Jackie (played by Liz Gorcey) appeared only on location. Biographies of scientists, a sporadic studio element of Season 1, became a weekly feature in the second and third seasons. These new biographies always were filmed on locations where the scientists worked.''''The Bloodhound Gang returned with a new member, Skip. In contrast to Zach and Cuff, who one observer said just hung around, Skip was the computer whiz who complemented Vikki and Ricardo immeasurably.''''Season 4 relied more heavily on location work. All the hosts returned, as did two new ones, Mary and Diego. Studio shots were limited to "color" sequences featuring Paco and his new partner, Mary. All installments of The Bloodhound Gang (not seen during Tropics Week, Episodes 126-130) were held over from Season 3 since, sadly, Marcelino Sanchez (Ricardo) had been diagnosed with the cancer that would take his life in November 1986.''''Season 5 marked a transition of the cast members. Robin, Miguel, Mary, and Diego appeared only during Motion Week (Episodes 156-160). Paco was the only mainstay from the previous three seasons (he was absent from Episodes 151-155). But the most significant aspect of Season 5 was its co-production between CTW and FR3, a French public television network. With English and French versions in full swing, 3-2-1 Contact became one of the first shows to air on TVOntario's new La Chane Franaise (now TFO) when that network signed on in January 1987. The Bloodhound Gang mysteries were again recycled segments from Season 3.''''Season 6 introduced a new opening sequence. It also revisited old sequences (mostly from Seasons 1 and 2). In fact, Architecture Week (episodes 176-180) featured a great deal of sequences rescued from Building Week in Season 2, which had aired for the last time just months before. The Bloodhound Gang was totally absent for the only season in the show's history.''''Season 7 leaned more heavily on Stephanie Yu, a factor that would prove to drown out the team concept. Also deterring the team was Season 7's reliance on more elaborate location theme weeks featuring one performer. Reruns of The Bloodhound Gang re-emerged briefly if for no other reason than to ensure that all participants from the old mysteries would get their space in the show's crawl.''''Production funds for 3-2-1 Contact were provided by:'' The National Science Foundation (all seasons)'' U.S. Department of Education (all seasons)'' Corporation for Public Broadcasting (all seasons)'' United Technologies Corporation (Season 1)'' The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations (additional funding in Season 2)''''By the time production of the regular series ended in 1988, CTW began producing a succession of 3-2-1 Contact Extras, which have a separate page at TV Tome. Some of these Extras are still being sold by a company called GPN, which also holds audiovisual rights to the sequel series 3-2-1 Classroom Contact.''''CTW (renamed Sesame Workshop in 2000) withdrew a total of twenty 3-2-1 Contact programs between 1986 and 1990 inclusive, before the entire series was dropped by PBS October 2, 1992. To this day, 3-2-1 Contact and the logo are trademarks and service marks of Sesame Workshop, 1980-1988.''''Reruns briefly surfaced on Noggin, then co-owned by Nickelodeon and CTW, when that network signed on January 31, 1999. (Programs seen on Noggin have been identified with the letter N in the production codes column.) On occasion, Nickelodeon rebroadcast selected 3-2-1 Contact programs as part of their Cable in the Classroom project. But after a short run in great time periods, this and other CTW series were given less convenient time periods in the ensuing months. Ultimately, 3-2-1 Contact was taken permanently from all airwaves in the spring of 2003.''''This does not, however, prevent some people from trying to raise awareness in the original 3-2-1 Contact series. To this end, The 3-2-1 Contact Awareness Society at Yahoo! was created November 6, 2004.moreless

7.5

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Episode Guide

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S 7 : Ep 30	Island: Conch	Aired 11/18/88
S 7 : Ep 29	Island: Flamingos	Aired 11/17/88
S 7 : Ep 28	Island: Coral	Aired 11/16/88
S 7 : Ep 27	Island: Lizards	Aired 11/15/88
S 7 : Ep 26	Island: Parrot Fish	Aired 11/14/88

Cast & Crew

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Glenn Scarpelli

Cuff, in The Bloodhound Gang [Season 1]
Nan-Lynn Nelson

Victoria Allen [Vikki], in The Bloodhound Gang
Leon W. Grant

Marc (Season 1)

Fan Reviews (4)

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Lively show made education exciting and fun.

10

"Perfect"

By Lokar, Aug 11, 2006 Report Abuse

This show was something of a cousin to trailblazing programs like 'Zoom' and 'The Electric Company.' Picture that material for a slightly older audience, with more music, free-roaming locations, a sub-set plot with recurring characters, and other innovations, and you've got something like the model for '3-2-1.'

Episodes taught lessons about science, geography, the forces of nature, social studies and other topics. They often compared different principles, such as 'hot-cold' and 'big-small.' There was plenty of humor and problem-solving. 'Contact' really brought home the idea that learning was something important and relevant to kids' everyday lives.

This is also the birthplace of The Bloodhound Gang, not the music group but the show-within-a-show that closed every episode. They were school-age detectives who solved mysteries in their neighborhood, using deductive reasoning and persistance. The kids learned not only how to solve a crime, but to never give up in the face of their problems-- a valuable lesson to take with you whether you want to be a detective or not.

'3-2-1 Contact' was funny and instructive, fast-moving without skimping on intelligence. We could use more shows with this spirit today.moreless

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I loved this show when I was little

8.6

"Great"

By kevinb4444, May 30, 2006 Report Abuse

I just remembered this when I saw on one of those video website had the starting of the show on it. I remember the frog and the drop of water. I forgot it was an informative show, I do remember that it was pretty interesting. PBS needs to bring back or make up more shows like this one. They can\'t just coast on Sesame Street, just like Fox stopped coasting on the Simpson\'s after it stopped being good. Show like this and the Bloodhound Gang and Mr. Rogers, which obviously can\'t be brought back educated alot of us as kids.moreless

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The first season was definately the best, but even later seasons managed to educate AND entertain. Also, one of the best theme songs in TV history.

8.0

"Great"

By konky2000, May 11, 2006 Report Abuse

For starters, this show had one of the greatest theme songs in TV history. Even as an adult, if you hear the opening theme, you will be blown away by how good it still is.

The show itself is very hard to track down, but the show succeeded by blending together a 3 basic elements.

First there were the hosts of the show who hung out in a cool activity room chatting with each other and doing various science related activities related to the episode's theme. There were usually mild soap opera concepts thrown into these segments and sometimes there was an ongoing plotline that would continue from one day to the next. The primary purpose of these clubhouse scenes was to introduce short documentary clips of the various hosts out in the world learning a scientific principle.

Lastly, there was the Bloodhound Gang, which was a short 5 minute mystery show featuring a gang of kids who solved small crimes. The mysteries would usually be extended over a few episodes.

The format stayed the same for the entire run of the show, however, there were two versions of the clubhouse. The first and best clubhouse contained 3 high school/college age teenagers, two girls and a guy. The banter and chemistry between them was quite fun as they often mildly teased each other in a semi-flirtatious manner.

After the first season, the clubhouse gang and clubhouse changed completely. Suddenly there were more people in the gang, and they were in a basement in New York. Also there was a kid, who was mainly there for Scrappy-Doo style comic relief. This team remained in place for the remainder of the show's run. While they are perfectly fine, the first season was really the best, and would be the better shows to try and track down.moreless

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Personal Favorite when I was a kid.

9.0

"Superb"

By blissful2beme, Apr 25, 2006 Report Abuse

This was my favorite show as a child. I would run to the television upon the start of the theme song just to be able to sing 3-2-1 contact.

I was fascinated by the experiments and information they provided on the world. It made me want to be a scientist when I grew up...now am I a scientist? No, it seems I don't really like science that much but I do enjoy learning interesting tid-bits and how things work and this show had tons of that.

So if they ever bring it back on, I recommend watching a few of the episodes just for the fun of it.moreless

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Theme song
Anyone know who sang it? Was it original for the show?

By Lokar, Jan 11, 2008

10/16/10

4
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Bloodhound Gang
Did they ever 'lose' or not figure out a case?

By Lokar, Aug 20, 2006

03/18/08

4
Reply