Curiosity Show
| The Curiosity Show | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Factual |
| Written by |
Deane Hutton Rob Morrison |
| Presented by |
Deane Hutton Rob Morrison |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English and some German |
| No. of seasons | 19 |
| No. of episodes | 500 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Running time | 60 minutes (1972-1980) 30 minutes (1981-1990) |
| Production company(s) | Banksia Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | Nine Network |
| Picture format | 4.3 PAL |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 1972 – 1990 |
The Curiosity Show is an Australian educational children's television show produced from 1972 to 1990, and hosted by zoologist Dr Rob Morrison and Dr Deane Hutton. The show was produced by Banksia Productions in South Australia for the Nine Network. 500 episodes were produced.
Banksia Productions produced the popular children's series Here's Humphrey from 1965. The company planned to add some science segments in 1971 and sought assistance from the South Australian Institute of Technology. Rob Morrison and Deane Hutton were selected as presenters and the segments were introduced as Humphrey B Bear's Curiosity Show. After positive reception from the audience, Banksia Productions and the Nine Network agreed to produce a spin-off series. Planning commenced with the working title The F Show.
Hutton adds that until the early 1970s, children's television was aimed at younger children. The broadcasting regulations were changed to require a proportion of programmes to be aimed at schoold-age children, broadcast after school hours. This prompted the creation of the Curiosity Show as a separate show.
From 1972 to 1980 the format was a 60-minute show presented by Morrison, Hutton, Ian Fairweather, Alister Smart, Belinda Davey, Gabrielle Kelly, Dr Mark Dwyer and Lynn Weston. The emphasis was on science but also included general craft and music. Producers were Neil Smith, Kate Kennedy White (1978–79), James Lingwood (1980) and Ian Smyth.
From 1980 the show was reduced to 30 minutes, presented by Morrison and Hutton, with emphasis on science, nature and the environment.
The Curiosity Show won many national and international awards, including the coveted Prix Jeunesse in 1984, voted by peers from around the world as the best factual program for children.
The program placed a strong emphasis on practical demonstrations of various science topics, and included activities such as floating a ping-pong ball on a stream of air, recreating historical devices, setting off a room full of mouse traps, the science of musical instruments and freezing objects with liquid nitrogen. Commonly, segments presented scientific concepts in the form of tricks and puzzles.
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