Search - Gotham Watch Mr Wizard [dvd/1950/b&w] on DVD

Of Great Historical Interest to Classic TV Fans

Retro_Saiyan | Australia | 06/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Watch Mr. Wizard" was one of the first commercially successful educational-programs on United States television, airing on the NBC Television Network. There are three episodes of the series on this DVD. One is from 1954 and is about rocks. The 2nd and 3rd episode appear to be from the 60's, and are about electricity & the legs and speed of animals, respectively. These 3 episodes are very watchable and suprisingly entertaining for an old educational series aimed at children. I do hope that further old educational series come to DVD, including those made by the now-defunct NET (which later became the basis for PBS).

The forth item on this DVD is an episode of arguably the first truely interactive series ever aired on a major TV network. It's called "Winky Dink and You", and though it's of considerable historic interest as an example of innovative 50's TV, it's not very watchable as a program, and is the weakest aspect of this budget DVD (plus, it's in fairly poor condition, unlike the 3 "Mr Wizard" episodes, which look very good for their age).

Each of the 3 "Mr Wizard" episodes runs about 28 minutes, "Winky Dink" runs approx half-hour, though I don't remember the exact time.

Regardless, those interested in the history of television will find much to enjoy here, and yes, it does have considerable nostalgia value too."