Sad Sad Day For 20-Somethings And Older

Wednesday, June 13, 2007



We're going to stray away from Sports just a bit this morning because one of my heros passed away yesterday. From TMZ...

Don Herbert -- TV's favorite science teacher who taught kids to try everything at home -- died yesterday at 89 in Bell Canyon, Calif.

In the earliest days of TV, Herbert turned the idiot box into a science classroom that every child -- and plenty of adults -- could love and learn from. "Watch Mr. Wizard" ran from 1951 to 1964, but Mr. Wizard lived on well beyond that, through the 1980s, when "Mr. Wizard's World" ran on Nickelodeon. "The show today might seem slow, but it was in-depth and forced you to think along," said Steve Jacobs, a former on-air sidekick, to the AP. Herbert was also one of the first guests on David Letterman's NBC show.
Mr. Wizard combined with "You Can't Do That On Television" (and the time I was a guest on Pinwheel) shaped my early life, and created a love of Science which I obviously did nothing with (Mom always thought I'd be a Zoologist). He apparently died of Bone Cancer, which sounds absolutely awful. RIP Mr. Wizard, but I know your sharing your expertise at the "Big Lab in the Sky".

Below is a great video of Mr. Wizard on Letterman....

Posted by Awful Announcing- at 10:58 AM

12 Comments:

This sucks. I loved Mr. Wizard.

Were you seriously a guest on Pinwheel?

Jun 13, 2007, 11:42:00 AM  

You were on Pinwheel? Is there video? Please...

Gangsta D said...
Jun 13, 2007, 11:46:00 AM  

Ha...yep, I was. I was a bit of a child acting prodigy. Pinwheel, A Mall Fashion Show, and a local Baltimore commercial for matresses.

Good times, and sadly (thankfully) there's no video.

Jun 13, 2007, 11:56:00 AM  

One time after watching Mr. Wizard, my little sister and I emptied the pepper shaker into a giant bowl of warm water and kept putting our fingers in it to watch the pepper move.

Mom was pissed.

and we MUST see a video of the Pinwheel appearance. That's awesome.

Sooze said...
Jun 13, 2007, 12:04:00 PM  

You'll be missed Mr. Wizard. Can never be replaced

Anonymous said...
Jun 13, 2007, 12:12:00 PM  

Unfortunately, you are ignoring all of the havoc Mr. Wizard caused by turning kids away from God and leaving only reason and science in their wake.

Jon Swift said...
Jun 13, 2007, 12:35:00 PM  

Man, I loved watching Mr. Wizard. R.I.P. Mr. Herbert.

Anonymous said...
Jun 13, 2007, 12:43:00 PM  

My science guy on PBS was Julius Sumner Miller.

He taught me algebra and physics and was a complete nut.

Julius Sumner Miller

I miss the old Dave too, too bad what happened to him.

E Buzz said...
Jun 13, 2007, 1:10:00 PM  

That's from the first Late Nght episode, back in 1982 I think.

I miss Dave on NBC, and I truly miss Trio. They used to show these episodes all the time, I have them all over my Tivo.

kellydwyer said...
Jun 13, 2007, 3:01:00 PM  

Boooooooooooooo!

Mr. Wizard rocked it. As if I'm not still reeling from Mr. Rogers dying.

Scrappled said...
Jun 13, 2007, 3:48:00 PM  

What about the guy on PBS that wore a unitard that had to organs on it, what an asshole. I bet he has AIDS now.

And I think I heard that the bike shop owner from Diff'rent Strokes that tried to molest Arnold and Dudley died this week, too. Damn shame.

GMoney said...
Jun 13, 2007, 3:52:00 PM  

Why are my childhood icons dying? My inner child is pissed.

Signal to Noise said...
Jun 13, 2007, 4:29:00 PM  

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