Beat That, Einstein
(Mcasso is usually spelled with just the 'M' capitalised, I believe. If you don't already know, the name's derived from the initials of the three founders: Mike Connaris, Alan Swinden, Stefan Oprych ;)) |
(May as well point out, too, the day and time this aired... Children's Hospital was on BBC1 and The Bill on ITV; I assume this was still meant to be an alternative to them rather than a competitor) |
||
| Line 27: | Line 27: | ||
Credited to Mcasso. | Credited to Mcasso. | ||
| + | |||
| + | == Trivia == | ||
| + | |||
| + | Aired on Thursday evenings at 8pm. | ||
[[Category:Technological]] | [[Category:Technological]] | ||
[[Category:Channel 4 Programmes]] | [[Category:Channel 4 Programmes]] | ||
Current revision as of 12:51, 13 June 2025
Contents |
Host
Broadcast
Tiny Epic for Channel 4, 3 November to 22 December 1994 (8 episodes in 1 series)
Synopsis
The most curious thing about this show was that it was presented by the bloke who was "at the piano" for endless series of Whose Line is it Anyway? and yet his voice had never been heard before now. And what's he got to do with science?
Scientifically literate genii and ignoramuses are lumped together into a group. The aim was to solve a problem such as building the turntable for a car using nothing more than water and a kiddie's swimming pool, or play a tune on a piano whilst standing on the other side of the lake.
The intention was that the scientific people would explain to the ignorant people what to do, and by eavesdropping on this communication the viewer would understand the scientific principles at work. In practice, the scientific people just got on with whatever they thought would work, so it was left to Vranch to explain what was going on with improvised props such as polystyrene cups.
You could tell when the format was in trouble when some shows featured one long challenge and others changed into something different half-way through. The show also had a high failure rate, and watching something that just doesn't work wasn't that interesting.
Key moments
In one episode, the team were challenged to drop a piano (Vranch's involvement seemed to necessitate the involvement of pianos all the time) from a plane and it still had to be playable. They were given some cardboard stuff and fabric and created a honeycomb-type support and parachute from it. They succeeded. As they were using an army plane, the army had a go and their piano broke.
Theme music
Credited to Mcasso.
Trivia
Aired on Thursday evenings at 8pm.
