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3-2-1 Contact: Scientists at the writers’ table

NOV 01, 2021

DOI: 10.1063/PT.3.4870

Ingrid Ockert

Ockert replies: Ralph Smallberg brings up an excellent point. While some 1970s shows had science advisers, the Children’s Television Workshop was one of the first production companies to give them a seat at the writers’ table. In 1977 the company launched a three-day workshop in Glen Cove, New York, bringing together leading scientists and educators—including MIT physicist Philip Morrison—to brainstorm topics for what became 3-2-1 Contact. From there, the Children’s Television Workshop formed a formal science advisory committee for the show, intentionally including scientists from Black, Hispanic, and Asian American communities.

As I note in the article, the first content director of 3-2-1 Contact was Charles Walcott, a biologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, who did a wonderful job of facilitating the collaborations between the scientists and the production staff. Likewise, Ted Ducas, a physicist at Wellesley College, deserves credit for his role in cowriting the show’s excellent first season.

More about the Authors

Ingrid Ockert. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California.

This Content Appeared In
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Volume 74, Number 11

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