About this season
3-2-1 Contact is an American science educational television show that aired on PBS from 1980 to 1988, and an adjoining children's magazine. The show, a production of the Children's Television Workshop, teaches scientific principles and their applications. Dr. Edward G. Atkins, who was responsible for much of the scientific content of the show, felt that the TV program wouldn't replace a classroom but would open the viewers to ask questions about the scientific purpose of things.
Episodes (20)
1. Tropics: Rubber
Aired 23 September 1985 • 30 min
Paco introduces the tropics and points out that Miguel is in Malaysia. Miguel and Anitha see how rubber is tapped from trees and processed.
2. Tropics: Metals
Aired 24 September 1985 • 30 min
People use the word ""tin"" without really understanding it. Miguel goes to various sites in Malaysia see tin being extracted and used.
3. Tropics: Rice
Aired 25 September 1985 • 30 min
Miguel sees Malaysian rice, from planting to harvesting.
4. Tropics: Working Animals ￃﾢ￢ﾂﾬ￢ﾀﾜ Monkeys and Elephants
Aired 26 September 1985 • 30 min
Miguel learns firsthand how elephants and monkeys can help humans in their tasks. Paco gives a little monologue on domestication.
5. Tropics: Endangered Animals
Aired 27 September 1985 • 30 min
Miguel takes a day-long observation of an orangutan rehabilitation center in Malaysia.
6. Light: From the Sun; To Your Eyes
Aired 30 September 1985 • 30 min
Light is observed through lenses such a telescope and the eye. The Bloodhound Gang is confronted with ""The Case of the Missing Memory.""
7. Light: Color
Aired 1 October 1985 • 30 min
Kathy learns that there is more color in a green leaf than meets the eye. At the Exploratorium, Robin discovers what drives a magnificent light sculpture (the sun and many mirrors). Paco and Mary create their own light sculpture in the studio demonstration. The Bloodhound Gang tries to piece together ""The Case of the Missing Memory"" with a cassette tape that includes a snowy tree cricket chirping. (Concludes in next episode.)
8. Light: Eyes
Aired 2 October 1985 • 30 min
Darlene Librero dissects a cow's eye before a class of intermediate-schoolers. Later we get to hear about Librero's scientific background. The Bloodhound Gang unmasks ""The Case of the Missing Memory.""
9. Light: How Animals See
Aired 3 October 1985 • 30 min
Mary gets her eyes examined. Technically, it's the second straight show on the eye, but not just the human eye. Visual effects simulate the world as other animals see it.
10. Light: Bending and Bouncing
Aired 4 October 1985 • 30 min
Diego and Robin start the day on a ship off the California coast, observing the individual patterns of a lighthouse's beam. They find out how lenses concentrate the rays of light emanating from a lighthouse or a buoy. Robin illustrates the convex lens at the Exploratorium. Also at the Exploratorium, Miguel bounces light with a curved mirror. He goes to the University of Arizona to see the grinding of a glass lens for the telescope at nearby Kitt Peak.MUSIC VIDEO: Light energy from the sun.
11. Farms: Sheep and Pigs ￃﾢ￢ﾂﾬ￢ﾀﾜ Selective Breeding
Aired 7 October 1985 • 30 min
MMiguel and Robin spend most of the day watchiing and learning from a sheep shearer. Paco and Mary anchor ""Pig News,"" a gimmick that will run throughout the week.
12. Farms: Plants and Pigs – Plant Production
Aired 8 October 1985 • 30 min
Mass population puts heavy demands on growing and producing plans. This program looks at some advances in agriculture.
13. Farms: Hybrids
Aired 9 October 1985 • 30 min
A mutt is a hybrid, as Paco and Miguel discover. Much of this show is set in the Animal Emergency Room at a veterinarian hospital. But there is time to show another hybrid, this one from cattle.
14. Farms: Cows and Pigs ￃﾢ￢ﾂﾬ￢ﾀﾜ Animal Products
Aired 10 October 1985 • 30 min
Much of this show is set in a modern dairy. Cows give milk, and that milk is turned into other foods. The Bloodhound Gang investigates a well-disguised pickpocket in Part One of ""The Case of Mr. Quickfingers."" (Concludes in next episode.)
15. Farms: Chickens and Pigs ￃﾢ￢ﾂﾬ￢ﾀﾜ Animal Production
Aired 11 October 1985 • 30 min
Kathy talks with none other than Frank Perdue about his high-yield poultry farm. The Bloodhound Gang unmasks ""The Case of Mr. Quickfingers.""
16. Stuff: Metals
Aired 14 October 1985 • 30 min
Robin, Miguel, and Kathy observe different facets of the Statue of Liberty's restoration.
17. Stuff: Clay
Aired 15 October 1985 • 30 min
Paco gets the low-down on making a coffee cup out of clay. Kathy discovers how clay is used to make toilets. The Bloodhound Gang is called to investigate mass car theft in Part One of ""The Case of the Dark Night.""
18. Stuff: Shaping It
Aired 16 October 1985 • 30 min
Heat It, Beat It is the music video that sums up this episode. We see the bending of glass and (in a scene recycled from ""Tropics"" week) the making of a Malaysian dagger. The Bloodhound Gang cracks ""The Case of the Dark Night.""
19. Stuff: Feathers and Rubber
Aired 17 October 1985 • 30 min
In ""Part 1,"" a makeup man gets Miguel in his chair to make a monster mask. For ""Part 2,"" Kathy goes on a mission with a ""feather detective"" to see what bird made a serious impact with an Air Force jet. The Bloodhound Gang enters a greenhouse to start ""The Case of the Funny Money."" (Concludes in next episode.)
20. Stuff: Using It
Aired 18 October 1985 • 30 min
Schoolchildren design egg containers that prevent the egg from breaking when dropped. Miguel sees a plane that is lighter than its pilot go for a speed record. The Bloodhound Gang makes fast work in battling ""The Case of the Funny Money.""