Classic Television - Saturday Mornings

Watch Mr. Wizard

Original channel

NBC

Original run

March 3, 1951 – 1965

September 11, 1971 - September 2, 1972

Starring

Don Herbert

Watch Mr. Wizard is an American television program (1951–1965) for children that demonstrated the science behind ordinary things. The show's creator and on-air host was Don Herbert. Marcel LaFollette said of the program, "It enjoyed consistent praise, awards, and high ratings throughout its history. At its peak, Watch Mr. Wizard drew audiences in the millions, but its impact was far wider. By 1956, it had prompted the establishment of more than five thousand Mr. Wizard science clubs, with an estimated membership greater than one hundred thousand."

It was briefly revived in 1971.

Watch Mr. Wizard first aired on NBC on March 3, 1951 with Don Herbert as the title character. In the weekly half hour live television show Herbert played a science hobbyist, and every Saturday morning a neighbor boy or girl would come to visit. The children were played by child actors; one of them (Rita McLaughlin) enjoyed a long subsequent acting career. Mr. Wizard always had some kind of laboratory experiment going that taught something about science. The experiments, many of which seemed impossible at first glance, were usually simple enough to be re-created by viewers.

The show was very successful; by 1954 it was broadcast live by 14 stations, and by kinescope (a film made from the television monitor of the original live broadcast) by an additional 77. Mr. Wizard Science Clubs were started throughout North America, numbering 5,000 by 1955 and 50,000 by 1965. The show moved from Chicago to New York on September 5, 1955, and had produced 547 live broadcasts by the time the show was canceled in 1965. The show was cited by the National Science Foundation and American Chemical Society for increasing interest in science, and won a 1953 Peabody Award

32 episodes of Watch Mr. Wizard were selected by Don Herbert and released on eight DVDs.

It was revived by NBC from September 11, 1971 through September 2, 1972 as Mr. Wizard, based on 26 shows produced in color in Ottawa, Canada at the CJOH-TV studios. The series was legally considered Canadian content, despite the American origins of the series and its host. CBC Television carried these episodes within Canada.