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Time to wheel out the TV cart! Join us as we count down the most memorable movies, shows, and specials that 90's kids watched in the classroom! Our countdown includes "Bill Nye the Science Guy," "Reading Rainbow," "The Magic School Bus," "Schoolhouse Rock!," and more! What do you remember watching in school? Let us know in the comments below!
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00:00Take a look, it's in a book, a reading rainbow.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're wheeling out the TV cart and counting down our picks for the most
00:12memorable movies, shows, and specials watched in 90s classrooms.
00:16Just as I thought, overheated. Well, I believe we'll be here for quite a while.
00:22Number 10, VeggieTales.
00:25So when I'm lying in my bed.
00:30And the furniture starts creeping.
00:34Heavily inspired by, and sometimes based upon, stories of the Christian Bible, we're not sure that VeggieTales would fly as
00:41in-class entertainment in the modern era.
00:43But in the 90s, it was all fair game.
00:46God is bigger than the boogeyman. He's bigger than Godzilla or the monsters on TV.
00:53Of course, the appeal of VeggieTales was that, while it was religious, it was never preachy.
00:58We could sing along with the pirates who didn't do anything.
01:01Or musically commiserate with Larry the Cucumber about his lost hairbrush.
01:06None the wiser about what God they believed in.
01:08Not fair, oh my hairbrush.
01:12Not fair, my poor hairbrush.
01:15Sure, the singing vegetables, silly songs, and stories might not have been incredibly educational.
01:19But they were an undoubtedly entertaining way for teachers to pass the time.
01:24Number 9. Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?
01:28All these people want to know, where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?
01:35Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?
01:39In the late 80s, National Geographic conducted a survey that revealed some shocking gaps in the average American's geographical knowledge.
01:47Hoping to change things for the next generation, PBS created Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
01:52A game show with an educational slant.
01:55Carmen Sandiego and her cadre of creeps have pulled another caper.
01:59This time, they hit the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.
02:02Each episode centered around the investigation of a crime, making it a far more thrilling way to learn than any
02:09teacher's homemade Jeopardy board.
02:11If you were a student in New York, you may have even gotten an opportunity to appear on the show
02:15itself.
02:16PBS encouraged geographical study by contacting schools local to the production and urging their teachers to send their best and
02:24brightest to compete.
02:25Jason, we're all proud of the good work you did throughout the day.
02:29And we here at headquarters, well, we pitched in and purchased a portable CD player we thought you would enjoy.
02:34Number 8. Zoom.
02:36Funding for Zoom is provided by the National Science Foundation, America's investment in the future.
02:46Many children's television shows advertise themselves as being made for kids.
02:51But how many can truly say they were made by kids?
02:54Zoom could.
02:55Rebooted for a new generation in 1999, the PBS series employed a rotating cast of seven young hosts who, among
03:02other things, did crafts, reviewed books, and acted out scenarios sent in by viewers.
03:08Now, let's get down to business.
03:11Wishes, shall I grant you some?
03:13Eh.
03:15But your wishes are my command!
03:17Unlike many other educational shows of the time, Zoom was all-encompassing in its curriculum,
03:22covering everything from science projects to cooking a simple meal.
03:26Students learned about far more than could be taught with a standard textbook, and had fun doing it.
03:32We can't do it on our own.
03:33We need you to make it known.
03:35That everything you see right here could only be on Zoom because of every one of you.
03:39Number 7.
03:40Romeo and Juliet.
03:41She doth teach the torches to burn bright.
03:47It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night as a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear.
03:53Before Baz Luhrmann rocked our world with his anachronistic adaptation of Romeo and Juliet,
03:58teachers across the nation introduced the famous play to their students through the work of Italian director Franco Zeffarelli.
04:05Though only rated PG, this 1968 film was surprisingly risque for a classroom.
04:11The gentle sin is this.
04:13My lips, two blushing pilgrims ready stand to smooth the rough touch.
04:21It even featured a brief topless scene of a then-teenaged Olivia Hussey as Juliet,
04:26which sent many teachers scrambling for the fast-forward button.
04:29Despite the groans it elicited from classes of hormonal teenagers,
04:33this censorship was probably for the best.
04:36It shall give him such an unaccustomed dram
04:40that he shall soon keep Tybalt company.
04:44Following the Me Too movement,
04:45Hussey and her male co-star sued Paramount Pictures for allowing the scene to be filmed without their express consent.
04:51Number 6.
04:52Wishbone.
04:53Watch the story, Wishbone.
05:02English didn't have to be your favorite subject for you to enjoy Wishbone.
05:06The PBS series covered a variety of literary classics,
05:09including Pride and Prejudice, The Tempest,
05:12and Great Expectations in a way that made them easy to understand without dumbing them down.
05:17I'm tired, Pip, but I want to see some play.
05:20No problem, lady.
05:21That's what I do best.
05:22Watch me!
05:24Come on, Estella!
05:25Even heavy subject matter like murder and slavery were not off-limits.
05:29Of course, significant characters in these classic stories were performed by a Jack Russell terrier,
05:34but soccer was one of the best doggy actors to hit the small screen.
05:38Don't worry, Robin.
05:39We'll figure something out.
05:41If only I'd taken her with us.
05:43I should've.
05:44If only I knew that she was alright.
05:46If I had some kind of sign.
05:48What's more, Wishbone perfectly illustrated why we should still care about stories from the past.
05:54Even 8th century epics could relate to a kid's everyday life.
05:57Did you hear that, men?
05:59We're no longer outlaws.
06:01The king has returned.
06:03Long live the king!
06:05Long live the king!
06:06It was a show that had everyone asking,
06:09what's the story, Wishbone?
06:11Number 5.
06:12To Kill a Mockingbird.
06:22Many parts of America's history can be hard to swallow,
06:25but it's important not to shy away from them.
06:28Harper Lee's 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird,
06:31discusses some of these tough topics through the perspective of a 6-year-old girl
06:35living in the South during the Great Depression.
06:37There just didn't seem to be anyone or anything Atticus couldn't explain.
06:45Though it wasn't a talent that would arouse the admiration of any of our friends.
06:49With the help of this book, and its 1962 film adaptation,
06:5390s kids were taught about the injustices of Jim Crow laws,
06:56and how they impacted individual people in the South.
06:59Gregory Peck is the film's moral compass as Atticus Finch,
07:02leading a legal trial that could captivate even the rowdiest of classrooms.
07:06The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is.
07:15Now, gentlemen.
07:16For many, it's an early lesson on systemic inequality and doing what's right.
07:21Number 4.
07:22Schoolhouse Rock.
07:24Conjunction, junction, what's your function?
07:28Hooking up words and phrases and clauses.
07:33What better way is there to learn than with music?
07:35Advertising exec David McCall came up with the idea for Schoolhouse Rock
07:39when he realized his son was struggling to memorize facts in school,
07:42despite being able to remember the lyrics of several Rolling Stones songs.
07:46Three is a magic number.
07:50Yes it is.
07:52It's a magic number.
07:54He convinced musician Bob Darrow to write three is a magic number and the rest is history.
08:00Just as kids memorized the ABCs in kindergarten,
08:03they could also be taught about prepositions, taxes, and the skeletal system through song.
08:08All your organs, muscles too.
08:13They need your bones to hold them safe and sound inside for you.
08:17And it worked surprisingly well.
08:20It's rare to meet a 90s kid who can't tell you, or rather sing to you,
08:24about the basics of conjunctions or the American legislative process.
08:28I'm just a bill.
08:29Yes, I'm only a bill.
08:31And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill.
08:34Well, it's a long, long journey.
08:38Number 3.
08:39The Magic School Bus.
08:40Is Ralphie staying home from school today, Miss Frizzle?
08:44Yes, I'm afraid so, Arnold.
08:46What are we gonna do?
08:47What are we gonna do?
08:48What are we gonna do?
08:49Normal field trips were a fun way to escape.
08:52But if you had to be stuck in class,
08:54field trips with the frizz were the next best thing.
08:57Yes way.
08:58The first episode of The Magic School Bus launched its elementary-aged cast
09:02into space to learn about the solar system.
09:04And the adventures only got crazier from there.
09:07Seatbelts, everyone!
09:09Ralphie, say aw!
09:11Ah!
09:12Ah!
09:14Whether Miss Frizzle was teaching about sound in a haunted house
09:18or studying germs inside the body of a sick classmate,
09:21we were happy to be along for the ride.
09:24And while there was always an instructive element to each episode,
09:27the adventure always managed to grip us
09:29in a way that few other educational series managed to match.
09:33Very good, Carlos.
09:34Sound is vibration.
09:36Hear it.
09:37Feel it.
09:38Are all sounds made by something vibrating?
09:42Ah, good question, Carlos!
09:44Number 2.
09:45Reading Rainbow
09:46Take a look.
09:48It's in a book.
09:50Reading Rainbow.
09:53Reading Rainbow.
09:57In an age of nonstop sequels and reboots, Reading Rainbow is one of the few that just makes sense.
10:03With recreational reading among schoolchildren in decline, the former PBS series has taken to YouTube to teach a new generation
10:10of kids the magic of a good book.
10:12Nearly 20 years after the show went off the air, Reading Rainbow is returning with a new digital platform.
10:19But the same message.
10:20Open a book.
10:21If it's anything like the original series, we're sure the kids will be back to reading in no time.
10:26Throughout the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, actor LeVar Burton opened our eyes to a multitude of new experiences through literature,
10:34covering everything from sports injuries to imprisoned parents.
10:38Through kids' reviews and real-world segments, we came to understand that books could not only be fun,
10:43they could help us understand and connect to the people around us.
10:47Perhaps you've seen or you know someone whose family is homeless and you've had some questions about it.
10:52Well, here are some books that might help, but you don't have to take my word for it.
10:57Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:01The Voyage of the Mimi.
11:03All the math and science you'll need to track whales and save the ocean.
11:07It just quickly compares the black and white patterns and the markings from all the sectors,
11:13and then it gives us a list of the most likely choices.
11:16Zabumafu.
11:17Before Wild Kratz, Zabumafu helped the Krat Brothers teach kids about our wild world.
11:22Brothers, Tot lost some quills.
11:24Well, Zabumafu, sometimes porcupine quills fall off, just like hair falls off.
11:29Charlotte's Web.
11:30That's some pig.
11:31Jeffrey, there's a horrible fact of life that you don't know about yet.
11:37And I don't want to tell you, but Charlotte's working on the problem.
11:40Arthur.
11:41As long as Arthur was on, kids knew that they weren't going through life's hurdles alone.
11:46George didn't do his report.
11:48He probably couldn't do it because he can't read.
11:52Poor George.
11:53I bet they're going to send him to a special school.
11:56It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
11:58It wouldn't be Halloween without this classic peanut special.
12:01You don't believe the story of the Great Pumpkin?
12:04I thought little girls always believed everything that was told to them.
12:08I thought little girls were innocent and trusting.
12:11Number 1.
12:12Bill Nye the Science Guy.
12:14Anyone could be a children's television host,
12:16but it takes a special blend of knowledge and charisma
12:19to have kids across the nation chanting your name.
12:23Bill Nye the Science Guy.
12:25Bill Nye the Science Guy.
12:28Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill.
12:30Bill Nye the Science Guy.
12:32With a background in engineering and sketch comedy,
12:35Bill Nye was that diamond in the rough.
12:38Nye, along with James McKenna and Aaron Gottlieb,
12:41believed in the show enough to spend four years pitching it to a variety of networks
12:44before PBS agreed to put it on the air.
12:47Now right here, we have a piece of iron, which is steel wool,
12:51and we're going to run some electrons through it
12:53and make it react with the oxygen in the air.
12:55Thankfully, the commitment was worth it,
12:57as Nye and his co-stars were regularly invited, via television,
13:01into the classrooms of schools across America throughout the 90s and 2000s.
13:06He taught us everything about science, from nutrition to comets,
13:10with explosive experiments and songs parodying popular hits.
13:13Well, I want to rock, I want to give you such a shock,
13:16with static electricity, with static electricity.
13:19What do you remember watching in school?
13:21Let us know in the comments.