How we made Curiosity Show
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- We are often asked what Curiosity Show was, especially from viewers in places like the USA and India where the program was not broadcast during its long run on air from 1972 until 1990. We also put on TH-cam only isolated segments from programs instead of the entire 30 minutes of each show (although we plan to put up an entire show soon). In 1984, Curiosity Show won the Prix Jeunesse International, the world's highest award for TV programs for young people. As a result, we were asked to make a short program in 1985 explaining our approach to making Curiosity Show. here it is.We hope you enjoy it - Deane and Rob
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Rob, Dean, you made something that held its shine throughout the decades, still appealing to both young and older viewers in more countries than you ever could have imagined beforehand. I know you guys are humble about it, but the fact that your legacy is now spreading out to the rest of the world, is truly something to be proud of. You did good and you still do. I hope you guys stay healthy and curious for many years to come, and may it put a big smile on your faces to see how loved you are.
Very kind of you and we appreciate the thoughts - Rob
Couldn't have put it better myself. Amen to all of that.
Here, here!
@WrinkleRelease Isn't it hear hear? I always get confused with that
We need shows like this more than ever.
Children, young people ? You think that is your only audience ? I am 65 and enjoy these shows a lot. Thanks guys ! 🤝🇳🇱
Same here!
Haha.. iv just commented some thing similar! Good show
You are all very kind, and we are grateful - Rob
”We’re capitalizing on a childs natural curiosity, young people want to know and understand the world around them” - Me, a 34yr, father of two, with a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering watching this at 11pm 😐✌🏼
I'm 44. Still curious as ever.
What other way is there to be? - Rob
@@CuriosityShow Hi Rob. Yes, the journey and exploration continues. Thanks for enriching our lives and beyond. Best wishes to you and Dean from me in Singapore.
I'm 46, have an MS in physics and a BS in civil engineering. I just discovered this show in 2021. I have a 5 year old and trying to get him to be curious too
@@CuriosityShow you could be like my daughter and already know everything there could be known in the entire the universe....twice over and backwards .
I never heard of this show until YT, and I'm so amused by the time-capsule nature of it. Thank you for making it available.
I watched this show as a child, and I love it now as I loved it then. I've seen some attempts at remaking similar shows, but none of them capture the calm, thoughtful, interesting, and engaging presentation of the original.
Very kind of you and much appreciated - Rob
Curiosity show still learning me after all these years at age 47.
I’d rush home from school in the 80’s every afternoon in north Queensland to watch this show. My favourite of all time. Muppets came second. Lol
love the curiosity show...my favorite show when i was a kid in the 70s & 80s...and still going strong!
Very kind, thanks, Rob
Dean & Rob, you guys rock, thanks for making the 1980's & beyond more curios. Hat off
I would love full episodes on YT
SAME
And complete with the original commercials left in!
You guys take me back to the one decade i lived when fun and honesty and knowledge was valued in America the 1980s were the last fizzle of that spark. But we are still working on getting to the Renaissance instead of revolution. You are a beacon of hope.
Those very thoughts have passed through my mind more than a few times.
Really great work, and fun to hear a behind-the-scenes segment. You treated your audience like intelligent people, be they children or adults, which makes your show so timeless and valuable. Thanks so much for creating these videos, and sharing them on TH-cam.
Did not expect to see you here Ben! I grew up watching these as a kid, good memories.
Ooooh, Hey Ben, your name came up today. Was wondering if liquid nitrogen or similar would be useful in some sort of method to 'speed dry' green timber? Obviously not a very practical idea but given that freezing is good at drawing moisture out, it got me thinking.
I blame Rob and Deane for this question 😁
@@billbaggins interesting challenge to speed dry thick timber. Probably putting the timber in a vacuum chamber would help. Alternatively, you could soak the timber in supercritical co2, but the thickness and density of the wood will always prove to be a big barrier. Drilling holes would help a lot, but then the timber would be full of holes. Like the age old question how to bake a potato faster... Oven temperature doesn't matter -- adding a metal nail works.
Cheers for the reply Ben 🍺
🤣 Yeah drilling holes might be a bit counter productive. Was just a random idea and a mate (Craigs Workshop) suggested it might be right up your alley as an interesting experiment.... and then there you are commenting on this channel.
Love these guys, they kept me interested in sciency things after the school system failed me. Love your channel too, don't understand most of it but is still hugely interesting 😊 Cheers from Tasmania
I used to watched the show dubbed into German in the 90’s and thoroughly enjoyed it.
So rarely do you see something this special being talked about by the creators in such pure, simple terms. Infectious humility
Still remember Deane Hutton coming to my high school in 98. Did some entertaining experiments with dry ice amongst other things. Great memories
Did the entertaining experiments involve cocktails?
I don't know how, but I came by this channel last year, and I can't get enough of it. The show is great even for adults because of how in-depth you can go in just five minutes. It's almost like watching "How It's Made." I see clips on things I never thought I would be curious about, but you present them in such a way that anyone would want to learn about it. When I was a kid, we had Bill Nye, and Beakman's World, but this would have been a great addition.
Very kind of you, thanks - Rob
My favourite detail in this is how they didn't just cut away from the spiral to Rob's face in a "boom! Isn't this cool" way, but explained up front what was going to happen, and gave a countdown to prepare viewers for the switch. Anything that plays with perception in that way can be quite unnerving for very young children, and the way that they were thoughtful enough to 'soften the blow' like that really speaks to the fact that they were teachers first, and showmen second.
You gentlemen (and your crew) inspired countless minds in your show's run! I only wish that your show were on the air in the US when I was growing up. Even as an adult, I still enjoy every new section that you put on TH-cam, and I plan on showing these to my kids!
Many thanks, and very kind of you. Please spread the word - Rob
What an excellent series . I wish they would show it over here on TV for kids , grown up would appreciate it too !
Thank you for all. :-)
I am 37 years old today and come from Switzerland. I found this TH-cam channel maybe one week ago fortuitous via another channel (Veritasium). I subscribed this channel instantly, because I knew this show from my childhood but I did not remember the name from the show. As a child I saw this show on TV, but only the German episodes. I did not know that this show comes from Australia.
It is really hard today to find a similar good show on TV like this one.
Many thanks p- please spread the word - we need more subscribers! - Rob
47 years young - still watching and still learning. Very grateful to both Rob and Deane for treating us like intelligent, thinking people even as children.
Shark Rattle.
"This one has been tested, and found to work. That's why I'm leaving."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Thanks so much for these - I was one of the kids who loved this and still do! Given me a lifelong enjoyment of science. Amazing that I can thank you via the internet all these years later!
A great pleasure - we are grateful for a new audience - Rob
It's great to hear that you plan to put up an entire show! Thanks so much for your efforts!
I'm so glad you made it, and that I get to watch it years later (even though I never saw it originally as a child). Thanks so much for posting them!
What a great legacy your whole team (not just superstars Rob and Dean) made forevermore. Trapped in time, but absolutely timeless.
The Powerhouse museum needs to collect, curate and display the jumpers from the entire series.
Yes , a very good idea !
This video would make a good choice to put as the video that plays when someone goes to your channel page.
Important to note advances in molecular biology have revealed that while the giant panda is in fact a type of bear, the red panda may be its own family within the same superfamily as skunks and raccoons.
Yes, advances in genetics since we made these have answered many evolutionary riddles - Rob
It's always fascinating looking back on the whole panda debate since in retrospect it seems like people were absolutely laser focused on the red and giant pandas both being called "Panda" and for some reason that meant they HAD to be in the same family as each other, despite there being a ton of examples in nature where animals share a name for reasons other than being related.
Loved the show back in the seventies, glad that you have found an audience here on the internet decades later. Thanks Deane and Rob.
I was one of your young audience way back in the 80's watching on NBN television and loved every minute you guys produced. If I missed a show I was devastated! I really believe your shows deserve a place in the national film and sound archive if its not already there.
Many thanks. We used to visit Newcastle for the NBN telethons - a great place, and they looked after us so well. It is in my recent memoir of making the show, 'Curious Recollections" - Rob
@@CuriosityShow I have to read that book! Just purchased on booktopia.
I have such fond memories of watching this show as a child. Thank you so much guys for putting these clips up and for all the work you have done over the years!
A great pleasure. Thanks for your very kind words - Rob
I'd like to thank Rob and Dean for a brilliant show. I grew up with the show, couldn't wait for it to come on. You guys expanded my mind in a positive way. ☺
Couldn’t wait to watch this show after school! Thank you so much Rob and Deane. Now the kids are enjoying these clips on TH-cam!
"child's natural curiosity"
me, with whole ass college degrees: 🤙
I used to watch this show as a child of the 80s. Loved it, and thanks for introducing me to sciencey things. :)
47 year old child here who grew up watching your show throughout the 80's .. The content is still as relevant today and I want to take this opportunity all these years later to thank Rob and Deane for instilling in the younger me a great sense of curiosity and a need to find out how things work, which continues to this day.
I'll definitely be checking out Robs book, although there doesn't appear to be a kindle edition.
Thanks very much for those kind words. Not sure about kindle, but the book is an e-book at
www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product.php?productid=1533&cat=0&page=&featured=Y
So glad I stumbled upon this channel, I've watched so many of the videos (they are very addictive) and it makes me wish this had reruns, it really is an incredible show
It was excellent programs like yours that gifted me with a lifelong desire to release my curiosity, and help others.
How do we make the Curiosity Show?
I'm... glad you asked!
Deanne Hutton at 81......."what did he say, my hearings not that good anymore"
This show is actually amazing and holds up so good for this age of youtube.
Loved this show as a kid. It's still as epic as ever!
I didn't have shows like this when I was younger. Cartoons and mascot filled things mostly. I'm kinda jealous
As a child I used to rush home after school in order to watch the Curiosity Show each week. If memory serves correctly it aired on a Wednesday afternoon, at least in Melbourne. The other kids at school thought I was weird but I didn't care. Happily when my own kids were growing up these small episodes came onto TH-cam, so we would watch them together. I was very happy to see them just as enthralled as I had been. One episode I remember from my childhood involved Dean dropping a bar of soap into a geyser at the boiling mud springs at Rororua New Zealand (I think it was) and a massive plume of water shot up. It may have been the same episode where they cooked a hungi also using steam from the boiling mud. I would absolutely love to see full episodes. Thank you so much Dean and Rob for your forethought and vision so many years ago. You absolutely inspired me as a young guy. At 51 years old I am still fascinated by learning how things work.
I guess your pr ogramme was made in The Great Oz in the 1970s...I`m 76 watching your prog in England on Utube, and I love it...and you lovely Aussies...In the late 1970s I played in a London Pub band called the 45s , and we played every thursday night t the Baron`s Court Tavern (nr Earls Court..) which was a haunt of Ausstralians who had driven their VW Combies overlnd to England ... They were the most delightful "Mates" and we loved playing there ..and the lovely landlord was called Bruce...and he had aa lovely dog called Banjo..oh happy times ...Ive always loved you lovely aussies...Nicko Hellawell - ex drummer with the 45s....Cheers...!!!
When I did my post -doc in Edinburgh, I used to play jazz with a band led by fellow trumpeter Charlie McNair in a strange pub called the Yellow Carvel, right beside the Tron kirk, all fitted out like a dismembered sailing ship. It has changed its name now. Great Times, I agree. - Rob
Great work uploading these programs for us adults but also for the Adults with children who can watch these problems together and learn something rather than being indoctrinated. If I was running a school your programs would be shown everyday.
G'day Rob & Deane,
I was so happy when I found your TH-cam Channel with all the episodes, I enjoy them as much now as I did when I was young as I never lost my Curiosity of Why? 🥰
There are not enough shows like this around, especially not today. Btw. you not only talk to curious children but grown ups too. Love this direct connection 👍
I'm watching tons of them, it's awesome content! Great upload!
From Wikipededia: "For many decades, the precise taxonomic classification of the giant panda was under debate because it shares characteristics with both bears and raccoons.However, molecular studies indicate the giant panda is a true bear".
I might add different species sometimes have what they call convergent evolution. From Wikipedia again "Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups".
I started watching Curiosity Show during the '80s, and loved it back then (and still love it today). Any chance of some segments from the '70s on the channel? I wasn't around/was too young to see them first time around.
Sadly, almost all have gone. The tapes were reused after the programs had aired. It wasn't until 1984 or so that Deane and I asked for VHS copies to be sent to us to check before programs aired for any errors. That is how we have several years worth of the 1980s programs - all off VHS stock. I'll see if i can find one or two 1970s segments, but it will be a hunt- Rob
I love that you explain the reasons behind the length of the segments.
You listed the World Book Encyclopedia in your credits. I remember those when I was in middle school.
I recently mentioned your YT-channel to my neighbor who's currently homeschooling her kids; she now made some special homeworks for the kiddos which include watching old videos of yours in english (we're in Switzerland), and then translating the text to german... (so the kids learn both sciences and english - apparently, it works better than the tasks the teacher gave them (and other parents are trying the "CS-treatment", too) - no wonder: Curiosity Show made science interesting :-)
Thanks very much. have a look at the German playlist on our channel - only a few segments, but those that we could get from when CS was dubbed into German and broadcast throughout Europe-Rob
Cool video. I'm curious as to why this was filmed - was this part of a pitch to TV networks?
Not sure, it may have been, although the Nine network was the only one involved. It may have been helpful in getting our overseas sales - Germany etc - Rob
As a child of a research scientist (my dad studied Tuna populations), this was the best show ever. Must watch TV for me as a kid in the 70s.
Fact: Deane Hutton and Ian Chappell have never been seen in the same room together. 😜
Note from Deane: I would have gladly t swapped places with that great Australian Test Cricket (Captain (Ian Chappell). Ian0s . Perhaps . . . a century with the bat and a "5 for . . ." with the ball! I can only dream. Deane.
@@CuriosityShow I think you are better Deane.
I used to LLLLOVE watching the Curiosity show, God Bless
Brilliant programme!
I never thought of this as a children's show. It was my father's favourite show when he was in his 50's.
I grew up with this show. I have kids now and hope I will be able to share it with them.
These show should come back
Very cool show! Thanks for the story Rob and Dean!
A firm favourite of this 50 year old as after-school TV! No love lost now it's on youtube.
I've written the same comment a stack of times: Still one of the best TV shows (dealing with science and technology) designed for children (but still fascinating for adults to watch) at any time in the history of (Australian) TV... Timeless material, presented in a way that respects the intelligence of its viewers. Contemporary TV has a lot to learn from this wonderful show....
Very kind of you; much appreciated - Rob
Love all your episodes, thank you and please keep em comming 👍😎
In England we had something very similar called 'How' and it's 90s revival 'How 2' I religiously had it on record.
Best show ever for me as a 70s’ 80s’ kid, bar none and I really mean that. I ended up going down the machining/mechanical path in life but think it really made me love science and knowing how the world works to this very day.
As good and relevant now as ever, even better is the answers haven't changed😁 Cheers Rob, Deane and crew.
Curiosity Show really was and still is the perfect example of what amazing things you can do with the medium of Television, if you do it right. Because everyone has the natural desire to let their minds grow and know more about everything and finding out new ways to do and craft things. All very human traits that are the reason why mankind strives to evolve and look forward. Not even the sky is the limit. Learning new things & finding out how things work, is a highly satisfying experience. :)
"This one works... that's why I'm leaving" 🦈🤣
It's been 38 odd years since I last saw that Shark Rattle but recognised it immediately.
As a PhD in chemistry, and a university medalist, I have to say "The Curiosity Show" is the best television show ever made in my opinion. I am 57 years old now and still regard it as the greatest after school viewing I have ever witnessed and enjoyed.
Very kind of you; many thanks - Rob
The panda bear reveal at 2:02 was intense
It's a show made for kids but ironically the short format makes it very good for general TH-cam viewing. These guys were 40 years ahead of their time
I remember this on Hey Hey its Saturday, the best show around.
I wish shows today were like this. Being 22, i caught the dying end of Decent television
Amazing how some of the segments veer into the unexpected. "What is this device? It's a shark attracting rattle! You use it like this! Time to leave." (no explanation of why anybody would make this device)
I was always disappointed in projects that required straws, tin boxes or corks - things we didn’t have at home.
We tried to make things using everyday materials, but i guess there were some things that people didn't have - they should have bee n easy to get hold of without expense, though - Rob
Memories!!!
Today I watch these for the old intro editing and music.
thank you👍
Cool episode!
Not a child I'm a 32 year old man but im still clued to the screen
I wish this was on American Tv when I was a kid
I am a fan of your shows.
But the less numbers of view astonishes me.
Your topics are very basics and the approach as well as the presentation is very simple, which anyone can do those at home.
Probably as the artificial glamour is missing , the number of views is less.
But for me the simple approach is the unique attraction.
Thanks.
I'm so glad I was a kid in time where shows of your quality were there to help kids discover the world as opposed to hypnotize them into this digital stuff so they'll buy phone credit
Not all heroes wear capes.
Bless you, guys!
Omg Rob got to be with red panda ❤️
And now we know. This show is great for kids of all ages
Thank you!!!!!
Gents, do you think you'll release the entire series on DVD/Bluray?
Sadly, without someone purchasing them in advance, the cost would be prohibitive. The best we could do was our three DVDs, which each contain around 20 segments - available online from our shop - Rob
@@CuriosityShow thanks Rob. Saw those and thought I might ask
Are you guys still replying to comments? I am curious where you would get the inspiration for each segment. There were so many that surely they can't just be from your own memory, though perhaps they were. Did you have consultants on staff seeking out new ideas from books or something like that? I'm just wondering how you managed to find so many new and different things every show.
Yes, we reply, but there are many comments so we can't get to them all. Deane and I came up with all our own segments. There were no researchers, assistants etc, although the producer did some of the quiz segments, perceptual puzzles etc, but Deane did his segments and I did mine and we alternated on duo problems/tricks/puzzles. Some came from books but a lot came from our pre-TV childhoods. i go into it a fair bit in my book about making the show - Curious Recollections, available online at www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product.php?productid=1533&cat=0&page=&featured=Y Rob
Can you make an episode on how to cook Greek loukoumades please. Thank you! 😍
40 years ago we might have had a go at it - Rob
Did the show have a relationship with Questacon or the CSIRO?
The show itself didn't, but both Deane and I did as individuals - Rob
@@CuriosityShow Ahh fantastic, thanks Rob. The reason I ask is that I remember when I was at school seeing some of your experiments at Questacon (e.g. Ames illusions) and a few episodes where you referenced the CSIRO. And now that I've grown up I actually work at the CSIRO which has been a great experience. I think your show was an inspiration to so many of us and as a kid I would never have dreamed I'd be able to thank you directly, so thank you both!
“Each child viewer” ... 😧
"Young at heart," don't forget ;-)
Where are they now??
Adelaide, South Australia - Rob
It was a very well conceived show.
Raccoons? Oh! Do you mean trash pandas? Cause that is what they really are! Lol😂
I liked your thailand "stuio on location" location