Thursday, May 7, 2015

Rewind!: "Voyage of the Mimi"

In 1984, PBS aired The Voyage of the Mimi, an educational show that aimed to teach mathematics and science in an entertaining way.



Except... It didn't have the catchy music or fun jokes of Square One and despite what one might hear from nostalgic viewers, it was actually quite dull. We would challenge anyone to recount what the show was about without consulting Wikipedia or YouTube. The show is notable for featuring a young Ben Affleck.



What's going on here? Your guess is as good as ours.

A second season also featuring Ben was filmed as well, but by then, the writing was on the wall. The main viewership for the show were kids being forced to watch the show by a teacher who needed to sneak off for a quick smoke. No further seasons were produced.

A dated reminder of the world circa 1984, the show is mostly forgotten except when E! needs footage to pad out a "Before they were stars" segment or when Generation X-ers fondly look back at the show despite not remembering what it was about.

Still, it is kind of fun to recall simpler days when a grownup could be depicted smoking on a show aimed towards children. In the shot below, the grownup is smoking while apparently administering first aid. That's the type of parenting that could get you a nice stay in jail nowadays.