Atari 1200XL on Mr Wizard

[Spokker]

Wasn't there an episode where Mr. Wizard brutally rapes his child assistant?

[SaraFaith27]

Go rot pervs

[EnemyAce88]

Wasn't it nice to grow up back then, when NOBODY who watched this would even think about child molestation or anything else so awful? Back when somebody like Mr. Wizard was just a nice old man you could trust your kids with?

The world sucks now... 

[surrenderforce]

"well you played games like this before haven't you?"

"yes i have"

"i understand you're president of the computer club? but do you know how to put big ass TVs inside of your wall like I do? I didn't think so"

[Lottech96]

wasn't there an episode where they play quiz game on the computer? looks like slot quiz.

[BermudaEntrepreneur]

Dammit. If only I had studied computer programming back in the 80's. I'd be a millionaire!!

[humbug696969ify]

NO BILLY! NO! NOT THAT CORD! OH GOD!! (lol) --- Seriously though, I really loved Mr. Wizard. He was such a nice man. R.I.P.

Oh and by the way, he was also a world war 2 hero guys. A thoroughly decent person.

[andy838]

this is the power supply Billy, here, touch these two wires............lol

[mattfranksproduction]

holy cripes that was a girls.

[tlv156]

lol, wonder how many kids saw this and decided to start taking other electrical gadgets apart and try to complete circuits to operate them. how many kids tried taking apart a tv, turning it on, and completing the circuit with their hands only to get fried. haha.

[genestarwindjf80]

That's the same Atari I used to have when i was a kid, such classic game console

[Kahnmanable]

Heh. My grandfather produced this show.

[crankyfoe]

lol... back when computers were considered "sophisticated" then... as compared to how "sophisticated" todays computers are...

[masterhalco]

Look at those little titties. YUM!

[toyotaboyhatman]

Mr wizard invents the D-pad way ahead of nintendo by taking apart an atari joystick :-)

[curtaineater]

holy shit, she's the president of a computer club!

[cowboyx1970]

they're dressed the same and why didn't he unplug it first

[todyboy100]

lol

[MrChivaborre]

por eso se descomponian las cosas por abrirlas como este ruco

[unitedhybrid]

He voided the warranty.

[NoNeverAgain]

"What did you do today, sweetie?"

"I went to visit the old man next door and played with his joystick"

[cjk247]

@NoNeverAgain lmfao

[pressbox1492]

@NoNeverAgain i was just thinking that the whole time!

[BermudaEntrepreneur]

@NoNeverAgain That's nice dear! Did the 2 of you have fun?

[AlphaMayhem]

..... that is a dude, right???

[highheadjester]

@AlphaMayhem eheheh nope!

[AlphaMayhem]

@highheadjester whoa...

[Quztuk]

Bill Nye is superior.

[nickthefnicon]

You fail Mr Wizard!! Always unplug the power first!!!

[Cjl99]

ok it's one thing that they even had a show like this which would be unheard of today at least not without dressing it up with a bunch of dopey cgi cartoon characters. but then he takes it to a whole notha level actually having her play the game from inside the joystick, seemed normal back then but really appreciate now the stuff we could watch as kids.

[LTDANMAN44]

I had one of these!!!

/lawn, get off it.

[OneEyedJack1970]

And there you have it folks -- the D-pad inside the joystick.

[jettenjetta]

omg i remember watching this as a kid waiting for the school bus i was 5 years old. I then would watch fraggle rock

[RedHeadRadulf83]

man oh man! This brings me WAAAAY back!

[NateSean]

Back when being apart of the computer club was actually impressive. By the time I got to high school, being a part of computer club meant that someone was shooting someone else in Unreal Tournament.

[bpscott20]

SNL! Forgot all about this show! Loved it as a kid!

[duane732]

SNL brought me here lol!

[Snake3434]

thumbs if snl brought you here.

[scir91]

the first time i saw a joystick taken apart was when the tech guy came to my local arcade "dr. videos" to fix a street fighter 2 machine in 1991. i had no idea that when you duck down, the joystick is actually making contact with the top of the connector, not the bottom. i also saw the microswitches for the buttons. nowadays, i think capcom and other companies use "360s" which is a joystick guided by laser, not switches.

[kanarvin]

Epic

[rancor709]

Mr. Wizard was a boss, he taught never talked down to you. Learned a lot from watching this show, gave a life long love of science. This guy changed a lot of peoples life for the better, and they don't make education shows like this anymore. And we wonder why with no shows like this today, we have a hard time getting kids into science.

[thatguyontheright1]

@rancor709 We need Mr Wizard back on TV, or atleast a New Mr Wizard like this one for the new generation. Don Herbert knew his shit, and he is bad ass for it.

[educatedlime]

What that game sytem called thats just below that TV in the wall? i used to have one...

[philiptwood]

@educatedlime It's called a Vectrex. I was lucky enough find one at a local flea market.

[PhilM662]

that's a sweet set up back then.

[gopconservative78]

old school computers

[Mega554321]

the boy sonds like a faggot

[spock25]

@Mega554321

That's because the "boy" is a girl. Duh!

[spock25]

@Mega554321 That's because the "boy" is a girl. Duh!

[bugstrut]

@Mega554321 LOL!!!!

[coltsrule5150]

is he still alive someone should bring his show back!!!!

[Hadra568]

@coltsrule5150

Don Herbert, AKA "Mr. Wizard" passed away on June 12, 2007

[RonnieRambin]

@Hadra568 R.I.P



[ac5015]

Atari computer and a Vectrex.



[NinjaGhostScorpion]

@ac5015 You have a sharp eye.

[ac5015]

Atari computer and a Vectrex

[MasterJBAll]

by todays standards this kid is really stupid for his age.

[WeNeedA3rdParty]

American society has declined markedly since this was filmed. Very depressing. We don't have much to offer anymore. Our people lack the decency the used to have.

[clemenza1234]

WORST PAC MAN PLAYER, EVER!!!!!

[barthburger]

I used to really love this show, but when I was a kid there was something that although hypnotic when Mr.Wizard would begin explaining things I could never put my finger on somewhat bothered me. I figured it out, there is no back track music at all during these sequences.

[meisobama]

mr wizard was a man...a mans man

[ChemoshSoS]

I totally broke my 2600 controller because of this scene right here! I took it apart and tried to fix it by myself... needless to say, Pac-man didn't listen to my controls anymore...

[poshko41]

Heh heh!  Okay, now why don't you go soak your hands in some water and then we'll take a look at the power supply next.

[iDraw3G]

@poshko41 lol

[chipjumper]

so much for disconnecting the power and ground straps...

[TheDarksectorman]

Man I havent seen this since I was a kid

[CleanLineFilms]

In today's world Mr. Wizard would get banned for modding!

[mrRonin501]

R.I.P. Mr Wizard

[timelordthetrain]

I'm a fan of the show Good Eats and I found out that the show is based on Julia Child, Monty Python, and Mr. Wizard. Know I see why Alton Brown loved the show so much!

[jros83]

"it's to connect the keyboard to the rest of the thing." that's awesome.

[esya1987]

too bad Nickelodeon wont go back to the old shows like this one that made them who they are.

[jmkeller]

Man, Atari was the highlight of my day. If someone showed me Google Earth or Halo back then, I would've needed a new pair of shorts!

[Geoglyphic]

I want to be "President of the Computer Club!"

[golferyne]

@Ogma01 THATS A GIRL!!!! phew... the whole time i just thought she was a really feminine boy!

[89horizon]

@golferyne I thought that wa a boy too! o_O

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Holy shit, I never knew you could get lag on PACMAN LOLLLOLOLOLOLOLO!!!!!1

[ScottfromTexas]

Great example of White Western Culture.

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

@ScottfromTexas

I think you searched the wrong video, try Grand Wizard LOL!

[jros83]

@ScottfromTexas wtf

[Ogma01]

One of the best things about this clip is that the girl isn't ashamed to ask "why" or admit that she doesn't know what something is.

[Fbiman93]

@Ogma01 kid's on TV aren't like that today. Today it's not politically correct for kids to be not as smart as adults. Don't we all love what the world has become.

[RetroToledo]

@Ogma01 Children always need to ask.

[DaveTKNeal]

@Ogma01 That's a girl?

[rickman33]

What?!?! A kid's learning program? No freakin way! Kids actually watched TV to learn stuff back in the day. Go figure.

[d33f4wl7]

Mr. Wizard wants his joystick taken apart

[mikelarry2323]

im getting 4:30 minutes of my childhood back........... YAY!!!!!

[sneskid]

Wow, this brings back memories! I miss this show!

Gotta love all that shielding, though. This was back when it was more common (since it was cheaper, and everyone had one) to use a TV as a monitor. Since the majority of TVs back then didn't have baseband audio/video inputs, many computers like this had built-in RF modulators. Game consoles also had similar shielding, for that very reason. The Atari gaming systems, the NES, the SNES, and other systems had it, too.

[picc01]

Vectrex at :13 - :23

[picc01]

Mr. Wizard had a Vectrex!!!! look in the background!!!

[xenoss]

Wow... kid shows nowaday only have ugly monster suit actors jumping around across the screen.

No wonder people are so damned stupid now.

[orion1052003]

He's got a Vectrex! And a great place to put the TV.Who needs flat screens when you can dig a whole in the wall?

[orion1052003]

He's got a Vectrex and great place to put the TV. Who needs flatscreens when you can dig a hole in the wall?

[jamesnwald]

I wish TV was still this educational

[detroitviking]

Jesus Christ loved that show but is that a chick or a dude???????

[Soulforge00]

@detroitviking Half the fun of Mr. Wizard was guessing what sex the children are. :P

[Skyler310]

@Soulforge00 My thoughts exactly dude. Kept me glued to the screen waiting for the big reveal!

[delfmeek]

There is a Vectrex sitting on the other side!

[xXxZom3iE]

80's cool

[antdude]

Nice video. Are there more of these video game consoles? And is that Pac-Man? I don't see a bow to be Ms. Pac-Man.

[CapnPicard]

Mr Wizard was the shit!

[ozzyman75]

watching this show as a kid inspired me to work on electronics now i make a career out of it. thanks mr wizard :D

[croissantanyone]

That kid today is probably sitting in a cubicle writing code and wondering how his life turned out that way.

[austatarimaster]

I've taken apart the joystick fort 2600 because when I got it, there were little pieces of plastic loose in it.

[snakeguy76]

I had an Atari 2600 in 3rd grade (?) when my friends got Nintendo and Sega 2 years later I asked my mother for Nintendo. My mother said "I 'just' bought you Atari, why would you need another?"

That Christmas I got a big box (which I thought was a Nintendo). Instead it was a box full of Atari cartridges my mom got $1 each at some store clearing out the old Atari stuff.

I did take apart the joystick like Don did & pisssed my dad off.

[Zagroseckt]

lol calling the scram chips bits :p

Man i miss this old show :)

BUT he shoulda got his facts straight for this epesode :)

And did he say FRAG O.o

[133MHzz]

@Zagroseckt It was kinda right, each one of those DRAM chips hold an n amount of 1 bit cells, so you need 8 of them to store n bytes and therefore they can be seen as the individual bits.

[Effedup]

Anyone that actually remembers playing this when it was like BRAND NEW feels really really old right now.

And to think I used to complain about the complexities of BASIC...although honestly, way back then, we couldn't even comprehend how powerful computers are today. If you would have told me in 1985 that I would watch TV, listen to music, shop, work, game, read, exclusively on a computer I would have thought you watched too much sci-fi.

I was a stupid unimaginative kid LOL

[shinjitodd]

@Effedup

im probably not as old as you, im a 88 born kid.

but i understand you perfectly, back when i was a lil kid i had no computer, no nuthing

we didnt even know windows 95 existed

[DankMcstankey]

Mr. Wizard invented the D pad!

[Spidermankevin78]

8 bit revolution LOL

[krusade1886]

such a good show

[Rtc36]

This is when Nick & MTV had good programming.

[danrichards23]

amen to that. i dont understand the appeal of some of these new things to children nowdays.

[TheDarksectorman]

@Rtc36 Yeah i agree mtv just turned in to a bunch of shitty ass rap and tv reailty tv show wheres the rockin roll hell they have there BET

[StormRisingOriginal]

@Rtc36 You mean when it was cool. Thats how to say it 80's

[henrywm]

I had an Atari 800XL as a kid. Before that we had a TRS-80. Boy does that date me :)

[wattersm]

I remember programming BASIC on the Atari 800 in 8th grade.

[henrywm]

I did that too. My first experience with BASIC was on a TRS-80.

[bwpSnakeEyes]

Educational TV these days doesn't hold a candle to this stuff... This show is what made me want to become an engineer.

[mrRonin501]

@bwpSnakeEyes Then Mr. Wizard did his job then :D Good luck to you.

[BigJyeTV]

@bwpSnakeEyes so true!!!!

[mbenzsl2000]

@bwpSnakeEyes thats nice man............kids today want to be socialites...lol its a sad change

[MysticArksRevenge]

@mbenzsl2000 Yes. That is why this decade and the last decade suck.

[philiptwood]

Nintendo probably got their idea for their controller from this episode.

[scootsie119]

i dont get what your saying

[philiptwood]

I was refering to Mr. Wizard taking apart the Joystick and pressing the switch on the circuit board... Kind of similar to how the NES controller works. Keep in mind that before the NES arrived, the joystick was the dominant game controller. The NES controller was considered weird until people who played for the first time actually liked it. The Nintendo Wii seems to be following that tradition with it's revolutionary game control experience.

[scootsie119]

ok for some reason i thought u were talking about the wii remote alone.

[wattersm]

The Atari 7800 also had controllers with two buttons. They even had a controller that was similar to the NES one.

[callmemarc]

Why is Mr. Wizard talking to this kid about working joysticks?

[xamire]

Its people like you and this new generation of nasty children.. that have ruined anything pure of heart.

[Hadra568]

Hearing Atari 1200 as a "new frontier" made me feel old...

[philiptwood]

Don't feel to bad... I just purchased one from a local fleamarket in near mint condition.

[mygaffer]

I was just waiting for that kid to get electrocuted and die.

[OGJD1984]

Nice pink sweatshirt kid...

[Penfold8]

Nowadays that could fit on a board about 3" wide due to the invention of SMD devices.