For someone who has gradually evolved less appreciative of the western shows, it surprises me that I am still entertained by this idiosyncratic scientist, his female assistants who vary every season, and the guy in a rat suit now that I’ve finally watched some of its episodes again.
During this lockdown, this quirky show made its way through my brain as if boredom is its ticket to pass my cerebral gates. Sure enough, the thought succeeded, and here I am telling about the defunct RPN 9 show that served as the foundation of my scientific learning.
While my childhood contemporaries indulged in Sineskwela, I spent my time wallowing in this show called Beakman’s World.
Beakman’s World is an educational TV show in America during the 90s that was based in a comic strip titled as You Can with Beakman and Jax. The show’s hosts are composed of the scientist, Beakman (Paul Zaloom), his female lab assistants, Josie (Alanna Ubach) for Season 1, Liza (Eliza Schneider) for Season 2 and 3, and Phoebe (Senta Moses) for Season 4, and the so-called “lab rat” Lester (Mark Ritts).
Beakman’s World has taught me how to conduct experiments which were useful for my science classes in high school, particularly when we had a science exhibit back then: There were two things I learned from this show that were used for that event: First, any white-colored flower’s stem can be dipped in food coloring to let its petals absorb the hues; second, how to make a handmade paper.
Pretty much like Sesame Street in a way, Beakman’s World also has its puppets, Don and Herb, two penguins in the South Pole. They give the show a humorously refreshing vibe with their puns.
The show is also peppered with entertaining segments that will keep you glued on the screens for the entire show. Some of them include The Beakman Challenge, What’s 4 Lunch?, Nurse Phoebe: School Nurse, Art’s Diner, and Meekman’s Adventures.
But upon re-watching this piece of childhood memory, it’s just sad to know that after more than a decade after being reunited with it, I found out that one of its casts have already died. Lester, or Mark Ritts in real life, the funnyman who never fails to make me laugh during the entire course of the show, died in December 2009 due to kidney cancer.
In spite this, one thing is certain: Remembering Beakman’s World is a reminder not only of the educational past I am grateful to have, but also the simplicity of life back then, when children can still be amazed with science experiments.
It’s the refreshing feeling of nostalgia that also serves as a wonderful inspiration amid this deadly crisis—that feeling of wanting survive because you have this scientific knowledge on hand.
While some may have been changed over the course of time, the cornerstone of these fundamentals cannot be erased.
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