The Write Channel

"The Write Channel" was an instructional program for children, produced in 1977 by Mississippi ETV and distributed to PBS and educational stations by the Agency for Instructional Television. The program’s aim was to enable students to enhance their writing skills.

Overview

The series revolved around R.B. Bugg, an anthropomorphic insect who's a young television reporter for Channel 85, WORD-TV in the fictional city of Egg City, Calistonia. Despite being a reporter for WORD's news department, R.B. Bugg's writing skills aren't as sharp -- he writes in short, choppy sentences.

His news director, Red Green (no relation to the later Canadian television character of the same name), shows him how to combine and improve them. By way of animation, viewers see a gloved hand moving words, combining words and making appropriate changes in capitalization and punctuation.

Each episode usually concluded with Bugg falling asleep in front of the television, as WORD signs off with the "Star Spangled Banner", the US national anthem.

"The Club"

The final segment in each episode is usually "The Club", whose slogan was "Palabra jot, palabra jot" - faux Latin for "write words" ("palabra" is Spanish for "word"; and "jot" is an English synonym for "write").

In "The Club", R.B. Bugg invites viewers to write a story using the ideas given, and send them by mail to Mississippi ETV. "The Write Channel" was one of very few in-school programs that involved the postal system for viewer participation.

Program Listing

*1. Use of "and," capital letters, periods
*2. Adjectives, capital letters, periods
*3. "And" and "but," commas
*4. "When," where" and "how," capital letters, commas
*5. Adj. clauses, question marks, exclamation points
*6. Prepositional phrases, commas
*7. Prepositional phrases, commas
*8. Review
*9. Subordinate conjunctions, capitalization
*10. Subordinate conjunctions, apostrophes
*11. Infinitives, participial phrases, apostrophes
*12. Appositives, commas
*13. Series of phrases and clauses
*14. Noun clauses, capitalization
*15. Review

External links

* [http://www.rickstv.com/tvo/writechannel.html TVOntario fan page: "The Write Channel", includes episode guide.]
* [http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/ietv/ Yahoo Group: ietv -- instructional/educational media "(registration required)"]
* [http://www.ait.net/catalog/default.php?cPath=4_167 AIT - Agency for Instructional Technology - distributor's website]