TV is a teaching tool...

If there are great films for school students there must be great television

Television needs control or we are all lost to its hypnotic charms and time simply slips away. Students will eventually turn to the television as a default at some point. The important thing is to know when it is simply eating their time.

There is any number of improving programs, but I doubt any teen worth his salt would want to watch question-time with his parents. However encouraging students to watch the news is a good thing. The best improvement from the great cycloptic beast that is television will be the programs that interest us.

A great deal of television is made with intelligent consumers in mind. The jokes in the Simpsons are not as puerile as one would first think and much of the television coming out of America at the moment will aim to hit several groups with the same show. I have highlighted some shows below that you might think about and the subject areas they may cover:

CSI Anything –

This television franchise and its many spin offs has a Biological connection as well as a general science theme to it. Much of the science is based on fact; however the drama makes for a more interesting experience. The three franchises are CSIs Las Vegas, Miami and New York (the original being Las Vegas). A number of spin off shows such as Waking the Dead or Real CSI, documenting the real life CSI work done in the USA and UK have since been brought out as a reaction to the glamming up of a very painstaking and important process. They have proven very popular. So much so that there has been a spate of interest in criminology, forensic sciences and police work over the past few years.

The Apprentice

Obviously business and economics is the key here. But the BBC show The Apprentice gets the papers talking and so gets young minds thinking about business. This is a vital program for discussion and the development of new ideas and even the blogs that go along with each episode are useful for students interested in business. Have a look at the site for the UK version and also the USA version fronted by Donald Trump. The series will finish after 12 weeks, however the sites stay active for a lot longer and as with most sites there will be shows that can be downloaded if you have the facilities.

Historical Drama

The example of Rome, a USA production, is a historical Drama that doesn’t scrimp on the savagery. Historical drama will often be inaccurate, but the story and setting gives colour to periods that some students find it hard to conceptualise. Most of this particular series is factually nonsense, but it has some keen insights into Roman life, very much like I Claudius, which sticks closer to the politics of the period. There is, of course, a lot more besides. Most periods will have a series that relates roughly to what has been studied at school. The Tudor period does not want for attention from television executives with the 1970s Elizabeth R, the 1980s Blackadder II or the more recent Tudors. If there is a period being studied there will usually have been a television show set in the period. They are always worth watching, even if just to decide they were not worth watching after all. Try Upstairs, Downstairs, Bramwell , Brideshead Revisited, Hornblower, The Jewel in the Crown, Sharpe or the rest of the Blackadder series for starters.

The West Wing

The West Wing takes a flying leap at USA politics. The later series are even more interesting for students of contemporary politics as the Democratic candidate for president, portrayed by Jimmy Smits in the show, was modelled on a young Senator Obama. Other areas where politics invades the TV screen is in satire: The Simpsons, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, South Park, Spitting Image, Yes Minister and Have I Got News For You are all comedic shows with satirical slants, some more than others. More shows come on the horizon every year and it is worth keeping an eye on the TV listings. The beauty of convoluted political drama and satire is that it forces the viewer to ask questions.

The Big Bang Theory

Entertaining science programmes are hard to find. There are always plenty of factual programmes on the likes of the Discovery Channel, however the entertainment and comedy that Blackadder used to promote history is not as readily available for science outside the realms of science fiction. Physics and comedy do not usually mix, but in the Big Bang Theory there is enough terminology flying to pique the interest of the budding Einsteins as well as an entertaining show. Other shows that may work are the traditional science fiction shows that while being more fiction than science can throw the big questions at bright teens who want to engage. Stargate SG-1 , Battlestar Galactica, The X-Files, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Red Dwarf,  Doctor Who and Life on Mars are all worth a look. Most of the television drama will not deal with science, but rather the questions that science throws up.

Meerkat Manor, Blue Planet, documentaries and wildlife programs.

There is such a plethora of nature programmes and it is hard to pick one that stands out. The BBC has a long and illustrious history of producing brilliant series such as Blue Planet, a quick scan of the BBC website reveals that there are over 100 programmes in the pipeline that have a scientific slant. The majority are nature, but some involve scientific discoveries, engineering, climate change and more. Additionally to the BBC a subscription to Discovery is a good bet. The programs vary from fishing to geography to science and engineering, and obviously Meerkat Manor.

Perhaps TV can be useful after all?

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