"Connections" is a great series from the 1970s. James Burke is a winsome and whimsical little host, in each episode taking the viewer through a (highly selective) tour of history, showing how various fields of science and technology grew and became interdependent on each other.
After a slow start, Burke's series launches into a "Connections Golden Era" with the episodes "Thunder in the Skies," "The Long Chain," "Eat, Drink and Be Merry," and "Countdown." In Episode 10, "Yesterday, Tomorrow and You," it's time for summing up.
Burke starts out with some of the inventions he led us through in previous episodes, including the automobile, plastics, and television. Then he offers the viewers alternatives as to how he/she would like to proceed into the future.
Burke being Burke, he does a little sleight of hand with his alternatives. He presents the viewer with four alternatives (although I came up with others). Also, in his presentation the alternatives are mutually exclusive. No mix and match! And after each alternative he takes us through the down side.
This is not James Burke being whimsical and presenting history and science in his inimitably elfin way. He strikes the grimmer, more serious tone of earlier episodes in the series. While Burke does raise some excellent points, Episode 10 has the feel of a tenth-inning show. It's just a way to wrap up a broadcast while pointing out some of the game's highlights.
Wrapping up the series in a final episode might have been necessary before one of the inventions Burke did not foresee in his series: home video. After all, if you were watching "Connections" for nine consecutive weeks back in 1978, you might have forgotten some of Burke's points, however much he has hammered wood to drive them home. But with "Connections" on DVD you can watch all ten episodes, back-to-back, in less than nine hours, fast-forwarding through opening and closing credits.
When "Connections" was first broadcast you had to stay tuned for two and a half months. Before the days of VHS (long before TiVo), viewers probably missed an episode here and there and had to be caught up. These days, on a rainy afternoon you can start "Connections" right after lunch and finish it before bedtime. Therefore, while the summing up episode "Yesterday, Tomorrow and You" is worth watching to complete the series, it's not mandatory viewing. It's almost entirely retrospective, though it has more new material than a typical "clip" show.
After a slow start, Burke's series launches into a "Connections Golden Era" with the episodes "Thunder in the Skies," "The Long Chain," "Eat, Drink and Be Merry," and "Countdown." In Episode 10, "Yesterday, Tomorrow and You," it's time for summing up.
Burke starts out with some of the inventions he led us through in previous episodes, including the automobile, plastics, and television. Then he offers the viewers alternatives as to how he/she would like to proceed into the future.
Burke being Burke, he does a little sleight of hand with his alternatives. He presents the viewer with four alternatives (although I came up with others). Also, in his presentation the alternatives are mutually exclusive. No mix and match! And after each alternative he takes us through the down side.
This is not James Burke being whimsical and presenting history and science in his inimitably elfin way. He strikes the grimmer, more serious tone of earlier episodes in the series. While Burke does raise some excellent points, Episode 10 has the feel of a tenth-inning show. It's just a way to wrap up a broadcast while pointing out some of the game's highlights.
Wrapping up the series in a final episode might have been necessary before one of the inventions Burke did not foresee in his series: home video. After all, if you were watching "Connections" for nine consecutive weeks back in 1978, you might have forgotten some of Burke's points, however much he has hammered wood to drive them home. But with "Connections" on DVD you can watch all ten episodes, back-to-back, in less than nine hours, fast-forwarding through opening and closing credits.
When "Connections" was first broadcast you had to stay tuned for two and a half months. Before the days of VHS (long before TiVo), viewers probably missed an episode here and there and had to be caught up. These days, on a rainy afternoon you can start "Connections" right after lunch and finish it before bedtime. Therefore, while the summing up episode "Yesterday, Tomorrow and You" is worth watching to complete the series, it's not mandatory viewing. It's almost entirely retrospective, though it has more new material than a typical "clip" show.
