3-2-1 Contact - Communication - Trini Got Rescued/How an Old TV Works - Ep. 123 - 1980

In this episode of 3-2-1 Contact, Trini still got stranded in the desert until rescued by a Goodyear Blimp, Mark visits Bell Labs and see how a talking computer works and how our voices work. In addition, you will see how an old TV works which emit diodes (this is before HDTV comes into play).

[@nerdbot37]

Dang, the computer scientist at Bell Labs was cute as a button.

[@marksmadhousemetaphysicalm2938]

I remember liking this and being amazed and even my Radioshack Color Computer 2 could talk…now our computers are beginning to actually understand speech and use it naturally…beginning to genuinely think…I remember reading about neural nets back then but we certainly didn’t think they would lead so quickly to what we’ve seen so recently…thanks for sharing this one…….7th new collegiate…lmao

[@ArkadiaRetrocade]

Thank you for posting these. One of my favorite episodes, this ✌️

[@johnvelas70]

I had the biggest crush on Trini. btw I seen her 1st.

[@dkereihana]

The computer lady seems like she doesn't even want to be there

[@marklechman2225]

I’ve had a crush on Lisa since 1980.

[@imgonnagogetthepapersgetth8347]

Get in line!

[@That_80s_Geek]

Me too

[@ObiWanBillKenobi]

1:31 Hey, it's Gene Wilder!

[@williamkuhns2387]

THE WORLD IS YOURS Trini

[@jpenn727]

I would have kept Trini company in the raft.

[@k9policexj]

Oh yeah!

[@jenmilem6655]

At 1:30, wasn't THAT Gene Wilder!?

[@GMCLabs]

yup his name was in the credits.

[@TheReverendH]

They cut out the Bloodhound Gang! WTF!?

[@BBC600]

I don't get that either.

[@GamingDelight]

Probably a rerun during a pledge drive period.

[@caroleastmond9064]

Great Show!!!💝🎉

[@don312000]

So my question 40 years later is the same one I had as a very young kid watching this episode on PBS reruns in the early-mid 80s--Where, exactly, was Trini trying to GO in that old rust-bucket, out in the absolute freaking middle of freaking NOWHERE that she managed to run out of gas in the middle of the freaking desert?? (Totally feeling the Steve Martin vibes right now, but remembering this was a kids' show LOL!!) Any rational person, which she clearly was, would have thought "This is the stupidest idea in the history of ideas" at least fifty miles back!!! Even as a 7 or 8 year old kid, I couldn't suspend my disbelief THAT much!! LOL

[@wisebloodwisent9948]

Don, it's setup in a previous episode that she's in "dune buggy race" and Mark was supposed to get her extra fuel, but thought Lisa was doing it. Neither did, and nobody drives a 1954 Chevy Bel-Air into the desert, but there you go. :p

[@don312000]

@@wisebloodwisent9948 I remember Lisa and Marc jawing about who was supposed to fill the tank...I don't have any memory of the race bit though!

[@ericaswenson1034]

This was perhaps a staged performance intended to teach kids about the dire consequences of not communicating efficiently with one another. Trini's demonstration of how she reached out for help probably also served as an example of creative problem solving strategies in an emergency.

[@don312000]

@@ericaswenson1034 Without a doubt that's exactly what it was. I'm just saying that, even at something like eight years old, I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to totally buy it. lol

[@floydjohnson7888]

Did anyone, at what corresponds to 20:01 (theme kicks in), think, "Up, up, and AWAY!" either during the original airing or four decades later?

[@kristinlambert8811]

This is about how telephones work

[@davec1851]

Trini 😍

[@andrewd.7019]

Nobody wanted to talk about the mime with the toilet paper face?

[@ashleyleibl2930]

It's restored by "after 28 years (2008-)" of shows' play. Too bad, the bad quality is swept into rainbows, b&w and chaos, due to the ancient TV show. title show - 3-2-1 CONTACT network - PBS aired - 1980, 1983-1988, 1991-1992

[@MIKECNW]

Wonder where exactly Trini was?

[@SJHFoto]

@S2 Turbine I think he means he wonders where the desert scenes were filmed. I was wondering that as well. I remember this episode and I felt really bad for Trini

[@MontgomeryMall]

As the show was produced in New York City at the Children's Television Workshop, my guess would be Trini was in the "desert" of a Long Island beach sand dunes.

[@nickalkire1187]

Is that Gene Wilder?

[@jamesmcclelland1414]

Yep 👍🏻!

[@wildsurvival4306]

Mark or ark ? Consider what you saw not just what you heard

[@That_80s_Geek]

Lisa was my crush