''The Write Channel'' was an instructional program for children, produced in 1977 by Mississippi ETV and distributed to

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

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 (voiced by Mark Hasslett), an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

who is a young television reporter for Channel 85, WORD-TV (outer building in real life is home to Mississippi Public Broadcasting/MPB) in the fictional city of Egg City, Calistonia (which in reality is

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

). Despite being a reporter for WORD's news department, R. B. Bugg's writing skills aren't sharp. He writes in short, choppy sentences. His news director, Red Green (no relation to the later Canadian television character of the same name), was played by

Beverly Todd Beverly Todd (born July 11, 1946) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in films '' Brother John'' (1971), '' Moving'' (1988), '' Lean on Me'' (1989), and '' The Bucket List'' (2007). On television, Todd appeared in the short lived ...

, Throughout the series, she shows him how to combine and improve his writings. By way of

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

, viewers see a gloved hand moving words, combining words, and making appropriate changes in capitalization and punctuation. Later in the show, Bugg writes another story, only this time he does this without Green's help, and at the house where he lives. It reinforces to the viewer what Green showed R. B. earlier, but without the gloved hand. Nevertheless, the corrections were still made on screen. Each episode usually concluded with Bugg falling asleep in front of the television, as WORD signs off with the first and last bits of ''

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...

'', the U.S. 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 Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for "word"; and "jot" is an English

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

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

References

External links

TVOntario fan page: ''The Write Channel'', includes episode guide.
* Television series by the Agency for Instructional Technology 1977 American television series debuts 1978 American television series endings 1970s American children's television series American children's education television series Reading and literacy television series Television series about journalism Television series about insects Television series about television {{US-child-tv-prog-stub