Look Around You

From Encyclopedia Dramatica

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Just...Look around YOU!

Did you know that if you combine water with nitrogen you get whisky? Did you know that Jean is taller than Imhotep? Did you know that the largest number may be 45 billion (although scientists speculate that there may be even larger numbers)? The British TV show Look Around You attempts to answer all these questions and literally several more in their series of educational shorts.

The videos, each about 8 minutes long, were a IRL meme before making the transition to online meme rather quickly. The episodes explain real science as we internet folk understand it (rather than the lies that get taught in school), and can be seen from time to time on forums or when somebody is complaining about how sucky season 2 turned out to be.

History

Children who grew up in the late 70s and early 80s probably will remember going to school and being forced to watch boring and out of focus filmstrips and drab, washed out educational videos as VCRs slowly made their way into classrooms. A large amount of this “educational fare” brought to students was very cheaply made and so terribly produced they became legendary and achieved small cult status.

Two British fellows (Darth Maul and the other guy) took their love for those old school films and in 2002 made a series of videos for BBC2 earning them high praise, and, much later on, a bunch of money when the series became a hit on American television’s Adult Swim. Much later on, in 2005, a second series was made, but it pretty much sucked compared to the original episodes.

Description

Each episode has the following parallels:

• The very obvious PSA style opening at the beginning of every show

• The dull monotone of the narrator

• The scientists use a pencil to point out the effects of many of the experiments, often to tragic and humorous results

• The “lazy guitar” music often used while cut scenes showing real life applications of the current subject

• Labels on beakers, bottles, jars, and other containers - for example, a jar of “Michelle” is right next to a beaker full of “Maths” can be seen on the Look Around You chemical shelf

• A disinterested, or even hostile student

• The narrator often refers to a text book and a copy book that should accompany the Look Around You series of videos. Viewers will be asked to turn to outlandish page numbers or to take some time to figure out a incredibly silly and complex problem. The DVD of the Look Around You series actually comes with both a copy book and a text book.

Episodes

Module One

The original series (referred to as "Module One") of Look Around You had 8 normal episodes and one pilot episode. Within each episode, there is a specific topic that the narrator will discuss. Along with the specific topic, there are also a few tests, cutscenes to real life events, and a lot of shit put there to confuse the viewer.

1. Maths – you could win your school a computerized toast system

2. Water

3. Germs – germs come from Germany

4. Ghosts

5. Sulphur

6. Music

7. Iron - otherwise known as Iron De Haviland or "Bumcivivilian."

8. Brain

9. Calcium – the pilot episode.

Module Two

The second season of Look Around You, produced some time later than the first, is based on the now-hilarious British TV show "Tomorrow's World" and is not as funny as the original module.

1. Music 2000

2. Health

3. Sport

4. Food

5. Computers

6. Inventor of the Year

Quotes

Some very fine examples of the perverted science that Look Around You discusses:

	“   But what is water? It's a difficult question because water is impossible to describe. One might ask the same about birds. What are birds? We just don't know.   „   —The Narrator   “   If you look carefully, you'll notice that the water has changed colour from invisible to brown.   „   —The Narrator   “   Thanks ants. Thants.   „   —The Narrator   “   Bless you, ants. Blants.   „   —The Narrator   “   One way in which ghosts are different from man is that they can't whistle. Try as they might, the most they can muster is a rather feeble hiss. Perhaps it's because their lips are transparent and their tongues are see-through?   „   —The Narrator   “   We will be using a household object famous for its iron content. Can you guess what it is? Yes, that's right. Champagne.   „   —The Narrator   “   In an average year we get through roughly forty tonnes of sulphur. This translates into approximately two and a half million individual matches. Since the company was formed we've produced 156,280,000 matches, and if we continue at the current rate of production, by the year 3500 we will have manufactured 900,000 billion billion billion billion billion billion matches.   „   —Peter Jackmond, match maker   “   Here's a state of the art, song-writing computer, the 'Harrington 1200.' You've probably never seen one yourself because it costs almost a thousand pounds.   „   —The Price tag reads £999.99½p   “   We have a DC current, provided by the battery, and an AC current, provided by the mains. We are using AC/DC because it is heavy metal.   „   —The Albumen is OUT NOW!   “   The brain is basically a wrinkled bag of skin, filled with warm water, veins and thought muscles. Think of it as a kind of modified heart, only with a mind or brain.   „   —On the Brain   “   The opposite of the brain is probably the bum. It's nowhere near as intelligent as the brain. It doesn't have to be as it only needs to make very basic calculations.   „   —Man enters restroom toilet and locks door.   “   Viewers may be pleased to know that Clive Pounds, who died during production of this program, has since come back to life.   „   —Look Around You season 2 - Food. Previous Quote  |  Next Quote

Video

The second module videos can be found here:

Quiz Series

You may wish to take the Look Around You quiz that accompanies many of online videos. Here is a list and link to take each available quiz:

• Maths Quiz

• Water Quiz

• Germ Quiz

• Ghosts Quiz

• Sulphur Quiz

• Music Quiz

• Iron Quiz

• Brain Quiz

Extra

The folks at the Look Around You website have made you a copy of their Periodic Table of the Elements, suitable for framing or using as a desktop wallpaper:

FRANCE???

The various sciences involving revolutionary Digital Disc Technology

See Also

• BBC
• Chris Morris
• United Kingdom
• Adult Swim
• Funny
• Television
• School

External Links

• The Look Around You home page.
• Series 1 desktop wallpapers.
• Series 2 desktop wallpapers.
• Look Around You at IMDB.
• Your Vision of the Year 2000. Includes the i-Trak, a portable 8-trac music listening system.
• Mp3 file of the smash hit "Little Mouse" by Look Around You's Jack Morgan.

Look Around You is part of a series on TV & Movies

On the Internet: IMDb • Look Around You • MPAA • Rotten Tomatoes • The Dark Knight IMDb Board • TV.com Related Memes: Agent Smith • ENGLISH MOTHERFUCKER DO YOU SPEAK IT • Epic Fail Guy • Force Push • Forced Memes (Television) • I Don't Watch TV • Jack Sparrow • Tony Stark • Why So Serious? People: Bill O'Reilly • Bruce Campbell • Dan Rather • David Hasselhoff • Emmy Rossum • Glenn Beck • Jack Bauer • Jew • John Travolta • Keith Olbermann • Liberal media • Max Headroom • Mel Gibson • Michael Moore • Old media • Placentafag • Quentin Tarantino • Roman Polanski • Sacha Baron Cohen • Sean Hannity • Tim Russert TV: • Full list of TV shows • 4Kids • Aqua Teen Hunger Force • Avatar the Last Airbender • BET • Disney • Family Guy • Faux News • Forced Memes (Television) • Futurama • House • MTV • Metalocalypse • South Park • The Colbert Report • The Daily Show • The Naked Brothers Band • Trailer Park Boys• Yo Gabba Gabba Movies: • Full list of Movies • 300 • Batman • Brokeback Mountain • Cloverfield • Disney • Donnie Darko • Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed • Fight Club • Garden State • Gigli • Guinea Pig • Hard Candy • Harry Potter • I Am Legend • Jackass • Loose Change • Lord of the Rings • Manos: The Hands of Fate • Pixar • RIKI-OH • Resident Evil 3 • Saw • Silent Hill • Snakes on a Plane • Star Wars • The Incredible Hulk • The Lion King • The Matrix • The Ring • The Wizard • Thoth • Transformers • Twilight • V For Vendetta • Watchmen • Zeitgeist • ZOO: The Movie

Look Around You is part of a series on potential Science projects.	Science Theory Albert Einstein • Balloon Boy • Bill Nye • Theoretical physics • God • Existence • Evolution • Global Warming • Look Around You • Memes • Richard Dawkins • Computer Science III • Large Hadron Collider • Apophis • How is babby formed? • The Comprehensive Theory of Lulz • Schrödinger's cat • Zero Division Proven by Science Tree Hugging • Cubic Time • God hates fags • JEWS DID WTC • No girls on the internet • Raelism • Scientology • Trepanation • Alternative Medicine Science in Action Drugs! • Sex! • Creationism! • Fire! • Uranium! • Lens flare! • Diabeetus! • Heart! • Electricity!