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

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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

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insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

who's 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). Despite being a reporter for WORD's news department, R. B. Bugg's writing skills aren't as sharp where 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, producer and writer. 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 ...

, Throughout the series, she shows him how to combine and improve his writings. By way of animation, 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 re-enforces 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 on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

'', 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 Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

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

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly 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 all ...

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.Yahoo Group: ietv -- instructional/educational media ''(registration required)''
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 television {{US-child-tv-prog-stub