The Science Channel to broadcast FIRST documentary
 

This note, pasted below, was just sent to team leaders from FIRST:

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Greetings Teams:

FIRST Robotics Documentary Airs on The Science Channel

Watch the world premiere of "FIRST Robotics 2003" Friday, September 12 at 9pm on The Science Channel. This original documentary was developed, produced, filmed and aired as a contribution to FIRST through the sponsorship of Discovery. The Science Channel team responsible for bringing this effort together has been involved with FIRST for several years, and their personal and professional efforts have made their dream of
promoting FIRST in a significant way a reality. The documentary includes coverage of FIRST teams across the country, of regional events in New York City and San Jose, California, and of the Championship.

The program will be repeated on Tuesday, September 17 and again on Friday, November 21. The Science Channel is available on digital cable or satellite. You can call your provider today and ask for The Science Channel, or go to discovery.com and click on The Science Channel. You can also see the schedule by going to:
http://science.discovery.com/schedul...88&channel=SCI

Through this documentary, Discovery makes the case that FIRST Robotics is the Super Bowl of engineering -- requiring teamwork, dedication and ingenuity. 20,000 of America's brightest high school science students achieve breakthroughs, set the groundwork for brilliant careers, and make extremely cool robots. In this Science Channel original special, the program follows three diverse teams from the team building and robot
building phase, through regional competitions and to the Championship event at the Reliant Arena in Houston, TX. Special thanks for their support of this television project go to FIRST Robotics Teams #254, #339, and #1224.

To learn more about The Science Channel, visit them at
http://science.discovery.com/

That's totally awesome. I checked and I do have that channel so I will definitely be watching. I'll send news of this to my team.

Also, for everyone don't forget about www.tvguide.com as the airing times may be slightly different in your area

too bad we cant get any of that in canada ><
im actually not sure, even if you have satellite in Canada, whether or not youd be able to receive all american specialty channels.. i know some, but not all

Hey Andy, i just read the email from FIRST and was going to post about it but i see you beat me to it. Actually while volunteering at the nats this past year, i heard about and got to talk to some of the Science Chanels guys, it sounded awesome then and i cant wait to see it in a few weeks. Everyone who gets the chance i would reccomend watching this, its going to be great!
~Mike

So now, since a lot of us are at college and don't get the science channel or some people don't get it at home.. Does anyone plan on recording this and then digitizing it, like was done with the first Dean Kamen special on 60 minutes?

Don't worry Rob, I'm sure SOMEONE will send a copy up to Potsdam.

We'll see it eventually. ;) :D

I’ll be recording it, but I don’t have the equipment to digitalize. If anyone does I’d be happy to give/send them a copy to digitalize and post.

And John, I’ll be giving Rob a copy at some point(probably at Bash) so if you’re really nice to him maybe he’ll let you watch it ;)

Is this a one-hour documentary, or a series of shows? The description isn't very clear.

I'm not getting on any soapbox here, I don't mind people sharing music & movies, but in this case I would recommend everyone actually buy the DVD when the show airs, that's what I plan on doing. Go ahead and get a copy of the digitized version, but if you like it order a copy from Discovery. The simple reason is to encourage them to produce more FIRST related shows. Tell them with your money that you want to see FIRST on TV. I imagine that if they get several thousand orders for the DVD they'll be more inclined to make a similar program this season.

We're finally on TV, now lets let them know that we want to be back next year (but on a channel that people actually get).

Mike

I knew having 12 Discovery Channels would come in handy one of these days.

Well, it's a start.

Thats what i plan on doing, i just hope its not $30...

yeah, it kinda a bummer that if we wanted to show this to potential sponsors or soemone they may not have the channel...


~Mike

Would you happen to know if this is something that they will sell online after the show too? Or available only when it is aired?
I know I would deffinately buy a copy. Thanks for any info!

This looks like a great idea, and a lot of fun to watch. I know a lot of the HS kids (hey, most of us mentors too) like watching for our teams.

It's great that this is an actual documentary and not just a 10-second spotlight on one of Dean's many interviews (like 60 Minutes II and such), and I'm sure he's happy about it too.

Anyone in the Indianapolis area want to watch? I vote a FIRST party at Chris Noble's... or maybe Andy Baker's? :D

It is one episode shown 12 times. Here are the times:
SCI Sep 12 2003
09:00 PM FIRST Robotics FIRST Robotics 2003

SCI Sep 13 2003
12:00 AM FIRST Robotics FIRST Robotics 2003

SCI Sep 13 2003
05:00 AM FIRST Robotics FIRST Robotics 2003

SCI Sep 13 2003
08:00 AM FIRST Robotics FIRST Robotics 2003

SCI Sep 13 2003
01:00 PM FIRST Robotics FIRST Robotics 2003

SCI Sep 13 2003
04:00 PM FIRST Robotics FIRST Robotics 2003

SCI Sep 17 2003
08:00 PM FIRST Robotics FIRST Robotics 2003

SCI Sep 17 2003
11:00 PM FIRST Robotics FIRST Robotics 2003

SCI Sep 18 2003
04:00 AM FIRST Robotics FIRST Robotics 2003

SCI Sep 18 2003
07:00 AM FIRST Robotics FIRST Robotics 2003

SCI Sep 18 2003
12:00 PM FIRST Robotics FIRST Robotics 2003

SCI Sep 18 2003
03:00 PM FIRST Robotics:D :D

We know digitizing.


--SOAP Team
www.soap108.com/2003/movies

Too bad we all know the outcome.

No guarantees, but Discovery offers many of their shows on VHS/DVD, I don't know if it's true for the Science Channel though. If they make it available, it should be on the website for a while. Someone will post the info if & when it's available.

Hey, some of us liked the outcome :D

Well, I don't get the Science Channel. I am cheap - no satellite TV for me means no viewing party.

Andy B., aka Mr. Thrifty

Don't feel bad. This will be the first time I have used my digital cable in months. :p

The Science Channel most likely will be selling tapes of it since Discovery, The Science Channel, and TLC all appear to be in cahoots.

i dont have cable, i only have "Able"

Discovery owns tlc, science channel, discovery health, discovery kids, etc...the list goes on and on!
~Mike

Hey guys just a reminder to you all, tonight is the firts broadcast of the Documentary on the Science channel. i would suggest to those who can tape this and show it to their sponsors and/or others that would be interested to see what FIRST really is. the link below will bring you to the show schedule and a short description of the show.

Show Description show schedule

~Mike

Mr. Thrifty -

You are more than happy to come down to Indy and watch with Chris and I.

Signed,

You'd Think With All This Tuition Money I'd Get Some Decent TV

I can't offer anything now, but I MIGHT BE ABLE TO TRY to get some copies in DVD/CD form. I'm talking to some friends of mine, BUT DON'T E-MAIL ME ABOUT IT! I WILL POST SOME INFO HERE!!!!

Of the 300 some channels that I get in my house I knew I'd be able to find something good to watch :p Im going to tape it tonight and then attempt to digitize it this weekend. Im pretty new in the digitizing field, so it might be a few days if at all, no promises those. I'll see what I can to.

Wow, this is really good, not to make fun of anyone who dosn't have TSC... I wonder of Sparky is on here.... I see MOE.

Yeah! So far this is doing, in my opinion, a great job of portraying FIRST. Hope the rest is just as good. Ok, back to it :)

I kind of have to disagree with you there... It only showed 3 teams... I thought it was going to be a documentary on FIRST not just 3 different teams...

All in All it was good

Yes, it was only 3 teams, but that I think gave it a personal touch as opposed to glossing over very generic details about FIRST and the competition. Almost any publicity for FIRST is good and I think this was one of the better ones. Yeah Discovery!

Yeah, that was kind of disappointing. They also made a couple of mistakes explaining things and whatnot. And does anyone know why they didn’t use the standard FIRST scoring software?

Very true... I wish someone would put one out about the overview though or something like it...

I was hopeing that they would show lots of teams, not just three too, but the only way for that to happen would be to have an hour episode for each regional.

WHy didnt they say anything about the atonomus time?

I thought it was going to be a cool series like American Chopper... that would have been cool.. but just one episode come on! This year, they should definitely follow 1 or 2 teams very indepthly with the building, and the design, and the competeing.. or they should do several hour long shows showcasing 3 teams at a time, like this one was.. but do it for more than 1 episode with like 3 teams per episode. It didn't look like they stuck with the teams for too long, other than at the regionals, and for a day or two during construction.

i watched it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was so excited to be able to watch it in canada. after reading everythign in this thread, i would have thought it to be impossible. however, at 730, my cousin saw me reading this thread and when i explained to her what it was about, she told me she had american satellite. so im still ever so glad to have watched it.

my opinion on it: IT WAS AWESOME. i liked how it went through the whole season from the design to the building to the regionals and to the nationals. but what i liked the most about it was how they showed the perseverance of the teams like how they didnt always win everything and not everything came easily and the setbacks. to me, that was the most important, because it showed that despite all trials and tribulations, it is worth it in the end. i also liked the three teams idea because it did make it more personal.

A couple points, my two cents.

First and foremost, I was disappointed that there was no mention of the Chairman's Award, the Woodie Flowers Award, or even a passing glance at Gracious Professionalism....but winning the championship was certainly graced. I understand that winning a medal is a high award, nothing to be sniffed at, but I certainly believe that the Chairman's is much more to be honored with. This can't be stressed enough.

Second, I was very happy to see that an all-girls team was presented. It made an excellent name for the program.

I wish they would have thrown some Chairman's winners in it - maybe, a Chairman's winner, a team with a Woodie Flowers mentor, and a fledgling newbie team - excellent. Just to show the various aspects and what we all overcome.

I thought the students being profiled and followed through their FIRST experiences was excellent. Commentary from Dean, Woodie, and Jason topped it off.

Let's see what kind of backlash this sparks for the program - I hope many a great team start from this.

There were a couple parts I was unsure of - like whether the Cheesy Poofs lost in the final of Newton or the Championship (the documentary made them sound as though they had already won the division and were competiting for the national title). A couple other minor things too.

All in all, a GREAT leap for FIRSTers, and a great promo video. I am so proud to be involved in something of this magnitude, and that only furthered my confidence in this program.

The 2003 FIRST Robotics documentary was the absolute best television program I have seen in a very long time. Why the heck didn't it air on normal Discovery channel that everyone gets?

My only two gripes about it is that they did not capitalize all the letters of FIRST and they didn't mention the autonomous period.

Anywhoo, I bought some tapes tonight and will be taping it when it airs again tomorrow.

Did anyone happen to make a (shhhhh!) digital copy of the broadcast? I haven't been able to see it and I really want to.

Future airings:
First Robotics 2003, SCIENCE Sep 17 11:00pm
First Robotics 2003, SCIENCE Sep 18 04:00am
First Robotics 2003, SCIENCE Sep 18 07:00am
First Robotics 2003, SCIENCE Sep 18 12:00pm
First Robotics 2003, SCIENCE Sep 18 03:00pm

I know it will be showing several times more - however I will never be able to get that channel in my dorm :) I also don't have a TV or VCR. I suppose worst case scenario I will just have to bug someone for the VHS and watch it when I go home for Christmas. However, if someone has a digital copy, I'd appreciate it.

I loved it, another step taken to get FIRST known, congrats to the three teams. Great job! :D

Another Opinion-

The facts were mostly correct. It was good exposure for FIRST to the public.

However I don't think they captured the excitement of a competition very well and it was a little too PC for my taste. Capturing the exctement is very important if the show was going to attract new students.

Some of the opinions of students interviewed were rather interesting and the show gave me a new perspective on how they viewed the FIRST world. It reinforced for me the need for scouting crews when in competition. Hearing the Cheesy Poof representative describe how they were making grippers to hook into the ramp made me cringe but it was good to see that the machine eventually had struts without hooks.

Nonetheless, the show was publicity and shed a positive light on FIRST. Every little bit helps.

WC

If anything, it'll help out with people trying to start teams. You can give a brief explanation, then show the video. You can add in your own commentary if you need.

I finally watch it!
 

I finally watch it (one of my students had to give me a copy because I don't have preminium cable TV!).
It was really excellent. Yes, it only cover three team... yes, some of the information was not exactly correct but that not important.
What was important (to me) was the exposure FIRST received, many people in my company saw the program and were really excited and want to volunteer or help a team near them.

NYCFIRST Regional also got exposure because the "Princesses" rookie team is from Bronx, NYC.

I hope to see more programs like this in the future!
:) :) :) :)
I rated it 4 happy faces

Does any body have a digitalized copy, I don't get satelite and don't know ne one who taped it.. I would really enjoy to see a copy

Mayb someone could help me out

Dan

Re: I finally watch it!
 

Well... that's pretty ambiguous considering I don't know whether to judge that out of 4 or 5 or 9 billion :)

If someone has a digital copy, I'm sure SOAP could find a spot for it... or else, I'd be willing to find space of it.

If somone wants to help me get my hauppauge win-TV Fm working again, I will digitize it. (read: I'm too lazy to figure out the sound problem on my own)

IM/PM me.
Is there a certain filesize you would want the show? bitrate? codec?

[Edit] I got it working and if I get motivated i'll put everything together.[\edit]

[edit2]For some reason it's not recording? just doesn't do anything when i try to start recordeing. [\edit2]

Re: The Science Channel to broadcast FIRST documentary
 

I would LOVE a copy of this since one of the teams we were allied with at Texas was being shadowed by Discovery, and I want to see how I look on National TV ;)


Please please please. You could set up a Torrent of it.

Re: The Science Channel to broadcast FIRST documentary
 

Lot's of people posted a digi copy of it already.

here's the thread:

Science Channel Thread