Browse all episodes of Standard Deviants TV

Discover the origins and influences of one of the greatest writers the world has ever known. The Standard Deviants get up-close and personal with Shakespeare and examine Elizabethan & modern drama.

Shakespeare

Get ready to meet royalty as the Standard Deviants introduce you to King Lear! After a quick overview of the plot, the Standard Deviants examine King Lear as a tragic figure.

King Lear

This time, the Standard Deviants will leave you shaking! Learn about plate tectonics, continental drift and faults. But don’t duck for cover until after you discover the fascinating facts behind earthquakes!

Plates and Quakes

Muscles–they’re not just for bodybuilders anymore! The Standard Deviants will bulk you up with tons of interesting information about joints, skeletal muscles and how skeletal muscles are named.

Musclemania

Let’s operate! Unearth the ancient secrets of integers and basic operations, including addition, subtraction and multiplication. Whether this is your first time or you’re looking for a quick review, the Standard Deviants will show you the quickest route to the right answer!

Integer Intrigue

You never know when you’ll find yourself in Italy–or a really good Italian restaurant! Now you can join in the conversation, too! The Standard Deviants will teach you some conversation pointers and a few sure-fire Italian expressions.

Let’s Talk! Basic Italian Conversations

Your mission, should you accept it, is to understand the importance of nutrients, calories, nutrition standards and guidelines. So that you may complete your mission, you will be given a briefing on how food is digested.

Mission: Nutrition

Boil, boil, toil and trouble, we’ll teach you about Macbeth on the double! The Standard Deviants untangle the twisted web of treachery in Macbeth and divine the details behind the characters of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the witches.

Macbeth

More than three-quarters of the earth is covered in it! In this episode, the Standard Deviants dive into an explanation of river systems, drainage, shoreline systems, waves and glaciers.

Water, Water, Everywhere

The Standard Deviants will strike a “cord” in this fascinating overview of the Central Nervous System. Starting with a description of neurons, this episode covers the anatomy of the brain, the spinal cord and the Peripheral Nervous System.

Get Nervous

Jazz-up your Spanish conversations with these interesting descriptive terms! Master the rules of matching adjectives with number and gender, using two adjectives together, and those tricky demonstrative adjectives–this, that, these, and those.

Our Amigos, Adjetivos

If you’re like most people, you probably don’t stop to read the information on nutritional labels. The Standard Deviants dispel the mysteries surrounding these labels and what they mean. The Standard Deviants also discuss the importance of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.

What’s That Label on My Table?

Enter the high-impact, no-holds-barred world of punctuation! The Standard Deviants demonstrate all those funny little squiggles and marks that inevitably show up in a sentence. Learn all about dashes, hyphens, apostrophes, contractions, and maybe a parentheses or two.

Punct Rock

Nobody can resist angles–they’re just so acute! Don’t get bent out of shape over angles–the Standard Deviants will explain theorems, postulates, and how angles and theorems work together so anybody can understand!

Angles Untangled

The Standard Deviants clear the cobwebs from Shakespeare’s masterpiece of backstabbing and good old-fashioned revenge. After an overview of the plot, the Standard Deviants examine the main characters Othello, Desdemona and Iago.

Othello

Without verbs, your ability to converse in Spanish will be severely limited! Once you’ve learned how to conjugate verbs in the present tense and make verbs negative, we’ll throw in a curveball: irregular verbs.

Revenge of the Verbs

Protected by the Bill of Rights, civil liberties include the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion and the rights of the accused. The Standard Deviants discuss each of these guaranteed rights–without taking any liberties!

Give Me Liberty!

Some laws should never be broken–especially the laws of physics! Meet renowned physicists Sir Isaac Newton, Kepler and Hooke as the Standard Deviants give you their spin on Newton’s laws, the laws of thermodynamics and other physical laws.

Rootin’ Tootin’ Newton

Despite what you may have heard, most rocks have lived a long and interesting life! Learn how to interpret the history of rocks and the surrounding area from such clues as weathering, erosion and sedimentation.

A Rock’s Life

Put your best foot forward! The Standard Deviants will help you land that dream job by showing you the different types of interviews and interviewers, how to prepare for an interview, common questions and what interviewers look for. Remember: it’s an interview–not an interrogation!

Ace That Interview

Confused by the cardiovascular system? Take heart! In this episode, the Standard Deviants will examine the inner workings and important structures in the heart, the circulatory system, blood and plasma.

You Gotta Have Heart

If you ever plan to visit France or parts of Canada, knowing a few words of French will go a long way! Learn to speak and understand French as the Standard Deviants demonstrate simple French conversations and common expressions.

Parlez-Vous Français?

Uncover Shakespeare’s least-known tragedy–his first! Explore the plot of this early and flawed play as the Standard Deviants discuss the influences and sources for the play, as well as how Titus stacks up as a tragic figure.

Titus Andronicus

Don’t be left out! Learn about our natural tendency to form social groups in this introduction to the science of sociology. Discover the intricate dynamics behind group interactions, social structures, societies and cultures.

Sociology Secrets

Triangles can be your friends! The Standard Deviants will straighten-out your misconceptions about these three-sided troublemakers with descriptions of the different kinds of triangles and some simple postulates.

If at First You Don’t Succeed, Triangles

No study of American history would be complete without and understanding of the civil rights movement. Starting with the abolition of slavery, the Standard Deviants cover the civil rights acts, the right to vote, Jim Crow laws and women’s rights.

And Justice for All

The Standard Deviants are putting themselves on the map! In this episode, the Standard Deviants discuss the geography of the United States and our buddies to the north, Canada. Learn about the basic geography of the area and the different climates.

North America, Ho!!!

Russian Around Europe

Africa: Safari, So Good!

Standard Deviants TV comprised material from the Standard Deviants home videos,  edited into 25-minute episodes that aired on PBS. All of the original 13 episodes were released on home video (at half the price of the full-length videos), as were many subsequent episodes. The series also included three episodes with new material on geography.

All Episodes of Standard Deviants TV

Browse all episodes of Standard Deviants TV

Season 1

Shakespeare

Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/8/2000