Bits and Bytes

Bits and Bytes
Written by	Denise Boiteau David Stansfield
Directed by	Stuart Beecroft
Starring	Luba Goy Billy Van
Voices of	Fred Napoli
Theme music composer	Harry Forbes George Axon
Country of origin	Canada
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	18
Production
Executive producer	Mike McManus
Producers	Denise Boiteau David Stansfield
Editor	Michael Kushner
Running time	28 minutes (approx.)
Production company	TVOntario
Original release
Network	TVOntario
Release	1983 (1983)
Related
The Computer Academy

Bits and Bytes was the name of two Canadian educational television series that taught the basics of how to use a personal computer. The first series, made in 1983, starred Luba Goy as the Instructor and Billy Van as the Student. Bits and Bytes 2 was produced in 1991 and starred Billy Van on his own.

The intro sequence featured a montage of common computer terms such as "ERROR", "LOGO" and "ROM", as well as various snippets of simple computer graphics and video effects, accompanied by a theme song that very heavily borrows from the 1978 song Neon Lights by Kraftwerk. The series were produced by TVOntario. The Writer-Producers of both Bits and Bytes and Bits and Bytes 2 were Denise Boiteau & David Stansfield.

The first series featured an unusual presentation format whereby Luba Goy as the instructor would address Billy Van through a remote video link. The video link would appear to Luba who was seated in an office on a projection screen in front of her. She was then able to direct Billy, who appeared on a soundstage with various desktop computer setups of the era. Popular systems emphasized included the Atari 800, Commodore PET, Tandy TRS-80, and Apple II. Each episode also included short animated vignettes to explain key concepts, as well as videotaped segments on various developments in computing.

In 1983 TVOntario included the show's episodes as part of a correspondence course.

In the second series, produced almost a decade later, Billy Van assumed the role of instructor and taught a new female student. The new series focused primarily on IBM PC compatibles (i.e. Intel-based 286 or 386 computers) running DOS and early versions of Windows, as well as the newer and updated technologies of that era.

Episodes (1983-84)

• Program 1: Getting Started
• Program 2: Ready-Made Programs
• Program 3: How Programs Work?
• Program 4: File & Data Management
• Program 5: Communication Between Computers
• Program 6: Computer Languages
• Program 7: Computer-Assisted Instruction
• Program 8: Games & Simulations
• Program 9: Computer Graphics
• Program 10: Computer Music
• Program 11: Computers at Work
• Program 12: What Next?

Episodes (1991)

• Program 1: Basics
• Program 2: Words
• Program 3: Numbers
• Program 4: Files
• Program 5: Messages
• Program 6: Pictures

Crew

• Original Music - Harry Forbes, George Axon
• Animation Voice - Fred Napoli
• Animation - Grafilm Productions Inc.
• Consultants - Jim Butterfield, David Humphreys, Mike H. Stein, Jo Ann Wilton
• Unit Manager - Rodger Lawson
• Production Editors - Michael Kushner, Paul Spencer, Brian Elston, Doug Beavan
• Production Assistant - George Pyron
• Executive Producer - Mike McManus
• Director - Stu Beecroft
• Written & Produced by - Denise Boiteau and David Stansfield

External links

• TVOntario's official (but incomplete) archive of the original series via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine
• Complete archive of the original series on YouTube, including episodes and standalone clips of all of the animations and interviews
• Bits and Bytes at IMDb
• Bits and Bytes 2 at IMDb
• Fansite with more information about the show