Does anyone remember the episode where they cooked a hotdog using live 110V and 2 forks in each end of it? The kid me thought it was the coolest thing ever. As an adult I now see the potential for being thrown across the room by grabbing the obvious metal handles.
That show had way more going for it than would be allowed today.
Yes I do remember that. Didn't they use a battery charger for it, though? I seem to remember doing this as well after watching this show, but either they used a battery charger or I was bright enough to realize that using a wall outlet directly is fucking insane :-)
e: Okay I looked it up and they did use a wall outlet directly. Damn...
What you didn't see on screen was the safety precautions that were taken for many of the demonstrations. It was hinted at though; in one episode Mr. Wizard sets off a "Catherine wheel" type firework to demonstrate the principle of Hero's engine; he mentions getting special permission from the fire department to do so.
That show had way more going for it than would be allowed today.