TV Guide

Every channel on Channel GG. Pick a show, or turn the knob and let fate decide.

  1. CH 17:30Channel GGCartoons, the crew and the toy aisle. Pour a bowl and start here.
  2. CH 28:00Meet the CrewSay hi to the microbes working your night shift. Trading cards, tools and the buffet.
  3. CH 38:30Saturday Morning LessonsFive-second cartoons about what your gut gets up to all day.
  4. CH 410:00The ArcadeGames that teach. Insert no coins.
  5. CH 510:30The Toy AisleGut goodies for grown-ups. Collect the set, feed the crew.
  6. CH 69:00The MapRide the gut from Chomp Station to Downtown and get your passport stamped at every stop.
  7. CH 79:15The Tool KitEnzymes that snip, chip, slice and pop, plus bile, the soap. Grab one and cut something.
  8. CH 89:45The BuffetPrebiotics and fibre: food your tools can’t cut, served to the crew Downtown.
  9. CH 911:30The StationWho runs this channel, questions, fan mail and the fine print.
  10. CH 1011:00The GlossaryGut words from A to Z: a true definition and a silly one, side by side.
  11. CH 117:00The TV GuideWhat’s on, what’s next, and what’s on at 3 a.m. (it’s the fine print).
  12. CH 1210:45A Word from Our SponsorsJingles, slogans and a very calm announcer. Stay through the break.
  13. CH 1311:15The Sticker BookPeel, stick, show off. Then go find the ones you’re missing.
  14. CH 1412:30The Season PassNever miss an episode. Your goodies turn up every month, for less.
Shop

Sound only plays when you press something. Your stickers stay right here in this browser. Your bag rides along to the shop counter.

8:00Meet the crew

Meet the crew.

They’ve been working your night shift this whole time. Lactobacilli are rods that travel in pairs and chains, bifidobacteria branch into Ys and Vs, and Bacillus coagulans packs itself into a spore. The vagus nerve spins the records. The sneakers are a style choice.

Card setCollect them all

The trading cards.

Flip a card for the stats and where each microbe turns up. Every flip earns a sticker.

Card 01Shape: rods
Ace and Deuce, two blue rod-shaped bacteria in red sweatbands, holding hands

Ace & Deuce

Lactobacillus acidophilus

Make lactic acid and keep the neighbourhood a little sour.

Profile

Ace & Deuce

The stats
Shape
Rods. They travel in pairs and short chains, so you get two.
Hangs out
Small intestine.
Makes
Lactic acid.
Fun fact
In 2020, Lactobacillus was split into 25 genera. Acidophilus is one of the few that kept the old name.
In the bottleNo.01 Probiotic 20 BillionNo.02 Probiotic 40 Billion with PrebioticsNo.05 Gut HealthNo.06 Apple Cider Vinegar Capsules
Card 02Shape: Y
Biff, a yellow Y-shaped bacterium cheering with both branches up

Biff

Bifidobacterium bifidum

Eats the fibre you can’t digest and turns it into acetate and lactate.

Profile

Biff

The stats
Shape
A branched rod, often a Y. “Bifid” means split in two.
Hangs out
Large intestine.
Eats
Inulin and FOS.
Fun fact
Bifidobacteria are among the first microbes to move into a newborn’s gut.
In the bottleNo.01 Probiotic 20 Billion
Card 03Shape: spore

Sporty

Bacillus coagulans

Rides through stomach acid in a spore coat, then hatches in the gut.

Profile

Sporty

The stats
Shape
A rod that can pack itself into an oval spore.
Hangs out
Passes through. Wakes up in the intestine.
Makes
Lactic acid, once it’s awake.
Fun fact
Renamed twice since 2020: science now says Heyndrickxia coagulans. Labels still say Bacillus.
In the bottleNo.04 Digestive + Gut Health StripsNo.09 Comfy Belly Daily
Card 05Shape: rod
Rhamny, a purple rod-shaped bacterium in round sunglasses, mid dance step

Rhamny

Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus

Makes lactic acid and never misses a beat.

Profile

Rhamny

The stats
Shape
A rod, often in short chains.
Hangs out
Small and large intestine.
Makes
Lactic acid.
Fun fact
The 2020 shake-up gave him a longer name: Lacticaseibacillus. He wears it well.
In the bottleNo.01 Probiotic 20 Billion
Card 07Shape: short rod
Shorty, a small blue rod-shaped bacterium in a backwards cap, waving

Shorty

Bifidobacterium breve

The youngest of the crew, and proof that not every bifido is a Y.

Profile

Shorty

The stats
Shape
Short rods. Breve is Latin for short.
Hangs out
Large intestine.
Eats
Prebiotic fibres and milk sugars.
Fun fact
One of the most common bifidobacteria in a baby’s gut.
In the bottleNo.01 Probiotic 20 Billion
Card 08Shape: rod
Para, a red rod-shaped bacterium in a striped cheesemonger’s apron, holding up a wedge of Swiss cheese and giving a thumbs up

Para

Lacticaseibacillus paracasei

Makes lactic acid, and keeps working in a cheese while it ages.

Profile

Para

The stats
Shape
A rod, alone or in short chains.
Hangs out
Small intestine. Also aged cheese.
Makes
Lactic acid.
Fun fact
In aged cheddar, L. paracasei is often one of the main bacteria still at work months after the cheese is made.
In the bottleNo.01 Probiotic 20 BillionNo.02 Probiotic 40 Billion with Prebiotics
Card 09Shape: long rod
Longo, a long teal bacterium with one small branch, in reading glasses and a mustard cardigan, reading aloud from a storybook

Longo

Bifidobacterium longum

The old-timer. Ferments the fibre you can’t digest and tells the crew how it used to be.

Profile

Longo

The stats
Shape
A long rod, sometimes curved or branched. Longum is Latin for long.
Hangs out
Large intestine.
Eats
Prebiotic fibres like inulin and FOS.
Fun fact
B. longum turns up in guts at every age, from the first months of life to old age.
In the bottleNo.01 Probiotic 20 Billion
Card 10Shape: rod
Sal, a mint-green rod-shaped bacterium in a striped railroad cap and red neckerchief, holding up a gold pocket watch

Sal

Ligilactobacillus salivarius

Conductor at Chomp Station. Greets every bite on the way in.

Profile

Sal

The stats
Shape
A rod, often in short chains.
Hangs out
The mouth, and further down the gut.
Makes
Lactic acid.
Fun fact
The 2020 shake-up moved him to a new genus, Ligilactobacillus. The trains still run on time.
In the bottleNo.01 Probiotic 20 Billion
Card 11Shape: rod
Gass, a peach rod-shaped bacterium in a white lab coat with goggles pushed up, holding a clipboard and raising one finger

Gass

Lactobacillus gasseri

Makes lactic acid. Corrects anyone who thinks his name is about gas.

Profile

Gass

The stats
Shape
A rod, often in short chains.
Hangs out
Small intestine.
Makes
Lactic acid.
Fun fact
He kept the old genus name in the 2020 shake-up, like Ace & Deuce. Short name, no paperwork.
In the bottleNo.01 Probiotic 20 Billion
Card 12Shape: a nerve
DJ Vagus, a long golden-yellow nerve with little branching fibres, looping up from a teal DJ booth in red headphones, scratching two records

DJ Vagus

Nervus vagus

Spins at Second Brain FM. Runs the line between gut and brain.

Profile

DJ Vagus

The stats
Shape
A long nerve that wanders. Vagus is Latin for wandering.
Runs
From the brainstem, down the neck and chest, to the gut.
Carries
Messages both ways. Most of its fibres carry news up from the gut.
Fun fact
You have two, one on each side. They’re the longest of the cranial nerves.

Swipe for the whole crew →

8:15Supporting cast

Tools and lunch.

Enzymes aren’t alive: each one is a protein that cuts one kind of bond, more toolbox than crew. Prebiotics are lunch, food your own tools can’t cut, saved for the crew. And bile? Bile’s the soap.

The tool kit

Enzymes aren’t alive. Each one is a protein shaped to cut one kind of bond. Tools, not crew.

  • ScissorsProteaseSnips proteins into amino acids.
  • PickaxeAmylaseChips starch into sugars. Starts in your mouth.
  • Pizza cutterLipaseSlices fats into fatty acids.
  • Can openerLactaseOpens up milk sugar (lactose).
  • WrenchAlpha-galactosidaseUnbolts the sugars in beans.
  • PineappleBromelainA protease that comes from pineapple.
  • PapayaPapainA protease that comes from papaya.
  • Bubble wand · not an enzymeBileYour body’s own soap. Breaks fat into droplets for lipase.

The buffet

Prebiotics are lunch, not crew. Your own enzymes can’t cut them, so they reach the colon, where the bifidos dig in.

  • InulinA chain of fructose beads. Ours comes from Jerusalem artichoke root.
  • FOSShorter chains of the same beads. Bifidobacteria love them. Onions and bananas carry some.
  • PolydextroseA glucose-based fibre, in our probiotic strips.
  • FibreThe parts of plants your own enzymes can’t cut. Some of it feeds the crew; some just keeps things moving.
8:20Model sheet 01

OK for air.

Backstage at the studio: who’s what shape. Press a number.

Model sheet: two blue rod bacteria holding hands, a yellow Y-shaped bacterium, an orange armoured spore, the same character hatched as a green rod, a pair of scissors and a pile of Jerusalem artichokes
Model sheet 011Ace & Deuce, rods2Biff, a Y3Sporty, spore4Sporty, hatched5Protease, a tool6Inulin, food
Far-out fact

Lactobacilli are rods. Bifidobacteria branch. Bacillus coagulans makes spores.

Shape is one of the first things microbiologists look at under the microscope.

8:25Model sheet 02

New faces.

Five new hires for the night shift: a cheesemonger, an old-timer, a conductor, a scientist and a DJ. Four are in our probiotics. The fifth isn’t a microbe at all. Press a number.

Model sheet: a red rod in a striped apron holding a wedge of Swiss cheese, a tall teal rod with one small branch in glasses and a cardigan reading a book, a mint rod in a railroad cap holding a pocket watch, a peach rod in a lab coat with a clipboard, and a long yellow nerve in red headphones scratching records at a DJ booth
Model sheet 021Para, a rod2Longo, a long rod3Sal, a rod4Gass, a rod5DJ Vagus, a nerve
Far-out fact

The vagus nerve isn’t a microbe. It’s the gut’s line to the brain, and Second Brain FM keeps it busy.

Most of its fibres carry news up from the gut to the brain, not orders down.

11:30Sticker sheet

Peel one off.

Tap a sticker and hear what it has to say.

Biff saysInulin? Don’t mind if I do.

Coming up next on Channel GG

Ace & Deuce

Lactobacillus acidophilus

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The crew’s waiting in the toy aisle.

Go to the toy aisleStarter crews