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.

10:00The Arcade

Build-a- Microbe

Pick a shape, add sneakers, choose a colour. The card tells you which real microbe you just built. The sneakers are not scientifically accurate. The shapes are.

Pickles and two green rod-shaped cousins standing in a chain, the middle one in a straw hat
Build-a-MicrobeY branch

Wye Knot

Same build as Biff.

Bifid means split in two. Bifidobacteria branch, often into a Y, and they love fibres like inulin.

1. Pick a shape

You picked a branched rod (Y).

2. Accessorise
  • Sneakers: Microbes don’t walk. Some swim with whip-like tails called flagella; most lactobacilli and bifidos just ride along.
3. Pick a colour

Under a microscope most bacteria are nearly see-through, so labs stain them. In the Gram stain, every microbe on our cast turns purple: they’re all Gram-positive.

4. Name it
The shape guide

Shape is the first clue

Squint down a microscope and shape is the first clue. Here’s what each build is called.

Rod
A bacillus (rod). Like Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus.
Short rod
A short rod. Like Bifidobacterium breve.
Pair
A pair of rods (diplobacilli). Like Lactobacillus acidophilus.
Chain
A chain of rods. Like Lactiplantibacillus plantarum.
Y branch
A branched rod (Y). Like Bifidobacterium bifidum.
V branch
A branched rod (V). Like Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis.
Spore
A spore. Like Bacillus coagulans.
Ball
A coccus (ball), in a chain. Like Streptococcus thermophilus.
Far-out fact

Rods are bacilli, balls are cocci and spirals are spirilla. Spot the shape and you’re halfway to a name.

Groupings get names too: diplo- for pairs, strepto- for chains and staphylo- for clusters, from the Greek for a bunch of grapes.

Cartoon physics noticeCaps are optional. Microscopes aren’t: a lactobacillus is a few thousandths of a millimetre long.

StarringAce & DeuceBiffSportyPicklesRhamnyLaceyShorty

Coming up next on Channel GG

Which Microbe Are You?

Deep down, are you a rod or a Y? Let’s find out.

Your bag

Your bag is empty.

The crew’s waiting in the toy aisle.

Go to the toy aisleStarter crews