Square One TV

June 5, 2004 11:09 PM

I always hated math, but I loved Square One Television.
posted by interrobang (27 comments total)

oohooh!

i want to be the first to say i loved Mathnet!

and also, i wanted kate monday to have my babies. i could do without pat tuesday, though.
posted by taumeson at 11:13 PM on June 5, 2004

I thought "Mathman" (the pac-man parody) was so funny. When he got in trouble for choosing the wrong number, he'd go: "Mathman! Mathman! Mathman!

Of course, that was the only thing he could say. Mathnet was so great. They both walked without moving their arms and spoke in a quick monotone, a hilarious and subtle tribute to "Dragnet".
posted by interrobang at 11:22 PM on June 5, 2004

Watch this (mpeg) and tell me that "Mathman" isn't funny.
posted by interrobang at 11:27 PM on June 5, 2004

also, they don't have the greatest square one song.... "palindrome"

it's a tango.

"first i go forward, then backward <something something>

i'm a palindrome".


posted by taumeson at 11:32 PM on June 5, 2004

Count me as another fan of Square One TV. The show did the seemingly impossible: make math (and logic) look *fun*. i also dug the original music videos that they aired frequently. Mathnet was indeed a stroke of genius, though it did "jump the shark" with either the casting change or the move from L.A. to New York City.

Jeers to Noggin for removing this great show from its airwaves! I propose a "PBS Classic" station to give all these beloved old PBS shows (3-2-1 Contact, Wild America, Vegetable Soup, et al.) some real airplay.
posted by Down10 at 11:42 PM on June 5, 2004

1...1...2...3...5, Eureka!
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:49 PM on June 5, 2004

My sister and I were reminiscing about Mathnet at dinner tonight--first time I've thought about it in years--how wonderful to find this here!
posted by hippugeek at 11:59 PM on June 5, 2004

Thanks for the links. I used to love this show, watched it ever afternoon after school. Watching the Fat Boys, Super Spy, and Angle Dance brings back some memories, as does the Mathnet episode they have up.
posted by UKnowForKids at 12:36 AM on June 6, 2004

Here's one where Mathman wins, XQUZYPHYR. Cheer away.
posted by interrobang at 12:51 AM on June 6, 2004

sweet.

coolest metafilter post ever
posted by jacobsee at 1:07 AM on June 6, 2004

At college we planned to have a Square One Marathon once, but we couldn't get the tapes out of PBS. More's the pity. Nerd bonding over TV shows other than Star Trek is a rare thing...
posted by CommaTheWaterseller at 1:25 AM on June 6, 2004

Brings back memories. Thanks!
posted by gramcracker at 2:43 AM on June 6, 2004

I have trouble believing it today, but, when in fourth grade, I persuaded my teacher that Square One was educational enough to show daily in class. That's just what he did. Many of the other kids actually shared my enthusiasm for it. It's strange, looking back, how warm they were to my evangelism of the nerdly gospel. Perhaps three quarters of my peers would still then show interest in an exhibition of the Apple II, or in play with puns and anagrams, if that was what the charismatic leader (who oft en happened to be me) was doing. It was only a couple of years later that everyone began to reject math and other such egghead pursuits as uninteresting, too hard, useless, &c.

But where Square One was concerned, I'm not sure I cared whether anyone else liked it. The local PBS station had just moved it from an after-school time slot to 10:00 in the morning. My evangelism was purely instrumental to seeing that school did not pre-empt my favorite show.

posted by aws17576 at 3:13 AM on June 6, 2004

I abhor math with a burning passion but I loved this show.
I loved Mathnet, I remember stealing one of their stories for a book I wrote myself. Well, stealing's the wrong word.. It was the first time I was exposed to the dinner murder mystery plotline and well I adapted it for... talking cats.

I was eight...
posted by mojo80 at 5:44 AM on June 6, 2004

In highschool I was wishing they had a version of this show to help me solve integrals.
posted by Space Coyote at 6:12 AM on June 6, 2004 [1 favorite]

I hope your mother sold your Colecovision on eBay for that little plagiarism stunt!
posted by wackybrit at 6:31 AM on June 6, 2004

I hate math. I am no good at math. I have never been any good at math. But I loved, loved, loved Square One. (D'da d'daa da, daa da daaaa).
posted by uncleozzy at 7:03 AM on June 6, 2004

My absolute favorite PBS show. Mathnet was the Bomb, yo. I remember on Fridays, they also aired a complete Mathnet compendium of the entire week's story.
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 7:40 AM on June 6, 2004

Great post! I loved square one, watched it right before dinner with my brother--like the rest of you, we were totally into it. Good classic!
posted by palegirl at 7:48 AM on June 6, 2004

Square One even had the Fat Boys do a rap video for them, on the subject of (I believe) divisibility by 9. What a world we live in.

I always cheered for the tornado, just to hear his mutterings after he eats Mathman.
posted by Succa at 8:01 AM on June 6, 2004

Hey, don't forget about Dirk Niblick.

And Mr. Glitch used to scare the hell out of me for some reason. But I loved the show anyway.
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:07 AM on June 6, 2004

When I finally saw Casablanca, I was disappointed they didn't force everyone to get weighed before getting on the plane, like the Square One version.
posted by yerfatma at 9:03 AM on June 6, 2004

Oooh, Square One. Mathnet was my favorite. And that Weird Al video.
posted by Melinika at 11:55 AM on June 6, 2004

Does anyone remember the Mathnet episode where the bad guy had kidnapped several people and was holding them in a prison in his basement? His motive was that all the people he kidnapped were let off of crimes at trial because it was shown that it was mathematically impossible for them to be guilty .... I remember thinking that this was an unusually creepy plot for a kid's TV show at the time.
posted by zixyer at 1:20 PM on June 6, 2004

"Please do what these people say..."

/singing
posted by iamck at 6:26 PM on June 6, 2004

Great post. Can't believe I totally forgot about Mathman.

I still remember there being a song about the number 9 that was tooo funny...
posted by skechada at 7:03 AM on June 7, 2004

I rolled the tape machines for our PBS affiliate and this was one my faves - along with Electric Company.

Thanks, ?!
posted by mouthnoize at 11:25 AM on June 7, 2004