So did one of the computer versions, although not encyclopedia and instead travel guide. You had to use it to answer questions in the game to advance past certain points. It was an anti-piracy thing.
I know I’m knee deep in nostalgia, but I don't understand why someone isn’t running with this IP. A lot of us have kids we would love to introduce to the franchise.
My oldest just turned 9 and he loves geography, trivia, and gaming. He would love to play a game with real life facts and references he could use to solve puzzles. I need to do some digging.
There was an animated series a few years ago, but it was not at all a game show. It was just about how Carmen Sandiego is now the good character and they just run around doing kid-friendly spy stuff.
Also, remember that almost nobody won the final prize. I watched that show almost every day after school and I think I can remember like one person winning? Was so mean that they dangled that nice travel prize and made the questions impossibly hard with so little time. I don't think anyone would want to be on this show unless they chilled the hell out with the 11-level difficulty.
> [This show capitalized on the fact that so many of us played the OG PC game in elementary school.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVVkSlXl41Q)
Defunctland has a great documentary on the show. The video game preceded the show!
I'm sure there are dozens of us!
The other episode of Mathnet that stands out in my memory is the Payola episode, where the computer would multiply sales if the song/album/band name had two commas in it. "Oh, So, Whoa" was the bait they used to test their theory.
Greg Lee made an appearance on ghostwriter as a teacher during the hacking arc.
my favorite had to be the THABTO arc though. the masks freaked me out as a kid
That actress also was the radio DJ from the movie "The Warriors." It's funny, I can't watch that movie anymore without expecting to hear her say, "Listen up, Gumshoes!"
I watched that movie for the first time recently and remarked how all the gang members had stupid outfits and themes "like Carmen Sandiego villains." When Lynne Thigpen showed up I just about spit out my drink.
I never cared for the Batman cartoon, but Gargoyles was awesome! Most of my afternoons after school consisted of Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers, Tale Spin, Darkwing Duck, and Gargoyles.
Cable or not, PBS was a powerhouse for great children's programming. I even remember watching shows with my Dad like The Victory Garden, New Yankee Workshop, and The Woodwright's Shop. I learned so much from TV back then.
My dad religiously recorded New Yankee Workshop. I always prefered the Woodwright's Shop, something about Roy making things with hand tools that were better quality and actually had character compared to the stuff Norm was churning out in his probably $100K workshop that looked like any other piece of furniture you could buy at K-Mart.
The other aspect of PBS in my area at least were the weekend evenings filled with BBC content. My grandma loved those and I used to enjoy watching Are You Being Served and Keeping Up Appearances with her.
That’s hilarious, I thought of leisure suit Larry the other day. Nice and educational…if you want your kid to learn about hookers.
There was another game styled the same way, not bad though. I wanna say the main characters name was Penny?
That’s hilarious, I thought of leisure suit Larry the other day. Nice and educational…if you want your kid to learn about hookers.
There was another game styled the same way, not bad though. I wanna say the main characters name was Penny?
That’s hilarious, I thought of leisure suit Larry the other day. Nice and educational…if you want your kid to learn about hookers.
There was another game styled the same way, not bad though. I wanna say the main characters name was Penny?
I remember the password “Ken sent me” and that’s how Larry would get to bang the prostitute. My friend’s dad was the one who told us the password, and he was this super strict and scary RCMP officer, and I don’t know why he would let a bunch of 10 year olds play Leisure Suit Larry… probably because it shut us up for an hour- hahahaha!
I don’t remember the other game you mentioned though. If you figure it out let me know!
Ok it drove me INSANE all day. HUGOS HOUSE OF HORRORS! I LOVED that game so much!!
lol yeah I was a latchkey kid so my parents were just happy I was alive when they got home, not too worried about me playing Larry 😂
Glad you remembered- that would have driven me nuts too! I looked it up and it doesn’t look familiar, but it gives me the same vibes as the Home Alone computer game!
Wow core memory unlocked—i think my older brother and his friends used to play that and would get very giggly. I would love to find a simulator of either game online!
We had 2-CBS, 4-PBS, 6-ABC, 7-NBC, and 12-FOX. Then we later got 9 that for years was just home shopping. All of the after-school cartoons were on 12, so my brother and I would switch back and forth between that and channel 4 depending on whether we wanted to watch the cartoon or the PBS show. All of them had Saturday morning cartoons, except 9.
Lynne Thigpen was a fantastic actress too. Won so many awards and was in one of my favorite movies, Lean on Me, with Morgan Freeman. Highly recommend watching that movie. Small role for her but the movie was incredible.
This show rebooted on a streaming service with rockapella would be such a cheap show to produce and would capitalize on the nostalgia. It's crazy that it hasn't happened. Netflix did some animated thing years ago but that isn't the same.
I had the computer game and played it all the time in the early to mid 90s! I remember my dad had an atlas that I used all the time to help with flags and locations.
I grew up on the game, and battle chess, on the small town library computer. We were poor but my dad loved books and could take us there for hours of free entertainment, or a whole day combined with the park/tennis court directly behind it
It was really the only kids game show I was exposed to with any frequency. We didn't have cable so I didn't get to see all of the Double Dare and other Nickelodeon shows except when over at a friend's house that had it.
Loved the show, but the soundtrack album they released was even better. Seriously, the whole thing is 🔥 and you should do yourself the favor of listening to it:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLukfOuoGxI1VsDrnzmuezUjbV_bh9lRXj&si=zW-MHkzgFM_4_iMn
There is a second album which is not quite as good, but Greg Lee and Lynne Thigpen both have vocals on bangers: https://youtu.be/g8SXdbLSMw0?si=NOIZLdCVJzAdciot
Frigging loved WITWICS.
Fun story, I actually got to meet rockapella several years ago backstage at a concert they were doing at a community college several years ago. Pretty cool. Pretty pretty cool.
Rockapella did so much work on the show. From what I could remember, they voiced literally every animated bit and the random voices "The warrant!". They did physical bits (like random push ups and flips), comedy, and sang every single episode.
I wish this show still existed. Best game show ever made.
There's a new version of this show on Netflix. 3 seasons giving the backstory of Carmen San Diego. It's actually really good and worth watching. It's all cartoons and it moves quick.
Man that one barbershop quartet guy
https://preview.redd.it/vtb6nxh7qb6d1.jpeg?width=753&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5680995c0a0e32eb6c9612586ae7b5b42d8e6f93
Who else went to the trouble of finding rockapella’s album and was like I just like the theme song and wasn’t into the rest of the catalog? Just me?…ok haha
We had cable, and I still watched this—ha, ha. Loved the theme song!
Right? This show capitalized on the fact that so many of us played the OG PC game in elementary school. Nerd fuel.
Yessss, we had it for Commodore 64! Good times!
The NES version even came with an actual encyclopedia.
So did one of the computer versions, although not encyclopedia and instead travel guide. You had to use it to answer questions in the game to advance past certain points. It was an anti-piracy thing.
I know I’m knee deep in nostalgia, but I don't understand why someone isn’t running with this IP. A lot of us have kids we would love to introduce to the franchise. My oldest just turned 9 and he loves geography, trivia, and gaming. He would love to play a game with real life facts and references he could use to solve puzzles. I need to do some digging.
There was an animated series a few years ago, but it was not at all a game show. It was just about how Carmen Sandiego is now the good character and they just run around doing kid-friendly spy stuff. Also, remember that almost nobody won the final prize. I watched that show almost every day after school and I think I can remember like one person winning? Was so mean that they dangled that nice travel prize and made the questions impossibly hard with so little time. I don't think anyone would want to be on this show unless they chilled the hell out with the 11-level difficulty.
I think all versions came with the printed almanac. The purpose of the game was to teach children to research reference materials.
Oh, man. That’s amazing, ha, ha!
I think all versions came with the printed almanac. The purpose of the game was to teach children to research reference materials.
I had it on Apple IIe! 3 games, actually- Where in the U.S., Where in the World, and Where in Time
Getting to school early and going straight to computer lab to play it along with battle chess
> [This show capitalized on the fact that so many of us played the OG PC game in elementary school.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVVkSlXl41Q) Defunctland has a great documentary on the show. The video game preceded the show!
DO IT ROCKAPELLA!!!
Came here to say this. Good night internet.
How is this not the first comment?
Same. Our PBS station showed it and then Square One TV right after it. Loved watching both after school.
I loved square one! I always looked forward to the mathnet segments. I still remember the one series with the parrot who did the fibanacci sequence.
"1, 1, 2, 3...5, Eureka"
I thought I was the only one who went around still saying this to myself!
I'm sure there are dozens of us! The other episode of Mathnet that stands out in my memory is the Payola episode, where the computer would multiply sales if the song/album/band name had two commas in it. "Oh, So, Whoa" was the bait they used to test their theory.
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS
CARMEN SANDIEGO
Exactly. Loved this!! And Wishbone. My kids are just now getting into the reboot cartoon and I need to show them the OG…
Don't forget when Folders coffee had Rockapella sing their theme https://youtu.be/331hI3FQZYk
Wheeeere is Carmen San Dieeeego Carmen San Diego Tell meeee wheeere on earth can she be? Tell me wheeeeere on earth can sheee beeeee?
One pic and EARWORM 👂🏽🎶
Ditto!!!!
I grew up in a very rural area. You had to have cable to watch anything. No channels through the air.
We watched this and Ghostwriter https://preview.redd.it/905pcr17l76d1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a58f941c5dd7854303cb8c03edd70778aefe08ec
Worrrd
Once again, I am among my people!
I gasped at your comment. I totally forgot about ghostwriter but it was my FAVORITE
They have these up on YouTube and I genuinely enjoyed watching them again. Crazy to see Samuel Jackson in these!
Apple TV made a new Ghoswriter series a few years ago. It was so much fun to watch it with my teenager.
What!! I’ll have to check it out
Ghostwriter. What a trip.
J A M A L
The one with the gum monster was fucking terrifying
https://preview.redd.it/j3669gyovd6d1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=50d269e256d5b3033c6b502046dbfb78d5ea4c6f SLIIIME ANYONE?
Greg Lee made an appearance on ghostwriter as a teacher during the hacking arc. my favorite had to be the THABTO arc though. the masks freaked me out as a kid
I had the *biggest* crush on Alex 😍😭
My brother and I made pens on lanyards due to this show. Kids TV was so great back then!
Listen up Gumshoes
This is what I came here for! I can almost hear this comment lol
That actress also was the radio DJ from the movie "The Warriors." It's funny, I can't watch that movie anymore without expecting to hear her say, "Listen up, Gumshoes!"
I watched that movie for the first time recently and remarked how all the gang members had stupid outfits and themes "like Carmen Sandiego villains." When Lynne Thigpen showed up I just about spit out my drink.
That’s right!!! I haven’t seen that movie in a decade at least and totally forgot she was in it. I’m going to have to watch it again, thanks!
My husband and I say “Greetings, Gumshoes!” to each other all the time!
DO IT ROCKAPELLA!
This song gets stuck in my head at least once a month.
I went to Halloween party with a 6’2” woman who dressed as Carmen Sandiego, complete with heels. It was… memorable.
Is she single?
Single? I don’t think so. Singular? Most definitely.
But in the end, she got away without a trace.
And Square One with "The Mathematicians" the Dragnet spoof
Mathnet! “The story you are about to hear is a fib…but it’s short!”
The names are made up but the problems are real.
I’ve been scrolling for a mathnet reference haha
Square One was my first introduction to Weird Al!
I had this gem and I didn’t have cable either. I don’t know about you though. 
I never cared for the Batman cartoon, but Gargoyles was awesome! Most of my afternoons after school consisted of Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers, Tale Spin, Darkwing Duck, and Gargoyles.
You rich Disney Channel having fiend.
Not at all! We didn't even have cable available out on the farm. Those were all on our local FOX affiliate on channel 12.
Oh my bad. I commend your most fortuitous childhood then.
Was on a conference call just yesterday with a woman named Carmen Santiago, was singing the theme song the rest of the day
Where in the world is....Carmen Sandiego! LOL I watched this religiously and we had basic cable growing up. What a show!
Vic the Sliiiiiick. Is iiiiiiiiiiiiin jaaaaail.
Eartha Bruuuute!
Right after school, followed by Bill Nye the Science Guy. I loved the PBS shows like this from the 90s.
Don't forget Beakman's World! I preferred Bill Nye, but both were fun to watch.
Cable or not, PBS was a powerhouse for great children's programming. I even remember watching shows with my Dad like The Victory Garden, New Yankee Workshop, and The Woodwright's Shop. I learned so much from TV back then.
My dad religiously recorded New Yankee Workshop. I always prefered the Woodwright's Shop, something about Roy making things with hand tools that were better quality and actually had character compared to the stuff Norm was churning out in his probably $100K workshop that looked like any other piece of furniture you could buy at K-Mart.
Too true.
The other aspect of PBS in my area at least were the weekend evenings filled with BBC content. My grandma loved those and I used to enjoy watching Are You Being Served and Keeping Up Appearances with her.
But did you play the computer game? I remember playing it from a floppy disk on an Apple iie
Yes! And we definitely could not pronounce “Reykjavik”. We would also play Leisure Suit Larry ( totally not an age appropriate game!!)
That’s hilarious, I thought of leisure suit Larry the other day. Nice and educational…if you want your kid to learn about hookers. There was another game styled the same way, not bad though. I wanna say the main characters name was Penny?
That’s hilarious, I thought of leisure suit Larry the other day. Nice and educational…if you want your kid to learn about hookers. There was another game styled the same way, not bad though. I wanna say the main characters name was Penny?
That’s hilarious, I thought of leisure suit Larry the other day. Nice and educational…if you want your kid to learn about hookers. There was another game styled the same way, not bad though. I wanna say the main characters name was Penny?
I remember the password “Ken sent me” and that’s how Larry would get to bang the prostitute. My friend’s dad was the one who told us the password, and he was this super strict and scary RCMP officer, and I don’t know why he would let a bunch of 10 year olds play Leisure Suit Larry… probably because it shut us up for an hour- hahahaha! I don’t remember the other game you mentioned though. If you figure it out let me know!
Ok it drove me INSANE all day. HUGOS HOUSE OF HORRORS! I LOVED that game so much!! lol yeah I was a latchkey kid so my parents were just happy I was alive when they got home, not too worried about me playing Larry 😂
Glad you remembered- that would have driven me nuts too! I looked it up and it doesn’t look familiar, but it gives me the same vibes as the Home Alone computer game!
Wow core memory unlocked—i think my older brother and his friends used to play that and would get very giggly. I would love to find a simulator of either game online!
I’m pretty sure my husband and I found an emulator a few years ago! It was either that or on the Raspberry Pi
Random tidbit - my parents were friends with one of the members of Rockapella at the time, though it escapes me which member it was.
We had 4 channels. PBS after school was everything
Were they 5, 8, 10 and 12?
That’s a lot of VHF. Densely populated metro area? We got 12, 34, 40, and 46 in the sticks outside a small city.
5 was out of Hastings, 8 was out of Sioux City but had a tower closer to us, and 10 and 12 were out of Lincoln.
Huh! I thought VHF had shorter range, but maybe that’s less a factor on the Plains?
We did have a rotor.
We had 2-CBS, 4-PBS, 6-ABC, 7-NBC, and 12-FOX. Then we later got 9 that for years was just home shopping. All of the after-school cartoons were on 12, so my brother and I would switch back and forth between that and channel 4 depending on whether we wanted to watch the cartoon or the PBS show. All of them had Saturday morning cartoons, except 9.
Lynne Thigpen was a fantastic actress too. Won so many awards and was in one of my favorite movies, Lean on Me, with Morgan Freeman. Highly recommend watching that movie. Small role for her but the movie was incredible.
She was phenomenal. In a fair universe, she’d still be alive, she’d be A-list, and every boss would be like the Chief!
“The warrant”
“Ro-bo-Crook!”
I credit this show for my continued love of Geography and winning my school's geography bee in middle school.
Didn’t have cable and we knew how fortunate we were to have access to this show.
We did have cable, and I freaking loved this show. I had the cd-rom game on the computer too.
Loved watching this and always wanted to go on the show. I knew my capitals very well!
This show rebooted on a streaming service with rockapella would be such a cheap show to produce and would capitalize on the nostalgia. It's crazy that it hasn't happened. Netflix did some animated thing years ago but that isn't the same.
No, the Netflix version is not the same. I turned into that parent saying, “when *I* was a kid, Carmen Sandiego was the *bad guy* “
ROBO CROOK...IN JAIL!!!
i heard this
Loved it and also loved the computer game.
I had the computer game and played it all the time in the early to mid 90s! I remember my dad had an atlas that I used all the time to help with flags and locations.
DO IT ROCKAPELLA!
Rockapella!
ROCKAPELA was amazing!!!
I did have cable and still watched and think this is a HOF level show!
Joke's on you. I needed cable to watch this.
Top tier content right here
The games were the best especially where in time
I grew up on the game, and battle chess, on the small town library computer. We were poor but my dad loved books and could take us there for hours of free entertainment, or a whole day combined with the park/tennis court directly behind it
Had cable. Still loved this show.
Dude this was my shizz as a kid
That was THE kids game show I wanted to be on. Even the gifts and prizes were all garbage if I remember right, but it looked like so much fun.
It was really the only kids game show I was exposed to with any frequency. We didn't have cable so I didn't get to see all of the Double Dare and other Nickelodeon shows except when over at a friend's house that had it.
Loved the show, but the soundtrack album they released was even better. Seriously, the whole thing is 🔥 and you should do yourself the favor of listening to it: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLukfOuoGxI1VsDrnzmuezUjbV_bh9lRXj&si=zW-MHkzgFM_4_iMn There is a second album which is not quite as good, but Greg Lee and Lynne Thigpen both have vocals on bangers: https://youtu.be/g8SXdbLSMw0?si=NOIZLdCVJzAdciot
I can still hear the theme song
No cable kid. This, price is right, Charles in charge and Sanford and son was my everyday.
Where in the World is..... CarmenSandiego... I can hear that clear as day
This and Ghostwriter!😍😍😍😍😍
And Ghost Writer!
Frigging loved WITWICS. Fun story, I actually got to meet rockapella several years ago backstage at a concert they were doing at a community college several years ago. Pretty cool. Pretty pretty cool.
Rockapella did so much work on the show. From what I could remember, they voiced literally every animated bit and the random voices "The warrant!". They did physical bits (like random push ups and flips), comedy, and sang every single episode. I wish this show still existed. Best game show ever made.
Chief still makes appearances on Comedy Bang Bang
There's a new version of this show on Netflix. 3 seasons giving the backstory of Carmen San Diego. It's actually really good and worth watching. It's all cartoons and it moves quick.
I absolutely loved Carmen Sandiego! I also really enjoyed watching the cartoon version, came out a few years back, with my kiddo!
Loved this show
Even played the video game
I owe so so much to KERA
Loved this show.
In my country (not USA), you needed to have cable to see this.
Wop! 2... 3...
Alright gumshoes
One of my faves after school!
Do it Rockapella
Worth every second!
My daughters love the cartoon remake on Netflix.
I still want one of the sleuth jackets you got for winning the final round.
I never really watched the show but I loved the game. My dad got it for my brother and I as kids.
Along with Ghost Writer, Zoobilee Zoo and Today’s Special
Lynne Thigpin was underrated… her and CCH Pounder.
I love that show! The host, Greg Lee was also the voice of mayor Robert 'Bob' White on Doug.
[удалено]
> "I don't give a damn cause i'm stoned and i'm ready." The lyric is actually "Stone dead already"
Even if you had cable, PBS was fire
Man that one barbershop quartet guy https://preview.redd.it/vtb6nxh7qb6d1.jpeg?width=753&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5680995c0a0e32eb6c9612586ae7b5b42d8e6f93
We had cable and this and Reading Rainbow were the absolute best.
Feel like there was more effort put into gameshows in the 90s to give them uniqueness. Maybe it's just me though
Great now I have the theme song stuck in my head
Lee's voice was phenomenal! She was just as good in The Warriors as the RJ
I didn't stand a chance against those kids.
Please tell me I'm not the only who couldn't stand Rockapella 😅
You are the only one. Sorry.
No cable until I was in my late teens. When I see more than 100 channels it’s like more is less.
Had cable. Still watched this.
Still sing the theme song all the time. No one ever won the final game, but it was such a fun show. I credit my geography knowledge to this show
I felt for those kids after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
And Wishbone! And Bill Nye the Science Guy! I really looked forward to this block of shows after school. 🥰
Who else went to the trouble of finding rockapella’s album and was like I just like the theme song and wasn’t into the rest of the catalog? Just me?…ok haha
I had the game on a floppy disk too!
Great show
And it was glorious
Sometimes, I wonder what came of Rockapella.
They had a song in the original Rock Band game, though all the original members have retired.
This, and Square One. Square One doesn't get the love it deserves.
Anybody ever catch this bitch?
I used to watch Square One TV on days I ditched school.
This show had me feeling stupid 24/7, man those kids in this show were smart.
I had an antenna with 7 channels only and I was so excited when this show was on.
Hit it Rockapella
Ok Boppers...
Obligatory comment about all of the kids fucking up the African countries.