Square One Television.

[The Count]

OK... This is the place to talk about all your memories of this great mathematics educational program from the fine folks at CTW. Loved it when it aired back in the late 80's, it actually motivated me to do better in math class.
If anybody has episodes, songs, clips, or anything else they'd like to talk about the program... Post it here.

 

[redBoobergurl]

LOVE it....there are some great clips that have shown up on Youtube, I'll try and link them later, Youtube is blocked at my work.

Anyway, it's a GREAT show! I loved Mathnet the best, but always got a kick out of the songs and fake game shows that they had too.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

I used to watch Square One all the time as a kid. I particularly liked the Mathnet ("Dragnet" parody) and the Math Man segments (Pac-Man parody)

And the songs were really funny- Weird Al Yankovic once even did a song on there that was great!

I've got an episode or two taped from Noggin somewhere...

 

[redBoobergurl]

I also enjoyed the Dirk Niblick cartoons, they were a hoot!

 

[The Count]

Yep... Good times. Always loved the Math Man (Pac-Man) games. Course, it got replaced with another game parody, Paulina's Pyramid, a spoof of Q*Bert. The other great thing about their music videos was that you got labels at the bottom, like as if they were actually released by record labels. The two that are stuck in my mind are "The Mathematics of Love", and the one I always use for some personal triumph like getting a rare exclusive figure or something extraordinarily good, "Ghost of a Chance".

Another segment I remember fondly is, without a doubt, the best Sesame Street parody to date... Carroway Street, where two of the Square 1 seven-member cast portrayed human versions of Bert and Ernie, even dressing like the duo.
Mmm, memories.

 

[redBoobergurl]

Yes, the Mathematics of Love is one of my favorite videos. I love when they get to number nine and he says "how would you say this number?" and the singer goes "Ix. This song gives me the ix!" Because of course the whole song is in roman numerals and he keeps mispronouncing them. Too funny! I remember Ghost of a Chance, it used to creep me out a bit when I was little! Another video I liked was "Archemedes" although it would tend to get stuck in my head for days on end.

I don't recall Carroway Street! Sounds hilarious!

 

[The Count]

Yep... Mathematics of Love was a good one for memory storage, cause that was the gimmick, learning/comparing Roman numerals to Arabic numerals which are the numbers we normally use now-a-days.
Trust me, Carroway Street was funny, it was about the responsibilities of adopting and taking care of a little puppy. Sort of based on a real classic Bert & Ernie sketch from back in the Old School days.

Another thing... Remember the game show where the contestants had to form a number with the digits that the spinning wheel landed on? Well, if you recall the intro where the spotlight shines on the host, we see a carpet with numbers printed on it as well. That's what served as inspiration for the one in the dorm' first floor common room.

 

[mikebennidict]

Yes, the Mathematics of Love is one of my favorite videos. I love when they get to number nine and he says "how would you say this number?" and the singer goes "Ix. This song gives me the ix!" Because of course the whole song is in roman numerals and he keeps mispronouncing them. Too funny! I remember Ghost of a Chance, it used to creep me out a bit when I was little! Another video I liked was "Archemedes" although it would tend to get stuck in my head for days on end.

I don't recall Carroway Street! Sounds hilarious!

I did watch it but not as much and didn't know about Carroway Street.

Square 1 was sort of like The Electric Company, menaing the format was.

Instead of having a set like SS both shows just had various skits without a main set like SS or Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.

 

[abiraniriba]

I'm a member of the prime number club

finally a thread about the greatest math show ever. I liked "Crazy Number Nine," the Prime Number Club and "Mathnet".

 

[Hilleyb]

Sadly, the "Carraway Street" parody is contained in Episode 172, which is one of the 24 (of 230) episodes that has not yet surfaced from collectors. I didn't remember it at all, and this description is the best I've seen. I wasn't even sure if it was a Muppet segment or a parody. (Over at squareonetv.org we do have the CTW descriptions for every sketch in every episode.)

Thanks. Although I'm glad, I'm a little disappointed, because, had it been a Muppet segment, it could have justified a Square One page on the Muppet Wiki. Somehow the wiki has one for Cynthia Darlow, though.

There are so many great songs. In chat Cris "8% of My Love" Franco once suggested the album title "Square One's Round Hits." I guess "One Billion is Big" would be on that album.