I don't remember this well enough to rate it.

Mathnet, on PBS
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This is something that aired as segments on the late 80s/early 90s educational show Square One TV, which aired five days a week. (It would take the whole week for each Mathnet case to be solved.) Mathnet was like a police division that solved crimes involving math. (It was also a parody of "Dragnet," a show I haven't seen, but I think I was aware of the parody even when I was a kid watching this show.) The first three seasons were set in Los Angeles, with the main characters being detectives George Frankly and Kate Monday. The chief of the LAPD was Thad Green (James Earl Jones). There was also a technical analyst named Debbie Williams. For seasons 4 and 5, the show moved to New York City, where the police chief was Joe Greco. George made the transition, but Kate didn't; she was replaced by a new partner for George, named Pat Tuesday. They also received help sometimes from an undercover cop named Benny Pill. (I only remember thinking of him as a taxi driver, which I guess was his undercover job.)

There are a few things I specifically remember about the show. I remember Yeardley Smith being in one story. (I'm sure there were plenty of other guest stars I don't remember.) I remember learning about the Fibonacci sequence... from a parrot. I remember a story that involved brothers named Karamazov, though no one was sure how to pronounce their last name. And an episode that involved a rock star who was a parody of Bruce Springsteen (his nickname was "the Floss"). And um... I dunno, I'm sure there are lots of things that would be familiar to me if I rewatched the show (which I really should do on YouTube, one of these days). But anyway, there were just so many parodies of pop culture and whatnot. It was a really clever and funny show, and I wish someone would put the whole series on DVD.

Oh, and in retrospect, I can't help but think of this as a precursor to Odd Squad.


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