Mathnet

In 6th grade in 1997, on Fridays we would watch Mathnet. It was always fun but plenty educational! As a student math was always the easiest when it was made fun, and that is exactly what this movie did for us. Quite frankly, the Mathnet series actually inspired my class to do our homework, because we weren't allowed to watch it unless the whole class did their homework. It was always a treat when we got to watch these movies. There aren't many good math movies (as I know now because I am studying mathematics)so it is amazing that Mathnet is so interesting. When the teacher who used them retired, he took the tapes with him and now Indiana is Mathnetless which it a pity!

Lord I miss "Mathnet". I first saw it on PBS as part of "Square One TV". Probably the reason I got into computer science and cop shows. The show was (unlike some of the crap on afternoon TV today) genuinely funny, entertaining, and educational.

Of course I didn't get all the in-jokes until I was much older- the whole play on "Dragnet", the criminal brothers Karamazov, George and Martha, and the CAR-RT SORT company...

I only wish today's kids TV has something like "Mathnet". Alas...

Mathnet which started as a segment of "Square One TV," was a fun & funny adaptation of a familiar police procedural (specifically the 50's cop show, "Dragnet") which employed quality performances and solid writing to teach math concepts. It insulted neither the child nor adult viewer. Many actors who served as regulars and guest stars would pop up giving quality performances in primetime TV and in movies. If I could find DVD's of this series I'd buy them in a heartbeat.

Mathnet had about the best production values I have ever seen on a kids' show. Nearly everything was shot on location rather than on cheap-looking sets, and they used as much natural light as possible. (It made the rest of Square One TV, the kids' math show where Mathnet first appeared, look really, really cheesy in comparison.) Also, and I'm not 100% sure on this, but it looked like they shot it on film stock, rather than videotape. And, of course, unlike a lot of kids' shows that do location shoots, this was actually filmed in Los Angeles and, later, New York (rather than Toronto or Vancouver) and they show a lot of the famous landmarks, like the Hollywood sign.

Simpsons fans will also recognize Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson (who really does speak like Lisa in real life), in one of the earliest Mathnet stories.

I know Mathnet was based from Dragnet. Since Mathnet uses math and logic to solve crimes, I wonder if the show Numb3rs got the idea from Mathnet.