Season One-1987 (51 eps, 3 partial eps):
The first season of Square One, and in my opinion, the best. This set the pace for the series, with a combination of sketches,
game shows, music videos, animated segments, and even live-action video games. No other season was like it, unfortunately.
101-105
106 (missing last several minutes)
108-132 (129 has
two jips in beginning)
133 (cuts off during "Tesselations")
134 (only first few minutes, cuts off during
"Welcome Back, Blotter")
137-138
140 (credits missing)
141-146 (jip during 146)
147
(missing first several minutes)
148-157 (157 is missing last Mathnet minute)
159
Season
Two-1988 (40 eps):
The show had become drastically different with
its new segments, which seemed to replace the numerous varied sketches of the first season. We were introduced to cartoons
such as Dirk Niblick of the Math Brigade, who used math and logic and common sense to thwart scam artists and most importantly,
the rise of fours new game shows, each of which was seen once a week: Triple Play, Square One Squares, Piece of the Pie, and
Close Call (which bear many similarities to Goodson-Todman's best shows such as Family Feud and To Tell The Truth, in fact
the legendary game show company was named in the credits). In fact, the only studio sketches produced this season were a few
Oops! segments. Still it was an entertaining show, and the math, its most important part, was fortunately kept intact.
201-240 (208 and 217 are missing the ends)
Season
Three-1990 (38 eps):
Still going strong after three seasons, the
show seemed to strike a happy medium between skits and game shows, thanks to the addition of Math-a-thon and new segments
with Eddie "the Old Philosopher" Lawrence offering solutions for mathematical predicaments. The game shows were also retooled
and But Who's Counting was revived with a "hipper" presentation. Another shocking change was that its most prominent sketch,
Mathnet, was moved from Los Angeles to New York, where Sesame Workshop could have more control over production.
301-327
329-333
335-340
Season
4-1991 (38 eps)
There were two significant changes in the look of
the series. First, the opening and closing sequence had been changed from the one used for three seasons. Second, Mathnet
had shown us a new detective, Pat Tuesday, replacing George's old partner, Kate Monday. Though newer segments were added,
such as Mathcourt, General Mathpital, and animated and filmed segments demonstrating that math is "more than just arithmetic,"
many of the new segments were based on the Season 3 additions, particluarly the game shows. Mathman had returned after a season
of repeats, but instead of eating numbers he debunked misperceptions about math. Despite these new changes, the most significant
was the its apparent focus on not describing the elements of math but instead its necessity and applicability to everyday
life.
401-407
409-426
428-440
Season
Five-1992 (22 eps, 2 partial eps):
This was the final season, completely
different from the previous four. It was also the shortest, with only 35 episodes. The old cartoons and game shows were a
think of the past, only a few repeats were kept. And only one music video was released this season, "Rules of Thumb" by Kid'n
Play. New installments of Mathcourt and General Mathpital, plus new features such as Fawlty Towers spoof Nobody's Inn, Max
Headroom takeoff Fax Headful, talk show parody Late Afternoon with David Numberman, and a recurring series of mathematical
movie parodies under the series Sneaky Peeks, in addition to new cartoons with Zook and Alison and a new video game, Pauline's
Perilous Pyramid. Though the show remained as popular, Children's Television Workshop decided that its funds would be better
served for other projects, such as its new series Ghostwriter, and so Square One ceased production in 1993. Not before, however,
leaving a remarkable impression on the minds of millions of viewers, and inspiring them to learn, and enjoy, the wonders of
mathematics.
502 (missing first few minutes)
503
505
507
512
513
(cuts off at start of Mathnet)
514-527
529
533-535
Square One Specials (7 eps):
In 1990, the show released Square One Video Jukebox, a collection of 8 of the music videos released during the show's
history, with segues by MTV's "Downtown" Julie Brown. From 1991-1993, the show released
ten specials based on the Mathnet segments at the end of each show, which took one full Mathnet episode and edited it into
a one-hour special, interspersed with clips and segments (and ads for Square One) from the show, some of which had not been
seen. If CTW had allowed Mathnet to be shown as a regular series (as it had been offered to do by ABC), this might have been
it.
*Square One Video Jukebox (my copy is missing the opening credit sequence, and the credits are cut and interrupted by
a pledge drive)
*Mathnet: Despair in Monterrey Bay
*Mathnet: The Case of the Calpurnian Kugel Caper
*Mathnet: The Case of the Galling Stones
*Mathnet: The Case of the Mystery Weekend
*Mathnet: The Case of the Smart Dummy
*Mathnet: The Case of the Bermuda Triangle
Math Talk (2 eps):
Imagine
my thrill when channel surfing on January 2, 1997 and disocvering Square One still on broadcast television! It turned out
to have been resurrected as Math Talk, a series of fifteen-minute shows where Maria Lopez and Buster the parrot would guide
viewers on a specific subject, with the help of at least 2 revelant clips from Square One. Produced in 1995 for PBS, it still
remains part of the intstructional programming lineup on some stations. If you happen to have it in your area, you are indeed
fortunate.
114
115
Square
One from Noggin:
All 65 episodes, however my copy of 514 is missing
its opening
