Cyberchase
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cyberchase | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Format | Animated television series |
| Created by | WNET |
| Starring | Christopher Lloyd as The Hacker Gilbert Gottfried as Digit Novie Edwards as Jackie Jacqueline Pillon as Matt Annick Obonsawin as Inez Len Carlson as Buzz (Seasons 1-4, Season 5: 4 episodes) Phil Williams as Buzz (Season 5: 6 episodes Robert Tinkler as Delete Linda Ballantyne as Wicked Richard Binsley as Dr. Marbles Kristina Nicoll as Motherboard |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| No. of episodes | 82 (as of season six (United States)) 40 (CBC |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 Minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | PBS |
| Original run | January 21, 2002 – present |
Cyberchase is a children's American animated television series on PBS Kids and PBS Kids GO! set in cyberspace. Seasons one through five were produced by Thirteen/WNET New York and Nelvana. As of season six Cyberchase is produced by WNET in association with Title Entertainment Inc. This television series premiered January 21, 2002, although the episode "The Poddleville Case" was shown as a pilot on WNET on March 24, 2000. This show is for children ages 8 and up, and teaches discrete mathematics.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The show stars three Earth children- Matt, Jackie and Inez- and Digit, a cyboid- a bird-like cyborg. The three kids and Digit work to stop the evil deeds of the Hacker and his two cyborg henchmen, Buzz and Delete.
The series takes place in Cyberspace, with planetlike bodies called "Cybersites." Each cybersite is inhabited by "Cyborgs", the virtual inhabitants of Cyberspace. Some are based on real-world places, such as ancient Egypt and the American Old West, or fantasy worlds, such as mythological Greece. The guardian of all Cyberspace is Motherboard; her repairman is Dr. Marbles.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Season 1
In the pilot, "Lost My Marbles", Hacker infects Motherboard with a computer virus. At a library on Earth, while looking at a computer, Matt, Jackie, and Inez are sucked through a dimensional portal into Cyberspace. In their first adventure they go to an island to rescue Dr. Marbles. In subsequent adventures, they return to Cyberspace to thwart Hacker's evil plans, which vary from ruining Motherboard to trying to take over a Cybersite.
Throughout the season, the cybersquad searches for a new encryptor chip for Motherboard. In episode 109, the kids nearly retrieved the encryptor chip but lose it in a dust storm.
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- Episodes
- 101. Lost My Marbles
- 102. Castleblanca
- 103. R-Fair City
- 104. Snow Day to Be Exact
- 105. Sensible Flats
- 106. Zeus on the Loose
- Pilot episode, later re-rereleased as episode 107. The Poddleville Case
- 108. And They Counted Happily Ever After
- 109. Clock Like an Egyptian
- 110. The Secrets of Symmetria
- 111. A Day at the Spa
- 112. Of all the Luck
- 113. Eureeka!
- 114. Cool It!
- 115. Find Those Gleamers!
- 116. Codename: Icky
- 117. Return to Sensible Flats
- 118. Problem Solving in Shangri-La
- 119. Send in the Clones
- 120. Trading Places
- 121. Less Than Zero
- 122. Model Behavior
- 123. Fortress of Attitude
- 124. Size Me Up
- 125. A Battle of Equals
- 126. Out of Sync
[edit] Season 2
This season is a continuation of the same basic plot of season one. However, the focus on the search for the Encryptor Chip is shown less as the season deals more with a new scenario; each episode involving Hacker seeking to take over a cybersite or all of Cyberspace, or plot a nefarious scheme in which he is wreaking chaos and havoc somewhere. In addition, a continued appearance of Wicked, a witch from the cybersite Happily-Ever-After' occurs, revealing her strong feeling towards Hacker, while Hacker only uses her abilities as a witch to further his own evil tactics as seen in episode #211, although he did show mutual feelings towards her in episode #203, but once again, it became all about him and less about her, so in a way, the occurrences of episode #211 are Wicked's way of evening that score.
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- Episodes
- 201. Hugs & Witches
- 202. Totally Rad
- 203. Harriet Hippo & The Mean Green
- 204. True Colors
- 205. All the Right Angles
- 206. Mother's Day
- 207. The Eye of Rom
- 208. A Whale of a Tale
- 209. Double Trouble
- 210. Raising the Bar
- 211. The Wedding Scammer
- 212. The Guilty Party
- 213. A Time to Cook
- 214. Trick or Treat
[edit] Season 3
In the third season, the kids meet Slider, a rebel-style skateboarder who lives in the cybersite Radopolis. He first appears in the episode The Borg of the Ring where he retrieved the Totally Rad Ring of Radopolis from Hacker. The kids are told his father, Coop, had abandoned him.
The most dramatic event in the season happened in a two part miniseries called The Snelfu Snafu. While Slider was searching for his father, he stumbled across the location of the elusive encryptor chip. When he alerted the cybersquad, they soon discovered it was in the hands of an auctioneer. The kids eventually earned enough snelfus to win it, but they discovered the chip was infected to override Motherboard, replacing her with Hacker. The kids then searched for the real chip. Upon finding it, they also rescued Dr. Marbles. However, when they attempted to put the chip in the circuits, the hardware rejected it because it was corrupt. Dr. Marbles was forced to reboot Motherboard destroying the chip in the process. Note that the chip in these episodes is orange, instead of blue, meaning it could be a fake created by Hacker, while the real Encryptor chip could have been lost.
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- Episodes
- 301. EcoHaven CSE
- 302. The Borg of the Ring
- 303. A World Without Zero
- 304. A Piece of the Action
- 305. The Creech Who Would Be Crowned
- 306. The Grapes of Plath
- 307. A Perfect Fit
- 308. Be Reasonable
- 309. The Snelfu Snafu - Part 1
- 310. The Snelfu Snafu - Part 2
- 311. Shari Spotter and the Cosmic Crumpets
- 312. Starlight Night
[edit] Season 4
In season four, Hacker attempts another scheme at bring chaos to Cyberspace. He steals the Electric Eel of Aquari-yum as a power source, and the Pedestal of Penguia as a relay for the power-flow, and combines these items with other gizmos and gadgets to form the Transformitron, a device with the capability of transforming anyone into anything. After taking the NIC (Network Interface Card) from Slider's dad Coop, and kidnapping Slider, the device was complete. However, the CyberSquad was able to thwart Hacker's plans again by dismantling the device so it could not be used again and allowing the effects of the Transformitron to wear off.
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- Episodes
- 401. Balancing Act
- 402. The Icky Factor
- 403. Penguin Tears
- 404. Past Perfect Prediction
- 405. Measure for Measure
- 406. A Change of Art
- 407. The Case of the Missing Memory
- 408. A Crinkle in Time
- 409. A Broom of One's Own
- 410. A Tikiville Turkey Day
[edit] Season 5
During this season, they had a special two hour program called Cyberchase: My Big Idea! This program dealt entirely around the theme of inventions. Four back to back episodes (episodes #502-#505) were shown, each dealing with a different topic about inventions. The program was hosted by Bianca and Harry from Cyberchase For Real! and in between episodes, they talked about inventions that were made by kids, and showed clips of kids who had made inventions of their own. This was also the first series without the late actor Len Carlson voicing Buzz. The episode "EcoHaven Ooze" is dedicated to him.
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- Episodes
- 501. The Halloween Howl
- 502. A Clean Sweep
- 503. Designing Mr. Perfect
- 504. EcoHaven Ooze
- 505. The Fairy Borg Father
- 506. The Flying Parallinis
- 507. Crystal Clear
- 508. Inside Hacker
- 509. On the Line
- 510. A Fraction of a Chance
[edit] Season 6
Season 6 begins with episode "Digit's B-Day Surprise" and the kids have an idea to celebrate: a surprise party, but they pretend to forget all about his b-day. A disappointed Digit then runs into Hacker, who wants to reprogram him to gain access to Motherboard. Meanwhile the kids have a chocolate Digit sculpture, and they need to cross the desert in order to get it to the party. Soon, they discover that wearing wet bandanas can get it there without melting it. This season is animated in Adobe Flash.
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- Episodes
- 601. Digit's B-Day Surprise
- 602. When Penguins Fly
- 603. Unhappily Ever After
- 604. Escape from Merlin's Maze
- 605. Step by Step
- 606. Team Spirit
- 607. Jimaya Jam
- 608. A Perfect Score
- 609. Chaos As Usual
- 610. Spheres of Fears
[edit] "For Real"
Each Cyberchase episode is followed by "Cyberchase For Real", a live-action educational supplement linking concepts learned in the show to real life experiences. The actors are in their twenties, but amusingly act in a manner similar to the age of the target audience. "For Real" is produced by WNET on location in and around New York City after production is completed on the animated segments. These "For Real" segments are broadcast exclusively on PBS in the United States where the program runs longer because public television does not show commercials. "For Real" segments can also be viewed at Cyberchase Online.
The For Real characters are Bianca (performed by Bianca DeGroat) and Harry (performed by Matthew Wilson).
[edit] Awards
Cyberchase won the first-ever Daytime Emmy Award for Broadband Children's Programming in 2007. Also, 2003 and 2006 CINE Golden Eagle Awards and a 2004 Telly Award for "TV or Cable Program: Children"
[edit] Cyberships and Cybercars
There are a couple of ships known and some are unknown.
- Catmobile
The cat mobile is in episode #207 that belongs to Binky.
- Creech's Car
Creech's car is in episode #305 being driven by Creech.
- Cybercoupe
The Cybercoupe is the ship used by Matt, Jackie and Inez. It does not appear that often on the show.
- Cybercraft
The Cybercraft was first seen in episode #120.
- Cyberscooter
Hacker drives it on land.
- Grim Wreaker
The Grim Wreaker is Hacker's ship. It is seen in almost all episodes. In episode #309 the Grim Wreaker was blue, pink and gray
- Miniature Version of the Grim Wreaker
This version of the Grim Wreaker is seen in episode #115.
- Unknown Ships
- One ship was Coop's mini ship.
- Another ship was the red ship which belongs to Slider.
- The next one was the kids ship during episode #305.
- The last ship was Hacker's during the race in episode #305.
[edit] Cybersites
There are several cybersites shown throughout the seasons. Each one has its own unique qualities which are dealt with through the elementary mathematics concept within the show, but also through various cultural references or even historical references.
[edit] Cybersite Locales
Throughout the series, as various cybersites are visited, more specific places are shown, dependent on the goings on within the episode. This is a list (in chronological order) of the various locals within the cybersites.
[edit] Season 1
- Episode #101 - Topsy-Turvey Island - Aside from the beach, the woods, and the big river in a huge gorge, there is not much to this island.
- Episode #102 - Castleblanca - There were several locals used in this episode (aside from the several cybersites revealed during the chase scene between Dr. Marbles and Hacker as he tries to sitewarp to evade him). The locals are: the town square, the great hall, Dracula's castle, and Marv's castle.
- Episode #103 - R Fair City - The various amusements shown in this episode are the roller coaster, the pin ball bumpers, and while there were several games of chance shown, the main one was a game known as Pure Chance where there are two doors; enter one, you get a free day of rides and games, or you get booted into cyberspace, it's 50/50.
- Episode 104 - Solaria - This cybersite has a beach volleyball court, a mountain at its center...
- Episode 105 - Sensible Flats - This site has an old west style town, a reservoir, a small prison, a courthouse, and a mountain with a lake at the top.
- Episode 106 - Mount Olympus - This site has water for ships, a town center, back stage for players, land grass and some large hills...
- Episode 107 - Poddleville - this site has lots of houses, a secret vault and a town center where announcements come from.
- Episode 108 - Happily Ever After - This site has benches to watch plays, water tank or fence, town center and a castle to lock up anyone who is bad.
- Episode 109 - Tomb of Rom - This site has a statue, some cliffs, grapes of plath, rocks and lots of sand (trails which lead to the staue)
- Episode 110 - Symmetria - This site has a building where Ava lives and pretty much, that's it.
- Episode 111 - Calamore - This site has ice in a ring where the statue is.
- Episode 112 - The Forest - This site has a big hill, some cliffs and a long path.
- Episode 113 - Eurreka- This site has a home which belongs to Professor Archimedes.
- Episode 116 - Aquari Yum - In this site there is a glitch, King crab castle, Icky's secret hideaway, Manny's home, Donut Volcano and many more.
- Episode 118 - Shangri-La -
(more to come soon)
[edit] Voice cast
[edit] Cyberspace's Leaders
Throughout the series, numerous characters appear that are in some fashion or another, considered leaders of Cyberspace, usually because they are head of their very own cybersite. Here is a list of Cyberspace's leaders (in alphabetical order after the first two):
- Motherboard - Leader of Cyberspace - Kristina Nicoll
- Dr. Marbles - Motherboard's main assistant and liaison - Richard Binsley
- Professor Archimedes - only influential resident of Eureeka -
- Ava - head of Symmetria - Jasmine Guy
- Binky the Cat - Mummsy's main assistant and liaison - Bebe Neuwirth
- Creech - Big Kahuna of Tikiville - Stephanie Beard
- Father Time - wise, all-knowing elder of Ticktockia
- Ms. Fileshare - head librarian of the Cybrary - Jasmine Guy
- Judge Trudy and Sheriff Judy of Sensible Flats
- King of the Crab Kingdom in Aquari-yum
- King Dudeicus - king of Radopolis
- The King of Happily-Ever-After
- King Penguia - king of the penguins of Cyberia
- Mayor of Poddleville
- Master Pi - wise master of Shangri-La
- Mister Z - Master of Zero from Gollywood
- Ollie - head manager of Solaria
- Shah - king of Pompadouria
- Headmaster Stumblesnore - Headmaster of Frogsnorts
- Mummsy - dweller of his own tomb
- Zeus - Leader of Mount Olympus
[edit] Main actors
- Hacker, dastardly villain - Christopher Lloyd
- Digit, cyborg bird helper for the kid heroes - Gilbert Gottfried
- Matt - Jacqueline Pillon
- Jackie - Novie Edwards
- Inez - Annick Obonsawin
- Buzz, Hacker's minion - Len Carlson (Seasons 1-4, Season 5: 4 episodes), Phil Williams (Season 5: 6 episodes )
- Delete, Hacker's minion - Robert Tinkler
- Motherboard, the benevolent ruler of Cyberspace - Kristina Nicoll
- Dr. Marbles, inventor who works with Motherboard - Richard Binsley
- Slider, a skateboarder - Tim Hamaguchi
- Coop, Slider's father - Tony Hawk
- Master Pi, leader of Shangri-La - Geoffrey Holder
- Wicked, a witch from Happily-Ever-After who is Hacker's love interest and sometimes nemesis - Linda Ballantyne
- Sam Vander Rom, newsman - Al Roker
[edit] "For Real" cast
- Bianca DeGroat - herself
- Harry Wilson - Matt Wilson
- Kareem - Kareem Blackwell (pilot episode), with the New York cast of Stomp
[edit] Cultural References
- Several episodes of Cyberchase are a spoof of Harry Potter called Sharri Spotter. The head wizard Professor Stumblesnore is a spoof of Professor Dumbledore, and the wizard school that Sharri goes to is called Frogsnorts, a spoof of Hogwarts.
- The 19th century mathematician, and early computer programmer, Lady Ada Lovelace is a character in the Valentine's Day episode "Hugs and Witches". She is voiced by Saturday Night Live founding cast member Jane Curtin.
- "Chewcroca", a dinosaur is a reference to Chewbacca, a hairy creature from Star Wars.
- In the episode "Codename: Icky", the gatekeeper mermaid's name is Binary.
- The episode, "The Wedding Scammer", parodies The Today Show weddings and features the voice of The Today Show's weatherman Al Roker.
- The episode "The Borg of the Ring" is a spoof off the popular book and movie series, "The Lord of the Rings."
[edit] Cyber Shows
[edit] Symmetrizer infomercial
Ava is seen in episode #110 -- "The Secrets of Symmetria" -- hosting an infomercial for The Symmetrizer when Hacker, Buzz and Delete were watching.
[edit] Wickedy Brooms
This show was seen in episode #409.
[edit] The Music of This Years
This show was seen in episode #126.
[edit] Nero the Animal Hero
This show was heard in episode #301.
[edit] Find those Gleamers
This show made its only appearance in episode #115.
[edit] Cyberscoop
The are only a couple of episodes in which the show Cyberscoop appears. The hosts of Cyberscoop are Erica Ram and Sam Vander Rom.
[edit] Dr. Bill
This show made its only appearance in episode #403. This show also fits into the category of cultural references, due to the portrayal of Dr. Phil McGraw from real life TV. He wears a cowboy hat in Cyberchase.
[edit] The Fearless Chef
This show made its only appearance in episode #213.
[edit] Happily Ever After Talent Show
This show was seen in episode #122. They held the talent show in honor of a new cyber-dome, put in place to keep Hacker from entering their cybersite.
[edit] XUSB
Erica Ram and Sam Vander Rom also hosts another show called XUSB. (USB is an abbreviation for Universal Serial Bus, a standard format for information ports on personal computers.) Erica goes to cybersites to see any news.
[edit] Starlight Night
This show was seen in episode #312
[edit] Museum Tour
A touring museum exhibition, Cyberchase -- The Chase is On! is based on the television series. It was developed by the Children's Museum of Houston where it was on view from September 28, 2006 through May 13, 2007. The exhibition is currently touring children's museums and science museums across the United States.
[edit] External links
[edit] Official sites
- PBS Kids: Official Site
- Cyberchase News page - the latest news about Cyberchase: new episodes, online features, museums...
- Cyberchase Parents and Teacher Website - lessons, video, and tools to use Cyberchase to teach math; includes each episode's description
[edit] Unofficial sites
- Cyberchase at the Internet Movie Database
- Cyberchase at TV.com
- toonarifc.com Cyberchase
- Cyberchase Central newsgroup archived at Google
[edit] Funders
- National Science Foundation (2002-Present)
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting (2002-Present)
- The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations (2002-2003)
- The Kettering Family Foundation (2002-2006)
- Volckhausen Family (2002-Present)
- The Intel Foundation (2004-2007)
- Intel Corporation (2004-2007)
- Jif peanut butter (2004-2005)
- Ernst & Young (2006-Present)
- Northrop Grumman (2006-Present)
