Braingames (1983 TV series)

Last updated
Braingames
Braingames Title Card.JPG
Braingames title card
Created by Sheila Nevins
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes6
Production
Running time25 minutes
Production companies Eliot Noyes Productions (pilot)
Home Box Office
Original release
Network HBO
ReleaseNovember 8, 1983 (1983-11-08) 
December 22, 1985 (1985-12-22)

Braingames is an American educational program shown on HBO in the mid-1980s. It was a half-hour program consisting of brain-teasing animated skits (either stop-motion or cartoon) designed to make the viewers think. It was HBO's first attempt at a show focused on educational skits, predating Crashbox by 15 years.

Contents

Episodes

The series pilot was aired in 1983 (featuring a female Sphinx in the intro), with another five episodes (this time with a gentleman with an egg for a head) made in 1984-1985 with new games and a few brought back from the pilot. After that, an episode called "The Best of Braingames" was made which had five of the best Braingames games from episodes 1, 3, and 4, plus a special episode of "The Riddler" (see below) where Chuck Roast read off the winners of a contest for "The Absitively Posolutely Worst Riddles in America". Every episode in the series ends with a sad and crying voice saying, "Braingames...is now...over." On the "Best of" episode, an equally sad voice says, "The Best of Braingames...is now...over.".

Although full episodes have not been shown in years, HBO has occasionally shown single games between programs in the late 1980s-mid-1990s.

In 1996-2000, full episodes were later shown occasionally each month on HBO Family.

Games

The following is a list of the different games played on the various shows:

Home media

The series was released over three VHS videotapes in the 1980s and 1990s. [1]

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References

  1. "8 experimental '80s shows you watched on HBO and totally forgot until now".