Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? | |
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Based on | Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? published by Broderbund |
Directed by | David Turner |
Presented by | Kevin Shinick Lynne Thigpen |
Starring | The Engine Crew Alaine Kashian John Lathan Owen Taylor (season 1) Jamie Gustis (season 2) |
Theme music composer | Sean Altman David Yazbek Randy Vancourt (French Version) |
Opening theme | "Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?" by The Engine Crew |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 115 [1] |
Production | |
Executive producers | Jay Rayvid Kate Taylor |
Producers | Charles Nordlander James Greenberg Dana Calderwood Jonathan Meath |
Production locations | Kaufman Astoria Studios Queens, New York |
Editor | Kevin Conrad |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies | WGBH-TV WQED (TV) |
Original release | |
Network | PBS [2] |
Release | October 7, 1996 – December 12, 1997 |
Related | |
Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? is an American half-hour children's television game show loosely based on the computer game of the same name created by Broderbund Software. Just like its predecessor, the show was produced by WGBH Boston and WQED Pittsburgh. The program ran for two seasons on PBS, consisting of 115 episodes (65 in Season 1 and 50 in Season 2), which ran from October 7, 1996 to December 12, 1997, with reruns airing until May 7, 1999. The show starred Lynne Thigpen as "The Chief", Kevin Shinick as "ACME Time Pilot Squadron Leader" replacing Greg Lee and "The Engine Crew" who is considered a replacement for Rockapella as various informants. [3] The show replaced Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? , and was recorded entirely at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York City, the longtime home of Sesame Street .
Before the show began, the viewing audience would see Carmen Sandiego in her V.I.L.E. headquarters. In Season 1, Carmen appeared in a fourth wall type of narration. In Season 2, a surveillance nano-probe from ACME filmed Carmen in her lair where it went unnoticed. She would be complaining to herself and plotting to steal the historical "seed" of her complaint. Carmen then summoned one of her V.I.L.E. henchmen or henchwomen and told him/her what to steal and where to go. In Season One, she would shine an "Info-Beam" on the villain to give the details of the object in question. In Season Two, she would give the thief a "Loot Orb" or "Cybersphere" to contain it and are just told to bring the object back to her when they find it. Once the villain takes off to do their mission, The Chief then told the audience that one of Carmen's chosen henchman had stolen something from the past. She tells them to recover the loot in 28 minutes (the length of each episode) to prevent temporal paradox. The show then began with the Engine Crew preparing the ACME Chronoskimmer (a flying saucer capable of time travel) for launch like activating the Chrono-Computer, launching the Time Pods, powering up the boosters, and then singing the show's theme song while dancing. Afterward, the Chief would introduce host "Kevin Shinick". In the first season, Kevin would directly enter from the left of the Chronoskimmer. In Season 2, Kevin was seen goofing around in his room until the Chief called him to do the show. He would then enter from the right of the Chronoskimmer.
Each episode's general theme stemmed from the loot of the day, which helped to shape the history of its kind. For example, when Carmen stole P.T. Barnum's "The Greatest Show on Earth" slogan, the episode focused on the history of advertising.
Three players (ages 10–14) known as "Time Pilots" competed. Each was given 100 'Power Points' to begin. Each section of the round had an informative skit, a question, and then a warp to pursue the villain through time; the round had four sections in Season 1 and three in Season 2.
After a skit, Kevin would present three possible answers to the pilots. The viewer could see the individual choices represented by an individual color (pink, green, or blue). All three pilots answered the question, and anyone with the correct answer scored 10 Power Points, with no penalty for incorrect answers.
Skits include the following:
Other events during the round are:
The two pilots with the highest scores after the first round advanced to the second round, while the third-placed pilot was eliminated from the game. If there was a tie between two pilots for second place or a three-way tie for first place, Kevin asked a tiebreaker question, which was always identifying a President of the United States.
With Kevin in command, the two remaining pilots fast forward to the present day (or near–present day) and activated the Loot Tractor Beam to capture the stolen artifact. The Chief then listed eight events related to the day's theme that the pilots had to recite in reverse chronological order, with the final item being the day's loot; whichever pilot had the higher score from Round One chose who went first, with a coin toss as a tiebreaker. The first pilot to recite the events in the correct order restored the loot to its proper place in time and advanced to the Bonus Round to capture Carmen and the day's villain.
The Trail of Time consisted of six "Time Portals," each one themed on a different era, which the winning pilot had ninety seconds to navigate. At each portal, Carmen would ask them a question on the day's theme with two answer choices. If the pilot answered correctly, the gate opened automatically; if not, he/she had to perform a small manual task to open the gate (spinning a wheel, turning a crank, pulling a rope, etc.).
Once through the second or third gate, the pilot captured the day's villain and began chasing after Carmen. If the pilot passed through the sixth gate before time ran out, they took the energized "Capture Crystal" and placed it into the "Chronolock Chamber" to capture Carmen. Early episodes from the first season had the pilot simply touch the crystal to capture Carmen.
The show always ended with Kevin, the pilot, and the Engine Crew saying: "At ACME Time Net, history is our job, and the future is yours!" followed by the theme song being played again, as they all headed back to the present.
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Season 1 lasted 65 episodes and ran from October 7, 1996 until January 3, 1997. Season 2 lasted for 50 episodes and ran from October 6, 1997 until December 12, 1997. [1] Reruns of the show continued on PBS until May 7, 1999. On May 8, 1999, PBS dropped the show from its lineup altogether in order to make room for more programs aimed at preschoolers.
Other than playing the Engine Crew, Owen Taylor, Jamie Gustis, Alaine Kashian, and John Lathan as well as James Greenberg (who was also one of the show's producers) and Paula Leggett Chase also portrayed Carmen's V.I.L.E. minions.
The budget was smaller on this version of the show compared to World. As a result, the grand prize for a winning pilot capturing Carmen was a computer system instead of a trip.
The third-place player received an "ACME TimeNet Mission Pack." It contained a Britannica world atlas; a Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? t-shirt, baseball cap, and wristwatch; and a collection of Carmen Sandiego CD-ROM games (all of which also featured Lynne Thigpen as the Chief) and board games: Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego?, and Where in Space is Carmen Sandiego? The second-place player received a Mission Pack and a CD player.
If the first-place player won the Bonus Round and captured Carmen, he/she won the grand prize of a complete multimedia computer system (specifically, the Gateway 2000 P5-120) a year of Britannica Online, a Britannica CD-ROM encyclopedia, and a 32-volume set of Encyclopædia Britannica. If Carmen escaped, the pilot received a portable music system in addition to a 32-volume set of Encyclopædia Britannica (in season 1) or an ACME TimeNet Mission Pack (in season 2).
The series was created as a spin-off of the long-running geography game show, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?. [5] Executive producers Kate Taylor of WGBH and Jay Rayvid of WQED wanted to refocus the show on history as a recent study had shown American children were weak in this area, and because Broderbund had already created a game in this field. [6] Taylor noted that it was important to them to create something new and fresh and different for fans of the original show. [5]
Around 10% of each half-hour episode consisted of computer-generated animation and 3-D special effects, and the graphics/illustration for all episodes in a season were produced in around four months. The budget for each episode of the show' was $46,000. Animator David J. Masher spent $120,000 for animation equipment in his studio -he worked with a tight schedule and low budget. [6] The question writers worked with the Encyclopædia Britannica and a panel of history teachers. [7]
Rayvid noted that history can be more politically charged than the more cut-and-dried geography, noting, for instance, how the nature of historical documents led to bias toward male white stories. Moving away from a pro-American bias, in a World War II themed episode, the show spoke candidly about American internment camps for Japanese-Americans, citing this as an example of how "We try to deal with controversy in a very straightforward, educational way". [8] Another aim of the show was to give young viewers "a sense of time", in that things happened before they were born that influenced their current reality. [9]
The music on the show was performed by The Engine Crew. The music package included the theme song and the songs about clues in the engine room. The theme was played in the opening and closing sequences. When the contestant was heading for the trail of time, the theme was sometimes edited after the crew sang, "We're on the case" and the villains say, "And they're chasing us through history!" (used in first season). In the second season, when the contestant headed for The Trail of Time, the ending was normal instead of the villains singing the end part. The show's main theme song was written by Sean Altman of Rockapella and David Yazbek, [10] and is sung by The Engine Crew.
Like its predecessor series, which faced outdated information during its run, the end of every episode had an audible disclaimer from Lynne Thigpen stating that "All historic information has been verified by Encyclopedia Britannica (and was accurate as of the date this program was recorded)." with the recording date shown with the copyright information at the end of each episode.
The show was funded primarily by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by the annual financial support from the viewers/stations of PBS throughout the entire series. Delta Air Lines and the National Endowment for Children's Educational Television both provided funding during the show's first season.
Scott Wells served as the 3-D animator while Raeford Dwyer was the animation producer; together they gave the show a style that mixed computer-treated video FMV performances computer-generated two- and three-dimensional animation and special effects. [11]
A live version of the World and Time shows ("Carmen Sandiego Live") was performed at 85 sites across the United States and Canada from 1993 to 1997.
The New York Times felt the show stood out among new afternoon series. [12]
Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego has been nominated thirteen times for awards. It also won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1998. [13]
Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
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1997 Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Children's Series | Nominated | |
1997 Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series | Lynne Thigpen | Nominated |
1997 Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series | David Turner | Nominated |
1997 Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Graphic Titles and Title Design | Nominated | |
1997 Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Graphic Titles and Title Design | Nominated | |
1997 Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Achievement In Costume Designing/Styling | Wendy Stuart | Nominated |
1997 Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Hairstyling | Nominated | |
1997 Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Live and Direct to Tape Sound Mixing | Nominated | |
1997 Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Game Show | Nominated | |
1998 Daytime Emmy Awards [14] | Outstanding Lighting Direction | Dikran Hazirjian & Charles Noble | Won |
1998 Daytime Emmy Awards [14] | Outstanding Children's Series | Nominated | |
1998 Daytime Emmy Awards [14] | Outstanding Performer In A Children's Series | Lynne Thigpen | Nominated |
1998 Daytime Emmy Awards [14] | Outstanding Directing In A Children's Series | David Turner | Nominated |
1998 Daytime Emmy Awards [14] | Outstanding Multi-Camera Editing | Nominated | |
1998 Daytime Emmy Awards [14] | Outstanding Costume Design/Styling | Wendy Stuart | Nominated |
Cherlynne Theresa Thigpen was an American actress of stage and screen. She was known for her role as "The Chief" of ACME Crimenet in the game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and various spinoffs, and for her role as "Luna" in the Playhouse Disney children's series Bear in the Big Blue House. For her varied television work, Thigpen was nominated for six Daytime Emmy Awards. She won a Tony Award in 1997 for portraying Dr. Judith Kaufman in An American Daughter, and also played Ella Farmer on The District (2000–2003). Thigpen first gained attention for her role in the 1971 off-Broadway musical Godspell. Thigpen's character is named Lynne, and she sang "O Bless the Lord, My Soul" in the musical. Thigpen reprised her role as Lynne in the 1973 film adaptation, which she starred in alongside David Haskell and Victor Garber.
Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? is an American live action/animated television series based on the series of computer games. The show was produced by DIC Productions L.P. and originally aired from February 5, 1994 to January 2, 1999, on Saturday mornings during FOX's Fox Kids Network block. Reruns aired on the Qubo television network from June 9, 2012 to May 26, 2018.
Carmen Sandiego is a series of American educational mystery video games that spawned an edutainment franchise of the same name. The game released in 1985, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, started off both the video game series and the franchise as a whole, which has continued up to the present day. Each game of the series has a particular theme and subject, where the player must use their knowledge to find Carmen Sandiego or any of her innumerable henchmen. This series was originally owned by Broderbund, but is now owned by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since its initial release the series has won over 125 awards and accolades.
Trashed is a television game show that ran on MTV from February 14 to July 23, 1994, with Chris Hardwick as host.
Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? is an American half-hour children's television game show based on the Carmen Sandiego computer game series created by Broderbund. The show was hosted by Greg Lee, who was joined by Lynne Thigpen and the a cappella vocal group Rockapella, who served as the show's house band and comedy troupe. The series was videotaped in New York City at Chelsea Studios and Kaufman Astoria Studios and co-produced by WQED and WGBH-TV, and aired on PBS stations from September 30, 1991, to December 22, 1995, with reruns continuing to air until May 31, 1996. A total of 295 episodes over five seasons were recorded.
Carmen Sandiego is a media franchise based on a series of computer video games created by the American software company Broderbund. While the original 1985 Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? video game was classified as a "mystery exploration" series by creators and the media, the series would later be deemed edutainment when the games became unexpectedly popular in classrooms. The franchise centers around the fictional thieving villain of the same name, who is the ringleader of the criminal organization V.I.L.E.; the protagonists are agents of the ACME Detective Agency who try to thwart the crooks' plans to steal treasures from around the world, while the later ultimate goal is to capture Carmen Sandiego herself.
Carmen Isabella Sandiego is a fictional character featured in a long-running edutainment video games series of the same name created by the American software company Broderbund. As an international lady thief, a criminal mastermind, and the elusive nemesis of the ACME Detective Agency, Carmen Sandiego is the principal character of the video game series and the head of ACME's rival organization, V.I.L.E. She is depicted as an extremely intelligent, stylish, fashionable woman whose signature look features a red, matching fedora and trenchcoat. Many of her crimes depicted in the games involve spectacular and often impossible cases of monument theft, which are used as a pretext to teach children geography via the simulated process of tracking down the character, the stolen monuments, and her accomplices all over the world with her sidekicks Zack and Ivy.
Carmen Sandiego's ThinkQuick Challenge is a "game show-themed" edutainment computer game for kids ages 8–12. The title, which is a part of the Carmen Sandiego franchise, was released by The Learning Company on June 1, 1999. It can be played by up to 4 players, and runs on the Mohawk engine.
Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? is a multiplatform video game where players have to travel through time to collect clues and the warrants necessary to capture Carmen Sandiego or her henchmen. The goal of this game is to track Carmen's villains through history and arrest them and ultimately arrest Carmen herself.
Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time is a 1997 edutainment point-and-click adventure game developed by Broderbund for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh devices. The game is a remake of the 1989 time-travel title Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, making it the second Time video game in the Carmen Sandiego franchise. The game was strongly influenced by the short-lived PBS game show, Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?. The game was previewed at the 1997 Toy Fair in New York City. A demo version was included on the CD for Carmen Sandiego Word Detective and was available on the Carmen Sandiego website. After Broderbund was sold to The Learning Company, the game was re-released with the new title - Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time - but with minimal redesign.
Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? is a 1996 video game part of the Carmen Sandiego franchise. It was the third version of the game, after the 1985 original title of the same name and a 1992 Deluxe version of said game. The game's release coincided on the heels of the end of the PBS game show, and features QuickTime videos of Lynne Thigpen reprising her role as "The Chief". This was the last version of the game to follow the "classic" formula of the series, but much of the game, especially the "warrant" portion, was heavily redesigned. The Deluxe Edition released in 1998 added speech welcoming the player to each country and an "ACME Global Language Link-Up" satellite which quizzed the user on the local language. Players also received a spy watch and "an introduction to 12 foreign languages".
Carmen Sandiego: Junior Detective is a 1995 education game in the Carmen Sandiego franchise developed by Broderbund. Although not a version of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? by name, it is essentially a simplified version of it for pre-readers. Allgame says the game "is geared for younger users, with only 14 cases to solve". The lead characters of the FOX animated series Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?, Zack and Ivy, were included in the game, along with Stretch - "ACME's crime-tracking dog".
Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? is an educational video game released by Broderbund on April 23, 1985. It is the first product in the Carmen Sandiego franchise. The game was distributed with The World Almanac and Book of Facts, published by Pharos Books. An enhanced version of the game was released in 1989, which did not have the almanac-based copy protection and instead used disk-based copy protection. A deluxe version was released in 1990, and featured additional animation and a reworked interface from the original version. Some of the bonus features included digitized photos from National Geographic, over 3200 clues, music from the Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings, 20 villains, 60 countries, and 16 maps. CD-ROM versions for MS-DOS and Mac were released in 1992. A Windows version was released in 1994.
The remake version of Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego? was released in 1996 by Windows and Macintosh and features Lynne Thigpen playing "The Chief" from the World game show. The game's opening credits finds Carmen Sandiego arriving in her underground V.I.L.E. outpost in Washington, D.C., as she and RoboCrook plan to steal America's greatest treasure from each of the 50 states. Carmen later contacts each of her 39 V.I.L.E. operatives telling them to begin their missions.
Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego? is an educational video game released by Broderbund in 1986 and is part of the Carmen Sandiego series. The game is a sequel to 1985's Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?. A deluxe version with updated graphics and interface was released in 1992 and a remade version was released in 1996. The goal of the game is to track Carmen Sandiego's henchmen across the United States, arrest them, and ultimately arrest Carmen herself. The game received generally positive reviews but some critics compared it unfavorably with its predecessor game, which had a global perspective.
Where in Europe Is Carmen Sandiego? is a 1988 European geography-based educational computer game in the Carmen Sandiego detective mystery franchise. It was originally published by Broderbund in 1988 for Apple II, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS, and ported to the Amiga and Mac in 1989. It is the third Carmen Sandiego title, after Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1985) and Where in the USA Is Carmen Sandiego? (1986). Under the guidance of The Acme Agency's chief, the player completes cases to catch Carmen's henchmen; they accomplish this by traveling to European cities to find clues relating to the crook's last known whereabouts, and by gaining enough character data to issue a warrant of arrest. Once the player has captured all 15 thieves, they can pursue Carmen herself.
Where in the Universe Is Carmen Sandiego? is an educational planetarium program and live theatrical production and part of the Carmen Sandiego franchise. Licensed to planetariums across the US, Canada, and Japan, the show premiered in 1998 or 1999. The program featured the effects work of Adrian Ropp and was produced by Dr. William A. Gutsch, with music composed by Mark Mercury. Inspired by the successful television programs Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, the series aimed to promote listening and math skills through interactive sessions rather than relying on memorized facts. The shows encouraged audience participation by incorporating question-and-answer segments.
Carmen Sandiego Returns is a 2015 social studies puzzle adventure video game, part of the Carmen Sandiego franchise. It is developed by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and uses Intel RealSense Technology in order to enhance the immersive nature of player interaction. The educational game aims to teach players about world geography and culture to its 10–14 year old target market.
Carmen Sandiego is an animated action-adventure television series with educational elements, based on the media franchise of the same name created by Broderbund. The series is produced by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt with WildBrain serving as the production company, and contains a "serialized look at Carmen's backstory that is told from her perspective". Serving as an origin story for the fictional thieving villain of the same name, it is the fourth Carmen Sandiego television show after the PBS game shows Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, and the Fox Kids animated series Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?; it is also the first Carmen Sandiego related show since the end of Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego in 1999.
Carmen Sandiego: To Steal or Not to Steal is a 2020 animated interactive television special directed by Jos Humphrey and co-directed by Kenny Park and Mike West, written by Duane Capizzi, May Chan, Sam Nisson, Susan O’Connor, Greg Ernstrom & Becky Tinker and starring Gina Rodriguez and Finn Wolfhard. It is part of the 2019 Netflix series Carmen Sandiego.
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