Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (game show)
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Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? was a popular children's television game show, loosely based off the computer game of the same name. It aired on PBS from 1991 to 1996 and was hosted by Greg Lee with Lynne Thigpen as "The Chief" and Rockapella as the house vocal band and comedy troupe (Rockapella featured Barry Carl, Sean Altman, Elliot Kerman, and Scott Leonard - Jeff Thacher joined for the final season). The show's theme song, penned by Altman and David Yazbek, is one of the most well-known TV themes in television history, according to the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. The show holds the record as being the longest running game show on PBS and is the second longest running kids game show behind Double Dare.
[edit] Round One
Each contestant (better known as gumshoes), was given 50 ACME Crime Bucks (the show's official currency) to begin the round. Various comedy sketches were performed, and each provided clues to a geographical location of the day's crook. Many of these sketches involved song parodies performed by Rockapella, or animations featuring well-informed fish, dog-and-cat rappers, as well as celebrities, a dying informant (who provided valuable clues just as he [sometimes she] died multiple times), and more. One in particular that was always a fan favorite was Nana Rap, an animated grandmother who danced to a rap song. After the clues were provided, a map and three possible locations, all within proximity to one another, were shown to the players. Each player simultaneously selected their answer, and then revealed their answers to the host. Each correct answer earned a player 10 crime bucks.
[edit] Lightning Round
After three sketches were performed, the game moved to the "Lightning Round" (which always began with a cheesy lightning effect). Host Lee read three questions about the last location visited, and for each question gave the players a choice of 3 answers. The first to buzz in with the right answer scored 5 crime bucks. No penalty was given for a wrong answer.
After the Lightning Round, Greg was always called into the Chief's office for a special briefing or conversation. This was used as a comedy break, an opportunity for a bizarre interaction between The Chief and Greg. In one program, for example, the Chief's office was turned into Grand Central Station, filled with racing commuters and a giant clock. In another, The Chief and Greg farmed pretzels on her desk. To end the break the Chief would say, "Greg. Go away."
After the break, the contestants watched an animated "Phone Tap" between Carmen and the day's crook, courtesy of Acme Bug Net. Several other clues were presented, and questions answered. Two or three more skits and questions took place after the Lightning Round, before the next break.
[edit] The Chase
Starting with season 2, there was a new series of five questions known as "The Chase" (beginning with a funny chase scene performed by Rockapella and occasionally with the Chief participating). While the Lightning Round asked questions related to the last visited country, The Chase provided clues about countries within proximity to the location last visited, indicating that the gumshoes were close on the trail. Each question had three locations as choices and the first player to buzz in with the right answer received 5 crime bucks. Only one person can answer each question, and as with the Lightning Round, there was no penalty assesed for an incorrect response.
[edit] Final Skit
After a few more clues or The Chase, host Lee showed the players one more map, in this case before the skit was performed. Players were asked to make a wager of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 Acme Crime Bucks, on their ability to provide a correct answer. The final skit was performed and players locked in their guesses. Anyone with a right answer had their wager added to their score, and anyone with a wrong answer had their wager subtracted from their score. The top two players at this point moved on to Round Two, while the third-placed player was eliminated and given a package of parting gifts called the ACME Travel Kit, from the Chief herself. This package typically included a World Atlas, an official Carmen Sandiego wristwatch and t-shirt (or sweatshirt), a subscription to National Geographic World magazine, and an inflatable world globe (later changed to a basketball globe) which the Chief would either try to make a basket from behind her back or even slam dunked it into the basket in the corner of her office.
In case of a tie for 2nd place, the host read clues related to a famous person or place (typically a US state). Players can buzz in as often as they want, and the first person to buzz in with the correct answer moved on to Round Two. Generally speaking, the last clue would contain the answer (for example, "This state's capital, Oklahoma City, is the only one whose name contains the name of the state").
[edit] Round Two (aka "(Crook's Name)'s Jailtime Challenge)
The two remaining contestants "travelled" to the final destination from round one, where The Chief described various landmarks in that country or city (or, sometimes, region). Often, these descriptions were silly; the writers always used this sequence as an opportunity to poke fun (in one notable visit to Key West, for example, the camera zoomed in on graffiti on a small landmark, and the Chief openly scolded the people who had spray painted their initials on a marker). Fifteen names of the local landmarks were placed on a board. Hidden behind three of the landmarks are the loot that was stolen at the beginning of the show, the warrant to arrest the crook, and the crook him/herself.
The player in the lead after Round 1 would play first (if the two players were tied, a coin flip determines who goes first). If a contestant found any of the three key items, he or she could select again. If the player finds a pair of red shoeprints (which means nothing there or nothing happened), their turn is over. Players alternated turns until one player found the loot, the warrant, and the crook, in that order (the first one or two episodes in the first season did not require the correct order). The first player to do that won the game (and the right to "throw the criminal in jail" by pulling on a hanging plunger and the foghorn sounds), 30 Crime Bucks (as a reward for finding the crook, and to use that if they won the trip), and advanced to the bonus round to try to find Carmen Sandiego herself.
The odds of getting the loot, warrant, and crook in that order on the first try are 1:2730.
If the player that picked first happened to win the game on the first turn, he or she not only won the game, but also got the chance to win a $500 savings bond. The bond was hidden behind one of the remaining twelve landmarks, and the player was given 5 chances to find it. In the history of the show, this happened only once.
[edit] Bonus Round
In the bonus round, the winner was given the chance to catch Carmen Sandiego herself. If the contestant was successful, he/she won a trip to any location in the continental United States, expanded to anywhere in North America after the first season.
After the contestant wrote down their desired trip destination, they received a phone call from the crook who was just arrested. The crook gave the general location of Carmen Sandiego, one of five continents (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, or Asia) or the United States (used only in seasons 1 & 2 and then replaced by North America afterwards). The Chief then gave a list of fifteen possible locations -- either countries, capital cities, bodies of water, or national parks (all four used in Season 3 and beyond), on that continent (or states or state capital cities if the United States was used). Then the contestant was presented with a map that covers the floor of the studio, with dots marking the cities, squares marking national parks, and arrows marking bodies of water.
As host Lee read the locations, the player had to place a marker with a red flashing siren light on the correct location on the map. If the contestant placed the marker on the correct location, the light flashed, the siren went off and the player was given the next location. If he or she was wrong, the player is given one more chance to move the marker. After two incorrect guesses, another location was read.
If within 45 seconds (60 in some season 1 episodes when using an Asia map), the player could successfully identify 7 locations on the map (8 after the first season), the player caught Carmen Sandiego and won the trip, if not they won a consolation prize (or ocassionally one crime buck for each correct location). After the game, a newspaper headline graphic is shown:
After a WIN: [contestant's name] CAPTURES CARMEN! (later in the show's run the picture of Carmen would also be placed behind bars).
After a LOSS: CARMEN ESCAPES AGAIN! (later in the show's run the picture of Carmen would also disappear leaving a white shadow against the picture's background).
Accompanied by these sound effects:
AFTER A WIN: Clangs and Sirens (similar to The Price Is Right's clangs and sirens) and a jail locking sound.
Confetti was dropped after the kid captures Carmen.
AFTER A LOSS: A laser zap.
Selecting the location of the trip prior to the round often posed difficulties for nervous contestants in the studio.[citation needed] Contestants were relieved of the pressure when told that their choice could be changed after the program was recorded.[citation needed]
From the contestant's perspective, the map of the continent was upside-down during the final round, and was often the reason many contestants gave if they lost that final round.
Crime Bucks were never converted into cash, it was only useable for buying school supplies.
[edit] Consolation prizes
For the eliminated contestants, they receive a set of consolation prizes called the ACME Travel Kit. Some of the consolation prizes on the show included:
- (only for a final round win) A Carmen Sandiego "Sleuth" Jacket
- (if 7 countries were identified correctly in a final round loss) A camera
- (only for a final round loss) A portable color television (later seasons)
- (only for a final round loss) A portable CD player, and CDs from around the world (first 2-3 seasons)
- 52 Issues of National Geographic World Magazine
- "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" for Computer
- The "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" Home Game
- A Sony Walkman
- A Texas Instruments Calculator
- A Rockapella CD featuring the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? theme song
- A World Atlas
- A Inflatable Globe, later changed to a basketball globe
- Tickets to a Rockapella Concert
[edit] The Trips
For each trip, the winning contestant, their parent, and a guest, will fly on a round-trip coach from New York City to the selected location. He/she will spend a one week stay at a selected hotel of their choice. Rental Car is not included. The contestant also received $100 spending money.
[edit] Ending
The show is noted for concluding with the finalist yelling "Do it Rockapella!" into the camera, signifying the group to begin again their title song for the animated closing credits (members of Carmen's gang held up the names of production staff members). After the credits, the Chief would say "This is Lynne Thigpen speaking for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, and remember, (something funny in rhyme)." ("See ya next time!" in all of the first season, and in some episodes of subsequent seasons).
[edit] Home Viewer Contest
Starting in season three, home viewers were asked to participate in a contest. They were told to write down what was stolen and from where on each day's show. If they wrote down four correct loots & locations on a postcard and sent it to the show's address, they won a Carmen Sandiego t-shirt. Five names of winning viewers were shown each day.
[edit] Rockapella voiceovers
Aside from providing the theme song for the show, Rockapella also supplied many of the sound effects and voiceovers. Some of them were as follows:
- "oooooooooooooohhhh, The Chase!" when this segment of the show was played
- A fanfare, later preceded by "You've Won!", when a contestant found all three items in the second round.
- The "think music" for making wagers ("Think about it - how much you gonna risk?") and the winning contestant deciding what trip he wanted to take if he won ("Where do you wanna go?").
- The background music during the Chief's reading of the consolation prizes for the eliminated contestants.
- The music accompanying the winner moving to the map before the bonus game.
- The contest music for the bonus round.
- The phrase "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh, let's get packin'!" after the trip reveal with a successful bonus win.
- "The LOOT", "The Warrant" (sung), (crook's name) in the second round as they were uncovered, and "(crook's name)'s in jail!" after the winner arrested him/her. About halfway through the first season, Rockapella began singing a silly phrase instead of saying "The LOOT" as it was uncovered, such as "pilfered pipeline" when the stolen item was the Alaskan Pipeline, or "Subterranean scratchings" for cave paintings from France. They sang something different every time the loot was revealed on the board. During some longer rounds, the singers poked fun at how long it was taking the contestants to find the items. On one very late episode, the group said "The LOOT" near the end of one of these long rounds (long after they had stopped regularly using it), drawing laughter. Additionally, there would sometimes be a silly phrase sung (or spoken) to indicate red shoeprints (nothing) behind that location at this time. For instance, one of the Rockapella singers, when a famous shopping district was one of the locations and housed nothing, would say something like "Attention shoppers: NO." Other variations included, "Sorry!", "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo", "Ooompa Loompa, No No No No", "Bzzzzzzzzzz" "Nothing, Nothing, Nothing", "Red Shoeprints!", or "Red Shoeprints means.........NOTHING!" One time, when this location was picked a second time, the response was "Attention shoppers: STILL NO".
- Another time, when a contestant picked the Yi River, the singers replied with "Yi!," causing the audience and Greg Lee to burst out laughing. Another memorable event happened when a contestant picked the Batman Bridge, one of the Rockapella members made sound effects referenced to the 60s Batman TV series, which also got laughs from the audience. Also, in one episode, the board was setup with locations from Indianapolis, Indiana, which just happened to be Scott Leonard's hometown. With each pick of location, Rockapella sang out "Near Scott's house!". Another episode, a location was "Hollywood, CA" and when it is picked, Rockapella sang "We're Off To See The Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Greg fell down, and the audience superly burst out in laughter.
- Another time, when a contestant found the loot, a Rockapella member would say "Now, find the warrant!". When the contestant found the warrant, Rockapella sang "Now find (crook's nickname), and you won!". Rockapella calls out nicknames for the crooks including:
- The Slick (Vic the Slick)
- Tessa (Contessa)
- The Double (Double Trouble)
- The Patty (Patty Larceny)
- Robo (Robocrook)
- The Grunge (Top Grunge)
- The Brute (Eartha Brute)
- The Knee (Kneemoi)
- The Nade (Sarah Nade)
- The Rat (Wonder Rat)
If the contestant found the red shoeprints, Rockapella will say "(Other Contestant's Name) try to find the loot".
- Still another time, when the stolen landmark was the aforementioned French cave paintings, when the cave paintings were uncovered the third time, a Rockapella singer called out, "Gentlemen, dip your brushes!" Greg's response: "What!?"
[edit] Featured crooks
Some of the crooks featured on the show were:
- Contessa, a so-called criminal of style. (Left after season 1, returned in 4 with a new look)
- Double Trouble, a pair of different-colored Conjoined twins
- Eartha Brute, a muscle bound woman with a beehive hairdo
- Patty Larceny, a ditzy, blonde schoolgirl (a pun of "petty larceny")
- RoboCrook, a parody of RoboCop
- Top Grunge, a large smelly biker with flies hovering over his head
- Vic the Slick, a shifty salesman in a loud polyester suit
- Kneemoi, an alien from the planet Roddenberry with a round body and two tentacled arms (a pun on Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek fame and Star Trek's creator Gene Roddenberry)
- Sarah Nade, a punk rocker teenager who loved concerts and singing. (named after the word serenade) (Debuted in season 3)
- Wonder Rat, a parody of Superman and Batman who flew with a helicopter (Debuted in season 2)
[edit] Production Notes
The program was developed for television by Howard Blumenthal, Dorothy Curley, and Dana Calderwood. The series was produced by WGBH, Boston and WQED, Pittsburgh. The executive producers were Jay Rayvid and Kate Taylor. The directors were Dana Calderwood and Hugh Martin. The programs were produced by Howard Blumenthal, Jonathan Meath, and Ariel Schwartz. The series' writers included McPaul Smith, Charles Nordlander, Dorothy Curley, and James Greenberg. The original stage settings were designed by Jim Fenhagen; subsequent art direction by Laura Brock. The first season's programs were recorded at Chelsea Studios in Manhattan; subsequent seasons were recorded at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens. The program series was also produced, using the same format, as a local production in Spain and in Italy The show was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by the annual financial support of Viewers Like You. During the funding credits, on a space background, a rotating CGI model of the earth would spin and pull in the names of the PBS stations that presented it, WQED Pittsburgh and WGBH Boston, respectively. Then the funder logos would fade in over the globe, while Lynne Thigpen otherwise known as The Chief would read this speech: "This program is presented by WQED Pittsburgh and WGBH Boston. And as always, gumshoes, Carmen's gang is bankrolled by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Viewers Like You." After the funding credits, either the 1988-1992 PBS logo or the 1993-1999 PBS Kids logo would be shown at the very end.
65 episodes were produced each season and were shown four times a year.
The show was canceled after five seasons and 195 episodes on October 4, 1996. It was replaced by Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?.
Delta Air Lines, Holiday Inn and Toyota also were sponsors.
[edit] Trivia
- On the first few episodes, a slightly different scoring system was used. Contestants started with 125 ACME Crime Bucks, with correct answers resulting in a certain amount of points being subtracted, and incorrect answers costing the players even more points (it was confusing, and so it was changed after the first few episodes were recorded). In addition, to change the pace of the game, a lightning round was added. Also in these episodes, when a map of the United States was used, the markers placed on the map in the bonus round were flags of each state; if the answer was correct, a fluorescent light on the flagpole would light up. The flags often obscured the judges' view of the contestant's placement, so they were replaced by markers with flashing lights.
- On some early episodes, host Lee would read a description of a location before giving the name of the location itself in the bonus round; this led to many people losing the bonus round waiting for him to finish reading, and was soon changed to Lee strictly reading the name of the location.
- On some early episodes, the loot, warrant, and crook could be gathered in any order. Later on, the rules changed so that the loot, warrant, and crook had to be found in that order. Greg's explanation for this was that the loot was the evidence needed to get a warrant, so they could arrest the crook.
- During one special occasion, Marc Summers joined Greg Lee in one of the questions of the 1st round. Summers was dressed in Greg's signature blue jacket, khakis, and Converse gym shoes. The connection may be that Greg Lee was one of the helpers on Summers' signature, Nickelodeon's Double Dare.[citation needed]
- During the first season, the Chief and Greg would wear a matching red or green suit and jacket, respectively. Starting with the second season, the Chief's suit was always red and yellow and Greg's jacket was always blue.
- Also during the first season, the chief would introduce the contestants and talk directly to them. In season two and beyond, the chief stopped doing that, and Rockapella member Barry Carl handled the intros.
- One episode was a celebrity episode from 1992. It features teen celebrities from various TV shows, teaming up with real contestants to play on the show to earn money for charity and prizes to a lucky viewer. The celebrities are Jeremy Miller (from Growing Pains), Mayim Bialik (from Blossom), and Tatyana Ali (from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air).
- Occasionally when the show ended early, filler segments would be added to the episode to fill the allotted time. For the first season, audience members entering the Chief's office to answer a geography question. If answered correctly, the audience member would win a Carmen Sandiego t-shirt; if wrong he/she won an atlas. In season two and beyond, songs by Rockapella were featured, including "Zombie Jamboree" and a song of state capitals.
- The show received the George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in 1993.
- At the end of each show, Rockapella sang the theme song surrounded by a crowd of people dancing.
- There was an episode towards the end of the run where, in order to get a clue for the first part of the game, Greg Lee had to go backstage to talk with an "informant." He gets the clue from two random crew members who are arguing about red shoeprints (nothing) behind the wall for the 2nd round. This gave away some of the potential searching locations for Round 2 later in the show (The Wood Islands were one of the locations here).
[edit] Season 1 Credits
- Senior Producer: Howard J. Blumenthal
- Producer: Ariel Schwartz
- Associate Producer: Deborah S. Finkel
- Director: Dana Calderwood
- Project Director: Megan Williams Hall
- Budget Manager: Charlene Haislip
- Senior Unit Manager: Janet King Johnson
- Budget Coordinator: Betsy Ryles
- Unit Manager: Jill Rosenberg
- Consulting Producer: Dana Calderwood
- Scenic Construction: Lincoln Scenic
- Set Electronics Designer: Corey Cooper
- Technical Facilities: Chelsea Television Studios, Panavideo, Videomix
- Post Production Supervisiors: Casey Brown, David E. Gerber, Vincent Straggas
- Editor Animated Sequences: James C. Wright
- Title Song Composed by: Sean Altman, David Yazbek
- Research Assistance Provided by: National Geographic World
- Special Thanks: Geoff Miller
- WGBH Project Director: Simone Bloom
- Based on the Computer Game from Broderbund Software
- Executive Producers: Kate Taylor, Jay Rayvid
[edit] Season 2 Credits
- Senior Producer: Howard J. Blumenthal
- Series Producer: Jonathan G. Meath
- Director: Dana Calderwood
- Associate Producer: Deborah S. Finkel
- Production Supervisor: Hannah-Gail Greenberg
- Segment Producer: Lynn Kestin
- Chief Science Officer: McPaul Smith
- Editoral Director: Pinch Harris
- Mission Control: Charles Nordlander, J.M. Stifle
- Business Manager: Thomas G. Veeder
- Production Designer: James Fengagen
- Lighting Designer: Deke Hazirjian
- Sound Design by: ACME Soundworks
- Costume Designet: Danjean Cicerchi
- Research Supervisor: Dina Lynn Graubart
- Research Assistance Provided by: National Geographic World
- Contributing Producer: Dana Calderwood
- Creative Consultant: Dorothy Curley
- Animators: Jennifer Fuchel, Akan Hanscom, Karen Jones, David Masher, David Rose, Cynthia Shanahan
- Animation Production: Jack Foley, Andrew Jablon, Joe Kenny, Danielle Skopek, Janet Perlman
- Illustration: Mark Fisher, Dick Daniels, Cameron Eagle, Steve McNeon"
- Graphic Designers & Directors: Chris Pullman, Gene Mackles
- Character Voices: Chris Phillips, Doug Preis, Christine Sokol, Barry Carl
- Post Production Supervisiors: Casey Brown, David E. Gerber
- Post Editing: Kevin Conrad
- Post Audio: Bob Millslagle, Dennis Williams
- Animation Editor: Ilene Mernstein
- Animation Sound: Pam Bartella
- Script Supervisors: Charles Nordlander, Sandy Hooper Sullivan
- Script Department: Lawrence Axmith, Mona Eldaief, Marcia L. Scott, Michelle Soddano
- Celebrity Coordinator: Paula Davis
- Talent Assistant: Lisa Price
- Production Assistants: H. Rene Brinkley, Rick Eisenstein, Shara Kabakow, Lee Hen Margolies, Lisa Reiter, Marcos Siega, Giles Standing
- Set Electronic Designer: Corey Cooper
- Original Music by: Rockapella
- Title Song Composed by: Sean Altman, David Yazbek
- Budget Supervisor: Betsy Ryles
- WGBH Associate Producer: Janice I. Grant
- WQED Associate Producer: Cheryl Cox
- Based on the Computer Game from Broderbund Software
- Executive Producers: Kate Taylor, Jay Rayvid
[edit] Season 3 Credits
- Senior Producer: Howard J. Blumenthal
- Series Producer: Jonathan G. Meath
- Director: Dana Calderwood
- Associate Producer: Deborah S. Finkel
- Segment Producer: Lynn Kestin
- Business Manager: Thomas G. Veeder
- Production Designer: James Fengagen
- Art Director: Laura Block
- Lighting Designer: Deke Hazirjian
- Sound Design by: ACME Soundworks
- Production Coordinator: Howard Lee
- Contributing Producer: Dana Calderwood
- Word Queen: Pinch Lee
- Editorial Supervisor: Sandy Hooper Sullivan
- Animation Art Director: Jack Foley
- Graphic Designers & Directors: Chris Pullman, Gene Mackles
- Illustration: Mark Fisher
- Animation Editor: Ilene Mernstein
- Animation Sound: Pam Bartella
- Post Production Supervisiors: Casey Brown, David E. Gerber
- Post Editing: Kevin Conrad, Paul Byers
- Post Audio: Bob Millslagle, Dennis Williams, Dave Foreman
- Graphics Layout: Betst Alton
- Wardrobe Assistant: Michael Fisher
- Technical Director: Richard Wirth
- Video: Matty Randazzo
- Nurse: Leslie Collins
- Facilities: Lifetime, Unitel Video, Sync Sound
- Character Voices: Chris Phillips, Doug Preis, Christine Sokol, Barry Carl
- Original Music by: Rockapella
- Title Song Composed by: Sean Altman, David Yazbek
- Research Assistance Provided by: National Geographic World
- WGBH Associate Producer: Janice I. Grant
- WQED Associate Producer: Cheryl Cox
- Based on the Computer Game from Broderbund Software
- Executive Producers: Kate Taylor, Jay Rayvid
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Rules @ Loogaroo's Page
- Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Rules at the Jackpot Page
- Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? at the Internet Movie Database
- Sean Altman official site
List does not include shows from networks airing PBS Kids shows but not funded directly from PBS such as KLCS shows.
