Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (game show)

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Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego was a US 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.

Contents

1 Round One

1.0.1 Lightning Round
1.0.2 The Chase
1.0.3 Final Skit

2 Round Two
3 Bonus Round
4 Ending
5 Home Viewer Contest
6 Rockapella voiceovers
7 Featured crooks
8 Production Notes
9 Notes
10 See also
11 External links

Round One

Each contestant was given 50 points (aka ACME Crime Bucks) 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. 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 points.

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 points.

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.

After the break, the contestants watched an animated "Phone Tap" between Carmen and the day's crook. Several other clues were presented, and questions answered. Three more skits and questions took place after the first Lightning Round, before the next break.

The Chase

In season 1, this consisted of another Lightning Round, but starting with season 2, this was a new series of five questions known as "The Chase". 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 points.

Final Skit

After the second Lightning Round 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 from zero to 50 points (in 10 point increments), 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 (incorrect answers resulted in the wager being deducted). The top two players at this point moved on to Round Two, while the third-placed player was eliminated.

In case of a tie for 2nd place, the host read clues related to a famous person or place. The first person to buzz in with the correct answer moved on to Round Two.

Round Two

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 chose who would play first. If a contestant found any of the three key items, he or she could select again. The first player to find the loot, the warrant, and the crook, in that order, won the game (and the right to "throw the criminal in jail"), and advanced to the bonus round to try to find Carmen Sandiego. if something was picked out of order they would not get the item but got to go for a second time. (one time this lead on person picking all items in reverse, loseing there turn after 3 tries in a row, and giveing the other contestent the win)

If the player that picked first happened to win the game on the first turn, he or she not only win 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.

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. The Chief then gave a list of fifteen possible locations, either countries or capital cities, 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 15 locations that were listed. 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 country or city, 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 chance to move the marker. After two incorrect guesses, another location was read.

If within 45 seconds (60 in one episode), the player could successfully identify 7 locations on the map (8 after the first season), the player caught Carmen Sandiego and won the trip.

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 closing credits.

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 and location 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.

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:

"oooooohhhh, The Chase!" when this segment of the show was played
"The LOOT", "The Warrant" (sung), (crook's name) in the second round as they were uncovered.*
"(crook's name)'s in jail!" after the winner arrested him/her.
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 ("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 "aaaaaahhhh, let's get packin'!" after the trip reveal with a successful bonus win

*About halfway through the season, Rockapella would sing a silly phrase instead of saying "The LOOT" every time it was uncovered, such as "pilfered pipeline" when the stolen item was the Alaskan Pipeline. Something different was sung every time the artifact was revealed on the board; in case of long rounds, the singers would begin showing their obvious disgust at it taking so long to find the items. One 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.

Featured crooks

Some of the crooks featured on the show were:

Contessa, a so-called criminal of style
Double Trouble, a pair of different-colored Siamese twins
Eartha Brute, a muscle bound woman with a Marge Simpson hairdo
Patty Larceny, a ditzy blonde
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
Sarah Nade, a punk rocker teenager who loved concerts and singing. (named after the word serenade)
Wonder Rat, a parody of Superman and Batman who flew with a helicopter

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 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 Germany.

Notes

On one or two very early episodes (possibly pilots), a different scoring system was used. Contestants started with 100 ACME Crime Bucks, with correct answers resulting in a certain amount of points being subtracted, and incorrect answers costing the players even more points. Also in these episodes, the markers placed on the map in the bonus round were flags of each country; if the answer was correct, a fluorescent light on the flagpole would light up.

On some early episodes, host Lee would read a description of a location before giving its name itself in the bonus round; this led to many people losing the bonus round waiting on him to finish reading, and was soon changed to Lee strictly reading the name of the location.

On some early episodes, perhaps the entire first season, the loot, warrant, and crook could be gathered in any order. At the start of the second season (at the latest), however, 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.

External links

[Sean Altman official site]

Past PBS Kids Shows (as of May 2006)

List does not include shows from networks airing PBS Kids shows but not funded directly from PBS such as KLCS shows.

[Complete List] | [Current Shows] | [Past Shows] |

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