Cyberchase

Cyberchase
Genre	Educational
Created by	Thirteen
Directed by	Larry Jacobs Jason Groh
Voices of	Christopher Lloyd Gilbert Gottfried Novie Edwards Jacqueline Pillon Annick Obonsawin Len Carlson (2002–05) Phil Williams (2006–14) Robert Tinkler Matthew A. Wilson Bianca DeGroat
Theme music composer	David W. Shaw Steve Pecile
Country of origin	United States Canada
Original language	English
No. of seasons	9
No. of episodes	100 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Sandra Sheppard
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Nelvana Jacob Fimmar Animations (Season 2) CleverCat Productions Brighter Minds Media Big Star Film Company Thirteen New York Flying Minds Entertainment
Original release
Network	PBS Kids
Release	January 21, 2002 – April 15, 2014

Cyberchase is an American–Canadian animated television series that premiered on January 21, 2002, on PBS Kids.

The series focuses around three Earth kids, Jackie, Matt, and Inez, who are brought into Cyberspace, a digital universe, to protect it from the evil Hacker. Using math in application with problem-solving skills, environment and weather, they are able to prevent Hacker from causing any more harm. In Cyberspace, they meet Digit, a cybird that helps the kids on their mission to save Cyberspace.

The series was created by Thirteen. In July 2010, after the season eight finale, PBS Kids put Cyberchase on hiatus for unknown reasons, but on their official Facebook page, Cyberchase announced the return of the show with a new season that premiered on November 4, 2013.

On February 10, 2015, Gilbert Gottfried, the voice of Digit, announced that five new season 10 episodes were expected to be broadcast in the latter half of 2015.

Premise

When three average Earth kids, Jackie, Matt, and Inez accidentally allow the Hacker access to Motherboard, the supreme ruler of Cyberspace, she becomes severely weakened by a virus. The kids are brought into Cyberspace in an effort to protect the world from the Hacker and his clumsy assistants Buzz and Delete until a cure is found. They join forces with Digit, and later many more Cybercitizens that turn out to be great friends who are willing to fight for Motherboard.

Characters

Main characters: Cybersquad

• Jackie (voiced by Novie Edwards) is 11 years old and she loves to keep things neat and organized in order to figure things out. Her favorite activities include gymnastics, double Dutch, skipping, drawing, and writing plays about herself. She wears a yellow sweater with a sky blue denim skirt, red jewelry, and dull lavender hi-tops. Jackie's biggest pet peeve is slimy and icky stuff like bugs and many other "gross" things. Like Inez, she was very fond of Slider. Wicked called her Jacqueline once in episode 409 to try to be nice to her. Matt called her that in the same episode just to tease her. In a running gag, Jackie sometimes freaks out when in a crisis. This encourages Matt to taunt her by making an Academy Awards-like "award goes to" comment. However, from the fifth season on, Jackie becomes more calm. Jackie hates the Hacker and thinks he is gross.
• Matt (voiced by Jacqueline Pillon) is 11 years old and the leader of the Cybersquad. He likes skateboards and collecting things (his backpack is always full of useful items). He is impulsive, impatient, tells jokes, and knows a lot about Greek mythology and Star Wars. He usually wears a long lime-green turtle neck, a red backpack, neon blue jeans, and red hi-tops. According to episode 403, it is mentioned that Matt is impatient. He has a pig named Sherman on his family farm and loves other animals such as frogs and lizards. Matt's red backpack contains his many ken-kens and yo-yos which he is very good at using. He frequently calls Inez by the nickname, "Nezzie", much to her annoyance. It is also shown he can be quite protective of her at times. Inez called him Matthew twice in season two episodes 205 and 214 just to tease him. Matt is considered the hero of the group.
• Inez (voiced by Annick Obonsawin) is nine years old and is well known for her excellent vocabulary, for which the others often tease her. She mostly wears a pink long sleeve T-shirt with a yellow star on the front, teal shorts, a purple hooded vest, a pair of square glasses, and high blue boots. Despite being the youngest human member of the gang (only by a year), she is the smartest one. Inez's biggest pet peeve is when Matt calls her "Nezzie", though she is fine with Slider calling her that. When asked why by Matt, she replies, "He's... different", implying that she likes Slider. Inez wears a Sherlock hat in season two, episode 212.
• Digit LeBoid (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried) is a "cybird" (portmanteau of "cyber" and bird), who works for Motherboard and is the kids' best friend. He and the kids protect Cyberspace and Motherboard from Hacker. Digit was created by Hacker and worked for him for a long time, along with Buzz and Delete. He escaped after learning of Hacker's evil doings. He became one of Motherboard's helpers, serving as Dr. Marbles' assistant. He would later join the Cybersquad. Digit can fly by spinning his tail feathers in a helicopter-fashion, or simply by flapping his wings (there are a few episodes where it shows Digit flying with his wings). But he has a fear of heights and prefers to walk, despite the fact that he can fly. He is a cook and wrote his two popular cookbooks The Cyber Chef and Cookin' with the Didge. He carries many objects in his chest, including Widget. He used to try building virtual nests and did not have such accurate practice. He can turn his beak into just about anything, and bends it on occasion. He also can disguise his voice very well.

Note: The Cybersquad is also known as "Earthlies" by Digit, and as "Earthbrats" by Hacker.

Main characters

• Hacker (voiced by Christopher Lloyd) is the main antagonist in the series. In almost every episode, he is trying to conquer all or a part of Cyberspace, but is thwarted each time by the Cybersquad. He resembles Elvis Presley, a fact he appears to be aware of, but is green-faced and wears a black wig and has a pointy chin of which he is vain. He also wears a bicoloured cape. He was created by Dr. Marbles to assist Motherboard, but he rebelled and was exiled to a cybersite called the Northern Frontier. Nevertheless, he does have potential to become good again, as shown in one of the episodes where he became a peaceful artist (temporarily). He has two cyborg lackeys, Buzz and Delete, whose reliability is quite variable; sometimes, he gets very peeved when he has to do things himself that Buzz and Delete can't. He travels in his large spaceship, the Grim Wreaker.
• Buzz (voiced by: Len Carlson [2002–2005] and Phil Williams [2006–present]) is one of Hacker's henchmen, a small spherical cyborg with a large mouth and scrawny limbs, but he seems to think he is a big tough guy; however, he can be kind at times and loves doughnuts.
• Delete (voiced by Rob Tinkler) is the skinnier of the two of Hacker's henchman, the other being Buzz. He is loyal to Hacker. Unlike Buzz, who is more rough around the edges, Delete is softer and more vulnerable to trickery and deceit. He cares deeply for three things: Buzz, whom he has a brotherly friendship with, his pet bunny George, and Zanko, his fairy borg father.
• The Wicked Witch (voiced by Linda Ballantyne) is a character from the cyber-site Happily Ever After, a cyber-site with characters from nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Wicked, tired of seeing everybody happy and joyful, asked Hacker for help creating misery there. She and Hacker, for most of the series, were in love with each other, but often their interactions would end in arguments. She later broke up with Hacker during an incident in which he briefly succeeded in taking over cyberspace, and Hacker angrily broke up with her over extravagant spending. The Wicked Witch has since made multiple attempts to conquer cyberspace herself, much to Hacker's dismay. She and Hacker have since taken their turns loving and hating each other.
• Ledge (voiced by Alex Karzis) is presumably from Sensible Flats, and was a fan of Hacker, who anonymously created a device in Sensible Flats to turn everybody in Sensible Flats into people who both looked and behaved like Hacker. Hacker was briefly impressed with his apparent success, until Inez single handedly defeated the machine Ledge created to do it, however, Hacker ended up getting mad at him, and kicked him off of the ship. Ledge has since been Hacker's nemesis, and also a whole lot smarter and prepared than Hacker. He has only made 2 appearances in the series, however, and has not appeared in the most recent season, and has yet to make another appearance.
• Baskerville is a hunch backed cyborg whose native Cyber-site is unknown because Hacker hired him from an employment company called Henchman-to-go (but could be from Casteblanca), was hired by Hacker after creating a scheme resulting in him having perfect luck. Too vain to realize his plan could still fail, he fired Buzz and Delete in favor of hiring a new henchman whom he hoped would be better help. Baskerville was hired from Henchman-to-go because Hacker wanted somebody who was both evil and worked cheap. After Buzz and Delete, out of jealousy, anonymously helped the cyber squad defeat Hacker, and Hacker's plan consequentially failed. When Hacker went back to having bad luck, Baskerville quit his job with Hacker. Nevertheless, at one point of the series he must have changed his mind because he has returned on many occasions to help Hacker – but he is constantly begrudged by Buzz and Delete in almost every case he is working with, (or else trying to impress) Hacker. Although Hacker has acquired, at one point in the series, other evil helpers besides Buzz and Delete (including Baskerville himself), Baskerville has made appearances early on in the season and is worth noting. He also made an appearance along with the Wicked Witch, who gathered some villains together to make a truce with Motherboard, in order to throw suspicion off of her own plots to take over Cyberspace.
• Grim Wreaker, despite not a character, is Hacker's ship. It's name is a parody of The Grim Reaper. It was built by Digit when he was Hacker's prisoner. Despite its large appearance, it is a slow moving ship, mainly due to it containing a spare pod, various rooms, such as a bedroom and control room, and various gadgets. It does not have warp capability, however Hacker once flew it through several portals he created with portal dust. Buzz and Delete frequently damage the ship by pulling out controls, crashing it, or getting it dirty. In the pilot episode "The Poddleville Case", the wreaker didn't have an outline, and it was just a dark floating object plastered onto a background. After the series began, the wreaker appeared more animated (with an outline) and less dark and ominous than the pilot. From Season 6 onward, the wreaker now shines much brighter, due to the switch to Flash animation, and as such, it's dark grey color now appears more silver.

"Cyberchase For Real" characters

• Harry Wilson (played by Matthew A. Wilson) is one of the main protagonists in the "For Real" segment. He often dresses in a nerdish style and wears horn-rimmed glasses and Converse shoes. In many of the segments, he is rather careless, which usually costs him his current job. He is also very creative and thought out when he encounters a problem.
• Bianca DeGroat (played by Bianca DeGroat) is one of the main protagonists in the "For Real" segment of the series. She often uses the original plot (the animated main plot) to solve everyday real world problems. As a character, she is rather absent-minded, arrogant, and self-centered, and does not think before she acts. She is seen to get carried away very easily.
• Kareem Blackwell (played by Kareem Blackwell) was the main character of the "For Real" segment in the pilot episode "The Poddlevile Case".

Recurring characters

• Motherboard (voiced by Kristina Nicoll) is the relaxed and benevolent ruler of Cyberspace and lives in the Cybersite Control Central. She looks similar to a mainframe. Her former assistant was Hacker who put a virus in her, but because her firewall was not fully uploaded before the virus hit, she was only left weak. The Cybersquad tries to recover the Encryptor Chip and keep Motherboard safe from Hacker.
• Dr. Marbles (voiced by Richard Binsley) is the smart and brilliant inventor who serves Motherboard. He is full of ideas, as the lightbulb on his head suggests. His speech is peppered with computer terms, like "backspace" instead of "hold on a minute". He is the one responsible for creating Hacker to help and defend Motherboard, although Hacker would later rebel against Motherboard and try to destroy her. A guilty Marbles would then downgrade Hacker's power and banish him to the Northern Frontier for his wrongful actions, right after Hacker vowed to return to finish Motherboard and Marbles before taking over Cyberspace.
• Widget (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried) is a small likeness of Digit. His hat, tail feathers, and bowtie are not screwed on properly. He is seen in episodes 124, 206, 308, and 504. In episode 124, it is revealed that he cannot fly yet. He is younger than Digit and helps Digit when it is necessary.
• TW "Teeny Weeny Parallini" is a small square girl Parallini. She is not scared of Hacker, and despite the fact that her mother would not let her help the Cybersquad, she does help them find Diamond Joe.
• Fluff (voiced by Austin Dilulio) is a penguin that plays hockey, which is hard in Cyberia. He is logical and does not buy into advertisements. Fluff is determined to follow in his father's footsteps and to make his family proud. He helped the Cybersquad with the ?Hacker's challenge.
• Creech (voiced by Stephanie Beard) is the young ruler in the Cybersite, Tikiville. She became the apparent Big Kahuna (the term for their rulers in Tikiville) after competing in a race with other Tikiville-inhabitants as well as Hacker. Creech is in some ways similar to Inez, and those ways helped the two to become friends easily. Both have a fairly similar outlook, which is optimistic until something goes completely wrong, and they both have a large vocabulary, which, in Inez's case, causes her to be made fun of. She also is the person in charge of Tikiville's Egg of Benedicta.
• Jules (voiced by Scott McCord) was first seen as a cave guard in episode 507, is a good friend of the Cybersquad, but is often timid. He appears again in episode 607, where Hacker tricks him into pressing the nose of the Jam Master, causing Matt, Jackie, Creech and himself to get sucked into the chamber of Jimaya. After that he appeared in 801 where he helped in Hacker's challenge. He is often trying to find a job, but Hacker continuously tries to ruin it for him.
• Slider (voiced by Tim Hamaguchi) is a serious and James Dean-style 13-year-old skateboarder in Radopolis who builds and repairs skateboards and bikes. Since season three, he has been a recurring character in the series. According to Slider, his father Coop had abandoned him when he was younger because Hacker had hunted Coop for many years. However, in the episode "Measure for Measure" he finds out that his father abandoned him to protect him.

Minor characters and guest stars

Main article: List of Cyberchase minor characters

Cyberchase has had many guest stars over the years, including Tony Hawk. These guest stars appear as citizens of Cybersites, villains, friends, or even rulers of the site.

Episodes

Main article: List of Cyberchase episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	26		January 21, 2002 (2002-01-21)	August 7, 2002 (2002-08-07)
2	14		February 14, 2003 (2003-02-14)	October 28, 2003 (2003-10-28)
3	12		May 3, 2004 (2004-05-03)	December 31, 2004 (2004-12-31)
4	10		April 15, 2005 (2005-04-15)	October 7, 2005 (2005-10-07)
5	10		October 31, 2006 (2006-10-31)	September 3, 2007 (2007-09-03)
6	10		November 7, 2007 (2007-11-07)	October 27, 2008 (2008-10-27)
7	7		April 20, 2009 (2009-04-20)	October 6, 2009 (2009-10-06)
8	5		June 25, 2010 (2010-06-25)	July 23, 2010 (2010-07-23)
9	5		November 4, 2013 (2013-11-04)	April 15, 2014 (2014-04-15)
10	5		November 9, 2015 (2015-11-09)	November 13, 2015 (2015-11-13)
11	10		October 23, 2017 (2017-10-23)	April 20, 2018 (2018-04-20)
12	12		April 19, 2019 (2019-04-19)	May 8, 2020 (2020-05-08)
13	10		February 25, 2022 (2022-02-25)	May 20, 2022 (2022-05-20)
14	4		April 21, 2023 (2023-04-21)	May 11, 2023 (2023-05-11)
15	8		April 27, 2024 (2024-04-27)	May 25, 2024 (2024-05-25)

Live action

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 Bianca DeGroat and Harry Matthew A. Wilson are in their thirties, but amusingly act in a manner similar to the age of the target audience. For Real is produced by WNET 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 and fill the time gap where there might be breaks for commercials. Some For Real segments can also be viewed online. As of September 17, 2012, "Oh Noah", shorts that teach kids to speak Spanish, have been used instead of re-running the "For Real" segments. The "For Real" segment returned in season nine, but only with Harry. He is now working for a student camp that teaches kids about the environment, he has student leaders, and works with his cousin Harley. It features progressive music with lots of synthesizers, a la Broken Wings.

History and education philosophy

According to the website, Motherboard (sometimes referred to as "Mother B.") is the "Brain of the giant computer system that oversees all of Cyberspace. Her technician computer scientist, Dr. Marbles, keeps her functioning properly. Dr. Marbles creates Hacker as an assistant, but Hacker turns against Motherboard. Digit is the assistant to Hacker and watches as Hacker steals the Encryptor Chip. He eventually escapes Hacker, after Dr. Marbles drains Hacker's battery and banishes him to the Northern Frontier. Eventually Hacker is able to find a way to recharge himself, build Buzz and Delete, and formulate a plan to launch a virus that attacks Motherboard. When the kids Jackie, Matt, and Inez, meet by a random chance, and interact with a library map, this opens up a door for Hacker to infect Motherboard with the virus.

Cyberchase aims to show kids that math is everywhere and everyone can be good at it. The series encourages viewers to see, think, and do mathematics in their world. The show and supporting activities have been designed to support math education and reflect the curriculum standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The show's philosophy is to foster enthusiasm for math, to model mathematic reasoning, to help children improve their problem-solving skills and to inspire all children to approach math with confidence and a "can-do" attitude.

Cybersites

Main article: List of Cybersites

Cyberspace consists of plane-like bodies called Cybersites which are based on locations such as Ancient Egypt, the American Old West, mythological Greece, and Carnival. The Cybersquad travels to many of these locations in order to protect Cyberspace from Hacker. Each Cybersite has their own type of Cybercitizen if it is inhabited. They are meant to represent the diversity of websites on the Internet, and reflect the many ecosystems and neighborhoods of today's world. For example, Gollywood is a Cyberspace representation of Hollywood, and Pefectamundo represent the 100% sustainable ecosystem of tomorrow.

Apps

There are two apps that Cyberchase has released to date:

1. Cyberchase 3D Builder: Bumbling bots Buzz and Delete accidentally zapped the houses in Botopolis totally flat. Help rebuild the town by turning 2D shapes into 3D structures.
2. Cyberchase Shape Quest: Buzz and Delete are back in Botopolis for another fun-filled adventure. Play with them and their animal friends through three math-based games focused on geometry, spatial reasoning and problem solving.

Broadcast and production

Development

Originally, Thirteen in partnership with Nelvana, produced the show for PBSKids. It aired on PBSKids from 2002–04 and from 2013–14, on V-me, PBS, and on PBS Kids Go! from 2004–13. Cyberchase is animated (after season 5) by Pip Animation Services Inc. Right Path Pictures does Post Production, and Curious Pictures did the original character design. Twelfth Root Music produces the sound track for Cyberchase. Thirteen/WNET New York and Nelvana produced the first five seasons, while Thirteen, in association with Title Entertainment, Inc. and WNET.ORG, produced seasons six through nine.

Executive producers

• Sandra Sheppard (Thirteen)
• Kristin Laskas Martin (Thirteen, seasons 1–5)
• Michael Hirsh (Nelvana International, seasons 1–2)
• Patrick Loubert (Nelvana International, seasons 1)
• Clive A. Smith (Nelvana International, seasons 1)
• Toper Taylor (Nelvana International, seasons 1–2)
• Paul Robertson (Nelvana International, season 3)
• Doug Murphy (Nelvana International, season 4)
• Scott Dyer (Nelvana International, season 2–4)
• Frances Nankin (season 6–8)
• Ellen Doherty (season 6–9)
• Kristin DiQuollo

Reception

Critical response

On the site Common Sense Media, the show was for ages 5 and up and rated four out of five stars. The reviewer, Joly Herman, commented that "the adventures aren't scary, violent, or sexually inappropriate" but "require fortitude and brain power". Proposed discussion points sprouting from the series include "Can your child take the skills learned in each episode and figure out how to apply it to everyday life?" Herman noted that the only downside was that the adventures did not take place in the "real world" but added that the "For Real" segments solved this problem. The show was given a rating of three out of five smiley faces under the "The Good Stuff" section.

Carey Bryson of About.com gave the show a rating of four out of five stars. Bryson noted that the series' explanations of "simple mathematical idea[s]" are "usually explained well and woven throughout the story in a fun and interesting way". The review commended the series for its accessibility: "Children can easily learn from the example in the cartoon story" and praised the "Cyberchase For Real segment that follows each episode". Citing an example from the series using codes, Bryson explained how the show could be used to expand upon the curriculum: "Not only did [her five-year-old] learn about codes, but she also got in a ton of spelling practice". Bryson commended the series: "Educationally, Cyberchase delivers".

Awards

Cyberchase has been nominated for five Daytime Emmys and won in 2007 in the Outstanding Broadband Program category. Cyberchase also won a CINE Golden Eagle in 2006.

Year	Category	Recipient(s)	Result
2007	Outstanding Broadband Program – Children's	See below	Won
2008	Outstanding New Approaches – Children's	See below	Nominated
	Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	Christopher Lloyd	Nominated
2009	Outstanding New Approaches – Daytime Children's	See below	Nominated
2012	Outstanding New Approaches – Daytime Children's	See below	Nominated

^2007 Outstanding Broadband Program nominees : Frances Nankin, Sandra Sheppard, Ellen Doherty, Jill Peters, Bob Morris, Suzanne Rose, Michelle Chen, Elizabeth Hummer, Arash Hoda, Anthony Chapman, David Hirmes, Bianca DeGroat, Matthew A. Wilson, George Arthur Bloom
^2008 Outstanding New Approaches nominees : Sandra Sheppard, Frances Nankin, Ellen Doherty, Jill Peters, David Hirmes, Kelly Lafferty, Michelle Chen, Tanner Vea, Bob Morris, Matthew A. Wilson
^2009 Outstanding New Approaches nominees : Sandra Sheppard, Frances Nankin, Ellen Doherty, David Hirmes, Tanner Vea, Denyse Ouellette, Gilbert Gottfried, Phil Williams, Robert Tinkler
^2012 Outstanding New Approaches nominees : Frances Nankin, Sandra Sheppard, Jill Peters, Marj Kleinman, Ellen Doherty, Kristin DiQuollo, Michelle Chen

See also

• Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase

External links

• Studies on Cyberchase on Informalscience.org
• PBS Kids: Cyberchase Official Site
• Cyberchase Parents and Teacher Website—lessons, video, and tools to teach math.