Crashbox: Difference between revisions
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| Aug 14, 1999 || Revolting Slob (12) || |
| Aug 14, 1999 || Revolting Slob (12) || Distraction News (8) || Psycho Math (1) || Haunted House Party (18) || Radio Scramble (26) || Ten 2nds (1) || Poop or Scoop (5) || Riddlesnake (12) || Revolting Slob (12) to Riddlesnake (12) |
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| Aug 15, 1999 || Radio Scramble (2) || Revolting Slob (5) || Poop or Scoop (14) || Dirty Pictures (4) || Mugshots (6 |
| Aug 15, 1999 || Radio Scramble (2) || Revolting Slob (5) || Poop or Scoop (14) || Dirty Pictures (4) || Mugshots (6) || Sketch Pad (8, Non-rewind) || Psycho Math (9) || Ten 2nds (7) || Radio Scramble (2) to Ten 2nds (7) |
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| Aug 21, 1999 || Captain Bones (15, Non-rewind) || Revolting Slob (7) || Poop or Scoop (17) || Haunted House Party (17) || Distraction News (11 |
| Aug 21, 1999 || Captain Bones (15, Non-rewind) || Revolting Slob (7) || Poop or Scoop (17) || Haunted House Party (17) || Distraction News (11) || Think Tank (13, Non-rewind) || Ten 2nds (5) || Riddlesnake (3) || Captain Bones (15, Non-rewind) to Riddlesnake (3) |
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| Aug 22, 1999 || Revolting Slob (26) || |
| Aug 22, 1999 || Revolting Slob (26) || Distraction News (9) || Sketch Pad (11, Non-rewind) || Dirty Pictures (7) || Poop or Scoop (16) || Psycho Math (11) || Think Tank (25, Non-rewind) || Riddlesnake (14) || Revolting Slob (26) to Riddlesnake (14) |
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Revision as of 18:11, 28 December 2023
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Crashbox | |
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Genre | |
Created by |
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Directed by | Dave Thomas |
Voices of |
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Composer | Matthew Morse |
Country of origin |
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Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 52 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Production locations |
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Camera setup | Single-Camera |
Running time | 24-30 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | HBO Family |
Release | February 1, 1999 April 1, 2000 | –
Crashbox is an educational children's television series co-created by Eamon Harrington and John Watkin for HBO Family that ran from 1999 to 2000 in the United States. It was HBO's second attempt (their first being Braingames 15 years earlier) at a show focused on educational skits.
Crashbox was one of the original programs for the relaunch of the HBO Family channel in February 1999.[1][2][3] Although it has never been released on physical media like DVD or VHS, it still has reruns on HBO Family and is found on various streaming services.
Production
Crashbox was created by Planet Grande Pictures (consisting of Eamon Harrington and John Watkin) and is animated by Cuppa Coffee Studios, headed by Adam Shaheen. Planet Grande Pictures engaged Cuppa Coffee Studios for 8 months to complete 13 hours of programming.[4][5] Some of the segments were repeated for the first half of Season 2, while production of the second half went underway in late 1999.[6]
Along with the 52 aired episodes, it has been stated that a total of 65 episodes were at one point produced/planned, as confirmed through an interview from Planet Grande Pictures.[7] This statement is likely false,[8] however, as all of the segments produced for Season 2 were already featured in the aired episodes,[9] and other crew members have stated otherwise.[10]
Premise
The show takes place in the insides of a game computer where green game cartridges (which are sculpted out of clay) are created and loaded by rusty tin robots, occasionally with short sketches of them "repairing" damaged games. The format of each episode is The Electric Company-esque, with sketches not connecting nor following a sequential plot. Each half-hour episode consists of seven (occasionally eight) 1-to-5-minute educational games, covering subjects like history, math, spelling, and nature.[11]
Segments
The following are the games of the show listed in alphabetical order:
- Captain Bones - A pirate skeleton named Captain Bones has the viewers solve math problems, picture puzzles, and math riddles by having his bones form the equation or picture, often having the viewers move a limited number of his bones to pull it off. Throughout the game, Captain Bones will openly mock and demean the viewers using several pirate-esque insults, eventually becoming so irate that he blurts out the answer in rage.
- Dirty Pictures - In an art museum that is closed for cleaning, a maid dusts off a picture with a wooden "Old Fossil" guard holding up cards that give the hints of the person in the dusty painting. Once the main painting and name plate are dusted off, one last comment is shown by the Old Fossil before the museum doors close, ending the game. The maid only speaks through indistinct mutters, although the Old Fossil often mutters what's on his cards in Season 2.
- Distraction News - A cardboard cutout anchorperson named Dora Smarmy provides informative news segments while distractive images (some of which from other games) appear during the broadcast. The object is to see how well the viewers were able to remember key facts from the broadcast without being distracted.
- Ear-We-Are* - A pair of ears, the left one being sensible and short-tempered, and the right one (with an earring) being brash and a bit foolish, describe sounds for the viewers to guess what event or thing they refer to.
- Eddie Bull - Eddie Bull gives viewers a number of hints to what animal at the Walla Walla Washington Zoo ate him. Once the animal is identified, Eddie is regurgitated, and the game then ends.
- Haunted House Party - A haunted house party hosted by the unseen Horrid One has ghosts attend as the viewer must identify the mystery guest of honor by listening to clues said about them, often accompanied by the butler or other party guests. When all the clues have been said, the Horrid One recaps them to the viewers before the historical figure is revealed in cardboard cutout form after a bright flash of lightning.
- Lens McCracken* - An incompetent and near-sighted noir-styled detective named Lens McCracken develops pictures for a case he's working on. His camera lens is broken, however, resulting in zoomed-in and blurry pictures that viewers must figure out what they're supposed to be. A stumped Lens then feeds the photos to his dark-room contraction, the Solutionator, and ends the segment by piecing together a nonsensical story from the zoomed-out photos. This is the only segment to be played in Season 2A not to have new segments produced for Season 2B.
- Mugshots[12] - Also known as "Mug Shots" in the game's title card; Detective Verity Wisenheimer has the viewers look at the interrogated testimony from four photographed suspects of a crime where they must find out who is telling the truth and which of the other three are lying as they each state where they were when the crime was happening. The viewer solves the puzzle by spotting the contradictions or factual inaccuracies in the testimonies. Each of the suspects are played by live action actors. When the innocent suspect is identified, the game ends.
- Paige and Sage* - Paige and Sage, the segment's namesakes, are two identical twins, represented by Barbie Doll lookalikes. The game featured the girls hanging out at two versions of a given location, with the player being asked to spot 10 differences between Paige (left) and Sage's (right) side of the screen in the span of 60 seconds. A valley girl, implied to know the girls, narrates the segment, and recaps the differences while poking fun at the twins, or strange characters and scenarios in the pictures.
- Poop or Scoop - A purple carnival ringmaster gives four facts about animals where the viewers must guess if they are true or false.
- Psycho Math - An eccentric and hot-headed robot named Professor Rocket gives the viewers long math problems for them to solve with countable pictures or descriptions of numbered things, such as the number of members on a baseball team qualifying for the number "9".
- Radio Scramble* - An anthropomorphic microphone DJ nicknamed Jumpin' Johnnie Jumble has the viewers unscramble a word that is the title of the song that he plays at the KBOX radio station. He will sometimes also deliver traffic (as Captain Copter), commercials, sports (as Billy Bull), or weather reports (as April Showers) that also are anagram puzzles.
- Revolting Slob - A documentary-esque puppet sketch where a polite female voice uses the messy Revolting Slob to describe three three-choice answer vocabulary questions. The sketch ends with another word of the final question having the Revolting Slob explode with the female narrator stating that "No slobs were harmed in the making of this show." In Season 1, the Revolting Slob is bad-tempered, grumpy, and gluttonous, and the segment takes place in his living room. But in Season 2, the Revolting Slob is eccentric and exuberant, and the segment takes place in his kitchen. The slob always does a revolting or strange action in each segment.
- Riddlesnake*[13] - An unseen raj reads the riddles from the pungi-playing Riddlesnake that the viewers must solve. The Riddlesnake charms a man, who blows a kazoo, revealing the answer to the riddle. This segment is typically played as the final game (only 7 times in Season 1, and 15 times in Season 2), is exclusively used to close episodes in Season 2, and is never played during Crashbox Rewind.
- Sketch Pad - A beatnik named Sketch Pad draws pictures of scenarios where something seemingly doesn't make sense. The goal of the game is to try to guess the event or outcome that would make the story make sense.
- Ten 2nds*[13] - A supercomputer gives the viewers ten seconds to solve each of four or five rebus puzzles (depending on the season) and guess the answer. At the end of the game, the announcer signs off, moving to another game.
- Think Tank - Inside a fish tank, a Jamaican submarine captain named Captain Bob has the viewers figure out a word that explains what each of three things that appear have in common. This game is used to open three episodes (2 in Season 1, 1 in Season 2), and notably closes the final episode of Season 2, making it the only "rewind" game to be used as a closer, and is one of three games to be used as both an opener and a closer.
- Wordshake*[14] - Also known as "Word Shake" in the game's title card; An artificially intelligent American-French chef in a black-and-white movie machine named Chef Pierre demonstrates two or three letters, words or phrases that are to be used by the viewers to combine into one word or phrase, such as the letters "D" and "K" to form "decay" and the words "disturb" and "honey" to make "the Easter Bunny". The sketch usually ends with the kitchen exploding with flour.
Near the end of each episode, "Crashbox Rewind" takes place, where the robots rewind through certain segments (typically four or five) to showcase what they've learned. The seven segments marked with an asterisk (*) are skipped during Rewind. At least two-to-four of these segments appear in every episode (only in Season 1).
Cast
Segment | Character | Actor |
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Factory, Cafeteria, Maintenance | Robots | Jerry Stiller,[15] John Watkin (uncredited), Peter Lurie (uncredited), Mari Weiss (Season 2, uncredited), Nancy Cartwright (Season 2; uncredited) |
Captain Bones | Captain Bones | S. Scott Bullock |
Dirty Pictures | Cleaning Maid | Maggie Baird (uncredited) |
Old Fossil | Greg Eagles (uncredited) | |
Distraction News | Dora Smarmy | Mari Weiss |
Ear-We-Are | Left Ear | John Watkin |
Right Ear | Alan Schlaifer | |
Eddie Bull | Eddie Bull | Ritchie Montgomery |
Haunted House Party | Horrid One | John Watkin |
Butler | Alan Schlaifer | |
Lens McCracken | Lens McCracken | S. Scott Bullock |
Mugshots[12] | Detective Verity Wisenheimer[12] | Maggie Baird |
Paige and Sage | Valley Girl | Dawn Maxey |
Poop or Scoop | Announcer | Danny Wells |
Psycho Math | Professor Rocket | Joseph Motiki[16] (Season 1/2A; uncredited), Arif S. Kinchen (Season 2B) |
Radio Scramble | Jumpin' Johnnie Jumble[6] | Peter Lurie |
Revolting Slob | Polite Female Voice | Edie McClurg |
Revolting Slob | Mike McShane | |
Riddlesnake[13] | Riddlesnake Raj[13] | Veena Bidasha |
Sketch Pad | Sketch Pad | Greg Eagles |
Ten 2nds[13] | Announcer | Alan Schlaifer |
Think Tank | Captain Bob | Greg Eagles |
Wordshake[14] | Chef Pierre[17] | John Watkin |
Episode | Segment | Character | Actor |
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1 | Haunted House Party | Harry Houdini | Carlos Alazraqui |
2 and 28 | Haunted House Party | Paul Revere | John Watkin |
3 and 38 | Mugshots | Muscles Stankowski | Alan Schlaifer |
Knuckles Stankowski | John Watkin | ||
Elbows Stankowski | S. Scott Bullock | ||
Stanley "Deuces" Stankowski | |||
5 and 29 | Haunted House Party | William Shakespeare | John Watkin |
Woman (1) | Maggie Baird | ||
6 and 31 | Mugshots | Sleepy Eyes McGee | S. Scott Bullock |
Checkers Larue | |||
Billy Crimp | |||
Mickey "The Goat" O'Grady | Alan Schlaifer | ||
10 and 37 | Haunted House Party | Benjamin Franklin | Carlos Alazraqui |
Woman (2) | Maggie Baird | ||
11 | Mugshots | Dr. Cleanpick | Alan Schlaifer |
Chatty Cathy | |||
"Stinky" John | John Watkin | ||
Sam Spit | |||
15 | Haunted House Party | Richard Nixon | Carlos Alazraqui |
16 and 36 | Mugshots | Viola Hardcase | Dawn Maxey |
Bass Henderson | Greg Eagles | ||
Willow Reed | |||
Fingers Weinstock | Peter Lurie | ||
17 and 32 | Haunted House Party | Abraham Lincoln | John Watkin |
18 and 30 | Haunted House Party | Eleanor Roosevelt | Maggie Baird |
Coquettish Woman | Maggie Baird | ||
19 and 37 | Mugshots | Honey Lemon | |
Candy Lemon | |||
Sugar Lemon | |||
Puddin' Lemon | |||
20 and 36 | Haunted House Party | Albert Einstein | John Watkin |
Woman (2) | Maggie Baird | ||
20 and 28 | Mugshots | "Lug Nut" Muldoon | John Watkin |
Sammy "Sixtoes" Bixby | Greg Eagles | ||
Scooter Hayes | |||
Larry "The Lump" Coolridge | Alan Schlaifer | ||
21 and 29 | Mugshots | Lois Carnegie | |
Morgan "Applesauce" Pike | |||
Mitch Vanderbilt | |||
Mellon Ball Jones | |||
22 | Haunted House Party | Christopher Columbus | Carlos Alazraqui |
23 and 27 | Haunted House Party | Jackie Robinson | Greg Eagles |
23 and 34 | Mugshots | Dean DeLuca | |
Gilbert Sullivan | |||
Louis Clark | Alan Schlaifer | ||
Roger Hammerstein | John Watkin | ||
25 | Haunted House Party | Thomas Edison | Carlos Alazraqui |
Teenager | Alan Schlaifer (miscredited as "Butler") | ||
25 and 27 | Mugshots | Baby Face MacGuire | Alan Schlaifer |
Leo "The Lion" Lawrence | |||
Danger Jones | Greg Eagles | ||
Slippery Fingers Ferguson | |||
26 and 35 | Haunted House Party | Leonardo da Vinci | S. Scott Bullock |
40 | Haunted House Party | Thomas Jefferson | Dee Bradley Baker |
41 | Mugshots | Mildred Postley | Edie McClurg |
Irv Goldberg | Alan Schlaifer | ||
Rupert Brindle | |||
Sergio Corleone | |||
42 | Haunted House Party | Noah | Peter Lurie |
Mugshots | Buttons Ha-Ha | Peter Lurie | |
"Pecs" Armstrong | Greg Eagles | ||
Ivana Flipova | Veena Bidasha | ||
Gilberto Whiplash | Alan Schlaifer | ||
43 | Haunted House Party | Cleopatra | Veena Bidasha |
44 | Mugshots | Stu Rumplitz “The Peeper” | |
Jimmy “The Geek” Hudsucker | |||
Jean Pierre Le Saux “Frenchy” | |||
Hossenpfeffer Floog | |||
45 | Haunted House Party | Isaac Newton | S. Scott Bullock |
46 | Haunted House Party | Julius Caesar | S. Scott Bullock |
Mugshots | Montgomery Cleft | Peter Lurie | |
B.B. Graw | Alan Schlaifer | ||
Lollipop Greene | |||
Sir Percival St. John | John Watkin | ||
47 | Haunted House Party | Amelia Earhart | Christy Noonan |
Mugshots | "Bean Ball" Ballou | ||
"Spitter" Sykes | |||
"Lumber" Jack Lang | |||
Edgardo Polonia | |||
49 | Mugshots | Dusty Rhodes | |
Indy Pitts | Alan Schlaifer | ||
Axel Schmidt | |||
Tranh Long | |||
50 | Mugshots | Gertrude Simsbury | Dawn Maxey |
Elaine Kieserman | Veena Bidasha | ||
Mathilda Hudson-Billingsley | |||
Constance Appleby | Edie McClurg | ||
51 | Haunted House Party | George Washington | S. Scott Bullock |
Southern Lady | Hope Kaplan-Biller | ||
Mugshots | Noseless Calhoun | Dee Bradley Baker | |
"Three Eyes" Oppenheimer | |||
Harry "The Hairy" Huang | Alan Schlaifer | ||
"Big Noggin" Simms | John Watkin | ||
52 | Haunted House Party | Henry Ford | Dee Bradley Baker |
Episodes
Season 1
The first season of Crashbox premiered on HBO Family on February 1, 1999.[3] The first seven episodes aired throughout the first week of February. The remaining 19 episodes aired on weekends, typically in batches of twos, with Episode 26 closing the season on April 17.
Season 1 (1999)[18] | ||||||||||
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Episodes | Airdate | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 | Game 8 | Full Games |
1 | Feb 1, 1999 | Distraction News | Sketch Pad | Psycho Math | Ear-We-Are | Haunted House Party | Eddie Bull | Ten 2nds | Riddlesnake | Distraction News to Riddlesnake |
2 | Feb 2, 1999 | Radio Scramble | Captain Bones | Poop or Scoop | Ten 2nds | Haunted House Party | Revolting Slob | Wordshake | Radio Scramble to Wordshake | |
3 | Feb 3, 1999 | Mugshots | Distraction News | Psycho Math | Ear-We-Are | Paige and Sage | Eddie Bull | Ten 2nds | Riddlesnake | Mugshots to Riddlesnake |
4 | Feb 4, 1999 | Poop or Scoop | Captain Bones | Distraction News | Paige and Sage | Think Tank | Dirty Pictures | Lens McCracken | Poop or Scoop to Lens McCracken | |
5 | Feb 5, 1999 | Haunted House Party | Revolting Slob | Think Tank | Poop or Scoop | Ear-We-Are | Psycho Math | Ten 2nds | Haunted House Party to Ten 2nds | |
6 | Feb 6, 1999 | Radio Scramble | Eddie Bull | Captain Bones | Sketch Pad | Mugshots | Think Tank | Ear-We-Are | Radio Scramble to Ear-We-Are | |
7 | Feb 7, 1999 | Lens McCracken | Captain Bones | Revolting Slob | Dirty Pictures | Sketch Pad | Poop or Scoop | Ten 2nds | Lens McCracken to Ten 2nds | |
8 | Feb 13, 1999 | Lens McCracken | Distraction News | Sketch Pad | Dirty Pictures | Eddie Bull | Psycho Math | Riddlesnake | Ten 2nds | Lens McCracken to Ten 2nds |
9 | Feb 14, 1999 | Radio Scramble | Distraction News | Psycho Math | Dirty Pictures | Lens McCracken | Eddie Bull | Ear-We-Are | Radio Scramble to Ear-We-Are | |
10 | Feb 20, 1999 | Radio Scramble | Eddie Bull | Sketch Pad | Paige and Sage | Haunted House Party | Psycho Math | Lens McCracken | Riddlesnake | Radio Scramble to Riddlesnake |
11 | Feb 21, 1999 | Mugshots | Sketch Pad | Psycho Math | Dirty Pictures | Distraction News | Riddlesnake | Wordshake | Mugshots to Wordshake | |
12 | Feb 27, 1999 | Revolting Slob | Think Tank | Poop or Scoop | Riddlesnake | Psycho Math | Paige and Sage | Lens McCracken | Revolting Slob to Lens McCracken | |
13 | Feb 28, 1999 | Revolting Slob (Non-rewind) | Think Tank | Poop or Scoop | Ear-We-Are | Psycho Math | Dirty Pictures | Lens McCracken | Revolting Slob (Non-rewind) to Lens McCracken | |
14 | Mar 6, 1999 | Revolting Slob (Non-rewind) | Think Tank | Poop or Scoop | Riddlesnake | Psycho Math | Dirty Pictures | Paige and Sage | Revolting Slob (Non-rewind) to Paige and Sage | |
15 | Mar 7, 1999 | Captain Bones | Distraction News | Haunted House Party | Radio Scramble | Riddlesnake | Eddie Bull | Lens McCracken | Paige and Sage | Captain Bones to Paige and Sage |
16 | Mar 13, 1999 | Captain Bones | Distraction News | Mugshots | Ear-We-Are | Poop or Scoop | Paige and Sage | Riddlesnake | Captain Bones to Riddlesnake | |
17 | Mar 14, 1999 | Radio Scramble | Revolting Slob | Poop or Scoop | Ten 2nds | Captain Bones | Haunted House Party | Paige and Sage | Radio Scramble to Paige and Sage | |
18 | Mar 20, 1999 | Think Tank | Distraction News | Radio Scramble | Haunted House Party | Poop or Scoop | Captain Bones (Non-rewind) | Lens McCracken | Think Tank to Lens McCracken | |
19 | Mar 21, 1999 | Think Tank | Mugshots | Captain Bones | Paige and Sage | Eddie Bull | Wordshake | Riddlesnake | Think Tank to Riddlesnake | |
20 | Mar 27, 1999 | Radio Scramble | Mugshots | Sketch Pad | Psycho Math | Haunted House Party | Ten 2nds | Wordshake | Radio Scramble to Wordshake | |
21 | Mar 28, 1999 | Eddie Bull | Radio Scramble | Dirty Pictures | Mugshots | Ear-We-Are | Psycho Math | Wordshake | Eddie Bull to Wordshake | |
22 | Apr 3, 1999 | Haunted House Party | Sketch Pad | Radio Scramble | Revolting Slob | Riddlesnake | Eddie Bull | Wordshake | Haunted House Party to Wordshake | |
23 | Apr 4, 1999 | Mugshots | Wordshake | Haunted House Party | Lens McCracken | Poop or Scoop | Captain Bones | Riddlesnake | Mugshots to Riddlesnake | |
24 | Apr 10, 1999 | Radio Scramble | Sketch Pad | Eddie Bull | Wordshake | Captain Bones | Dirty Pictures | Lens McCracken | Radio Scramble to Lens McCracken | |
25 | Apr 11, 1999 | Haunted House Party | Think Tank | Ear-We-Are | Mugshots | Poop or Scoop | Wordshake | Riddlesnake | Haunted House Party to Riddlesnake | |
26 | Apr 17, 1999 | Revolting Slob | Haunted House Party | Eddie Bull | Captain Bones | Radio Scramble | Ten 2nds | Lens McCracken | Revolting Slob to Lens McCracken |
Season 2
The first half of Crashbox's second season first premiered on HBO Family with Episode 27, which aired on August 1, 1999. The twelve other episodes of Season 2A premiered on weekends in batches of twos up until September 12.
Segments from the first half of Season 2 reuse select segments from Season 1, with the games "Ear-We-Are", "Wordshake", and "Paige and Sage" being dropped from the game lineup. Lens McCracken is featured in Season 2A but will later be dropped for Season 2B.
The second half of Season 2 premiered on February 19, 2000, with Episode 40; Crashbox 41 premiered the following day. Episodes 42-51 aired on the following weekdays in batches of twos, with Episode 52 airing on April 1, 2000, serving as the series' final episode.
Distinctly, Episodes 43, 45, 48, and 50 were produced in 1999 (as seen in their credits), in contrast to the rest of Season 2B, which was produced in 2000.
Season 2 (1999-2000)[18] | ||||||||||
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Episodes | Airdate | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 | Game 8 | Full Games |
27[19] | Aug 1, 1999 | Distraction News (1) | Captain Bones (19, Non-rewind) | Sketch Pad (1) | Haunted House Party (23) | Poop or Scoop (25) | Ten 2nds (8) | Mugshots (25) | Riddlesnake (11) | Distraction News (1) to Riddlesnake (11) |
28[19] | Aug 7, 1999 | Captain Bones (16, Non-rewind) | Revolting Slob (17) | Mugshots (20, Non-rewind) | Distraction News (15) | Haunted House Party (2) | Poop or Scoop (2) | Lens McCracken (15) | Riddlesnake (16) | Captain Bones (16, Non-rewind) to Riddlesnake (16) |
29[19] | Aug 8, 1999 | Haunted House Party (5) | Revolting Slob (2) | Think Tank (14, Non-rewind) | Poop or Scoop (13) | Captain Bones (24) | Ten 2nds (20) | Mugshots (21) | Riddlesnake (10) | Haunted House Party (5) to Riddlesnake (10) |
30[19] | Aug 14, 1999 | Revolting Slob (12) | Distraction News (8) | Psycho Math (1) | Haunted House Party (18) | Radio Scramble (26) | Ten 2nds (1) | Poop or Scoop (5) | Riddlesnake (12) | Revolting Slob (12) to Riddlesnake (12) |
31[19] | Aug 15, 1999 | Radio Scramble (2) | Revolting Slob (5) | Poop or Scoop (14) | Dirty Pictures (4) | Mugshots (6) | Sketch Pad (8, Non-rewind) | Psycho Math (9) | Ten 2nds (7) | Radio Scramble (2) to Ten 2nds (7) |
32[19] | Aug 21, 1999 | Captain Bones (15, Non-rewind) | Revolting Slob (7) | Poop or Scoop (17) | Haunted House Party (17) | Distraction News (11) | Think Tank (13, Non-rewind) | Ten 2nds (5) | Riddlesnake (3) | Captain Bones (15, Non-rewind) to Riddlesnake (3) |
33[19] | Aug 22, 1999 | Revolting Slob (26) | Distraction News (9) | Sketch Pad (11, Non-rewind) | Dirty Pictures (7) | Poop or Scoop (16) | Psycho Math (11) | Think Tank (25, Non-rewind) | Riddlesnake (14) | Revolting Slob (26) to Riddlesnake (14) |
34[19] | Aug 28, 1999 | Mugshots (23) | Distraction News (4) | Captain Bones (23, Non-rewind) | Dirty Pictures (11) | Sketch Pad (7) | Eddie Bull (9) | Lens McCracken (23) | Riddlesnake (25) | Mugshots (23) to Riddlesnake (25) |
35[19] | Aug 29, 1999 | Radio Scramble (24) | Distraction News (16) | Sketch Pad (22, Non-rewind) | Haunted House Party (26) | Captain Bones (17) | Revolting Slob (22) | Eddie Bull (10) | Riddlesnake (23) | Radio Scramble (24) to Riddlesnake (23) |
36[19] | Sep 4, 1999 | Revolting Slob (13, Non-rewind) | Mugshots (16) | Sketch Pad (6) | Psycho Math (21) | Haunted House Party (20) | Radio Scramble (18) | Poop or Scoop (12) | Ten 2nds (3) | Revolting Slob (13, Non-rewind) to Ten 2nds (3) |
37[19] | Sep 5, 1999 | Think Tank (18) | Mugshots (19, Non-rewind) | Captain Bones (2, Non-rewind) | Sketch Pad (10) | Haunted House Party (10) | Eddie Bull (22) | Lens McCracken (4) | Ten 2nds (26) | Think Tank (18) to Ten 2nds (26) |
38[19] | Sep 11, 1999 | Mugshots (3) | Sketch Pad (24, Non-rewind) | Distraction News (3) | Dirty Pictures (9) | Psycho Math (13) | Think Tank (12, Non-rewind) | Eddie Bull (24) | Lens McCracken (10) | Mugshots (3) to Lens McCracken (10) |
39[19] | Sep 12, 1999 | Revolting Slob (14, Non-rewind) | Distraction News (18) | Psycho Math (5) | Dirty Pictures (13) | Poop or Scoop (18) | Radio Scramble (15) | Ten 2nds (17) | Riddlesnake (1) | Revolting Slob (14, Non-rewind) to Riddlesnake (1) |
40 | Feb 19, 2000 | Revolting Slob | Distraction News | Psycho Math | Ten 2nds | Sketch Pad (Non-rewind) | Poop or Scoop (Non-rewind) | Haunted House Party | Riddlesnake | Revolting Slob to Riddlesnake |
41 | Feb 20, 2000 | Distraction News | Psycho Math | Mugshots | Think Tank | Captain Bones (Non-rewind) | Dirty Pictures | Radio Scramble | Distraction News to Radio Scramble | |
42 | Feb 26, 2000 | Mugshots (Non-rewind) | Revolting Slob | Sketch Pad (Non-rewind) | Psycho Math | Haunted House Party | Poop or Scoop | Riddlesnake | Mugshots (Non-rewind) to Riddlesnake | |
43 | Feb 27, 2000 | Revolting Slob | Captain Bones (Non-rewind) | Sketch Pad | Poop or Scoop | Haunted House Party | Radio Scramble | Ten 2nds | Revolting Slob to Ten 2nds | |
44 | Mar 4, 2000 | Distraction News | Revolting Slob (Non-rewind) | Psycho Math | Eddie Bull | Think Tank | Dirty Pictures (Non-rewind) | Mugshots (Non-rewind) | Ten 2nds | Distraction News to Ten 2nds |
45 | Mar 5, 2000 | Distraction News | Captain Bones | Revolting Slob (Non-rewind) | Poop or Scoop | Sketch Pad (Non-rewind) | Haunted House Party | Ten 2nds | Distraction News to Ten 2nds | |
46 | Mar 11, 2000 | Haunted House Party | Mugshots (Non-rewind) | Eddie Bull | Think Tank | Psycho Math | Radio Scramble | Riddlesnake | Haunted House Party to Riddlesnake | |
47 | Mar 12, 2000 | Haunted House Party | Captain Bones (Non-rewind) | Mugshots (Non-rewind) | Distraction News | Eddie Bull | Psycho Math | Ten 2nds | Haunted House Party to Ten 2nds | |
48 | Mar 18, 2000 | Revolting Slob | Poop or Scoop | Distraction News | Captain Bones | Dirty Pictures | Radio Scramble | Riddlesnake | Revolting Slob to Riddlesnake | |
49 | Mar 19, 2000 | Mugshots (Non-rewind) | Sketch Pad | Radio Scramble | Dirty Pictures | Psycho Math | Poop or Scoop | Riddlesnake | Mugshots (Non-rewind) to Riddlesnake | |
50 | Mar 25, 2000 | Mugshots | Revolting Slob | Captain Bones (Non-rewind) | Distraction News | Eddie Bull | Think Tank (Non-rewind) | Dirty Pictures | Riddlesnake | Mugshots to Riddlesnake |
51 | Mar 26, 2000 | Mugshots | Psycho Math | Sketch Pad (Non-rewind) | Radio Scramble | Haunted House Party | Eddie Bull | Ten 2nds | Mugshots to Ten 2nds | |
52 | Apr 1, 2000 | Revolting Slob | Haunted House Party | Poop or Scoop | Distraction News | Captain Bones (Non-rewind) | Sketch Pad | Think Tank (Non-rewind) | Revolting Slob to Think Tank (Non-rewind) |
Interstitial Spinoffs
Along with the series premiere in 1999, two interstitial series were aired on HBO Family. "Smart Mouth", featuring Dora Smarmy from "Distraction News", has her explaining unusual vocabulary words with personal experiences. "Who Knew?", featuring Professor Rocket from "Psycho Math", features him talking about strange facts and trivia.
Both series have 80 episodes each, and aired on HBO Family, Magnet from 2001-2005, Jam from 2005-2016, and during movie breaks. Both series were removed from syndication following the HBO Kids rebrand in 2016, and only a few episodes survive to this day.
Syndication
Starting in 2001, HBO Family launched two TV blocks marketed towards kids; Jam, which was marketed towards a preschool demographic, and Magnet, which was marketed to an older, afterschool crowd. Crashbox, along with its associated interstitial spinoff series, Who Knew? and Smart Mouth, aired on the Magnet block up until it was discontinued in 2005.
Crashbox retroactively joined the Jam block in 2005, in spite of the show being marketed towards an older audience than the mainly preschool-oriented programming already on the block. The show aired routinely on the block up until 2016, where the block was rebranded to HBO Kids. The show premiered on the new block a day after the rebrand, on January 18, 2016, and was moved to the afternoon along with The Electric Company for weekdays.[20]
Crashbox 14 strangely served as the series' premiere on HBO Kids, with the rest of Season 1 airing on weekdays up until February 22, 2016. Episodes 27-37 were skipped after Episode 26 premiered, while Episodes 38-52 premiered on the block as usual. Episode 1 finally aired on March 15, 2016,[21] with the rest of Season 1 following it. Season 1 then aired again up to two[22][23] times[24][25] until Season 2B returned to the schedule in July.[26]
Following the removal of various Sesame Workshop shows, Crashbox was moved to an early morning timeslot a few years later, and airs routinely on the channel.
Removed Episodes
Following the 2016 rebrand of HBO Family's preschool block, Jam, to HBO Kids, Crashbox aired most of its first season in the afternoon (oddly skipping Crashbox 1 in favor of Crashbox 14). Strangely, Episodes 27-37 were skipped after Episode 26 premiered.[27] Only Episodes 38[28] and 39[29] were ever aired on the HBO Kids block. The final times Episodes 27-37 aired was on Jam from January 4[30] to January 8,[31] 2016.
Episodes 27-39 have not aired on the channel since February 2016, due to the segments being recycled from Season 1.[32] The episodes are not available on most of HBO's digital or streaming services, including HBO Now, HBO Go, and Max. As of 2023, Crave is currently the only site that features all of Season 2 (erroneously listed as part of Season 1), including Episodes 27-39.[19]
Most sources pre-HBO Kids, such as HBO's various streaming services, promos for said episodes, and most TV Guides, list Episodes 27-39 of Crashbox as part of Season 2.[33] In following years, the removed episodes were (erroneously) considered part of Season 1, despite being produced for Season 2. Outside of Crave, Amazon Prime, and Max, most HBO sources (before the removal of these episodes) consider these removed episodes as part of Season 2 officially.
Reception
The series received generally positive reviews from audiences and parents on Common Sense Media, with a 4 out of 5 star rating.[34]
References
- ^ "HBO nabs kid eyeballs with sked-centric Web content". Kidscreen. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ Richard Katz, "HBO in Family way with heavy push of new fare", Variety, September 9, 1998.
- ^ a b Lynne Heffley, "HBO Launches Spinoff With Pair of Excellent Kids' Shows", Los Angeles Times, February 1, 1999.
- ^ "Crashbox has British sensibility". Playback. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ Eichhorn, P: "Cuppa Coffee brews up a special blend of animation Take One Magazine, Summer, 1999, No. 24
- ^ a b "Crashbox 43; One of 4 episodes of Season 2B to be produced in 1999; Johnnie's name is also confirmed here, as it is scrambled as "Hojenin"". play.max.com. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
- ^ Pictures, Planet Grande (2015-05-15), Planet Grande Reel, retrieved 2023-08-19
- ^ "Crashbox's page on theTVD.com, which erroneously lists 65 episodes, and features Eps 27-39 in Season 1". thetvdb.com. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
- ^ "WebVoyage Titles; Source for Lost Suitcase". cocatalog.loc.gov. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
- ^ Video featuring Creator confirmation of the 52-episode run., retrieved 2023-10-29
- ^ "Crashbox | Official Website for the HBO Series | HBO.com". HBO. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
- ^ a b c "Crashbox 50; Verity is referred to as "Detective Wisenheimer" here". play.max.com. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
- ^ a b c d e "Crashbox 1; The spelling of Ten 2nds and Riddlesnake's names as sourced from the show's credits". play.max.com. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
- ^ a b "Crashbox 2; The spelling of Wordshake and Radio Scramble's names are sourced from the show's credits". play.max.com. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
- ^ Katz, Richard (1998-09-09). "HBO in Family way with heavy push of new fare". Variety. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
- ^ "CRASHBOX - PsychoMath w/ Professor Rocket | Crashbox is the first animated show I ever worked on, and it still airs today on HBO Family. I got a nice note from Stephanie in Montana about it, so I... | By Joseph Motiki | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
- ^ "Portfolio". 2001-04-23. Archived from the original on 2001-04-23. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
- ^ a b Crashbox on HBO's Max; Source for Season 1 and episodes 40-52 of Season 2, 1999, retrieved 2023-10-29
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Season 2A of Crashbox on Crave, erroneously listed as part of Season 1". crave. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "Crashbox's HBO Kids premiere with Episode 14". 2016-01-20. Archived from the original on 2016-01-20. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "HBO Kids premiere of Crashbox's first episode". 2016-02-23. Archived from the original on 2016-02-23. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "The end of Crashbox Season 1's first syndicated run on HBO Kids". 2016-03-23. Archived from the original on 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "Only for it to start airing again, skipping Season 2". 2016-03-23. Archived from the original on 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "Season 1 finishes airing for the second time". 2016-05-18. Archived from the original on 2016-05-18. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "Season 1 starts airing for the third time in a row". 2016-05-18. Archived from the original on 2016-05-18. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "Season 2 returns to the HBO Kids schedule for good". 2016-05-24. Archived from the original on 2016-05-24. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "Crashbox 26 airs on HBO Kids for the first time". 2016-01-19. Archived from the original on 2016-01-19. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "Episodes 27-37 are skipped, going straight to Episode 38". 2016-01-19. Archived from the original on 2016-01-19. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "Episode 39 airs for the first and final time on HBO Kids". 2016-01-17. Archived from the original on 2016-01-17. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "Final airings of Episode 27-29 on HBO Family". 2015-12-03. Archived from the original on 2015-12-03. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "Final airings of Episode 39 on HBO Family Jam". 2015-12-02. Archived from the original on 2015-12-02. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "An Email Response from HBO Max Advanced Support Concerning Episodes 27-39". Discord.
- ^ "Crashbox's Second Season consists of 26 episodes officially, despite the first half of them being removed". DIRECTV. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
- ^ "Parent reviews for Crashbox - Common Sense Media". Archived from the original on 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
External links
- HBO original programming
- 1999 American television series debuts
- 2000 American television series endings
- 1990s American animated television series
- 2000s American animated television series
- 1999 Canadian television series debuts
- 2000 Canadian television series endings
- 1990s Canadian animated television series
- 2000s Canadian animated television series
- American children's animated game shows
- American children's animated education television series
- American children's animated science fiction television series
- American stop-motion animated television series
- American television series with live action and animation
- American television shows featuring puppetry
- Canadian children's animated game shows
- Canadian children's animated education television series
- Canadian children's animated science fiction television series
- Canadian stop-motion animated television series
- Canadian television series with live action and animation
- Canadian television shows featuring puppetry
- English-language television shows
- Animated television series about robots
- Animated television series about animals
- Television series about pirates
- Television series about radio
- Television shows set in computers
- Television series by Cuppa Coffee Studios
- Television series by Home Box Office
- Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios
- Television shows filmed in Toronto
- Television shows filmed in California