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Crashbox

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Crashbox
Genre
Created by
  • Eamon Harrington
  • John Watkin
Directed byDave Thomas
Voices of
ComposerMatthew Morse
Country of origin
  • Canada
  • United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes52
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Eamon Harrington
  • John Watkin
Production locations
Camera setupSingle-Camera
Running time24-30 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkHBO Family
ReleaseFebruary 1, 1999 (1999-02-01) –
April 1, 2000 (2000-04-01)

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]

As confirmed through various sources, two games, Dancing Dickie[11] and Lost Suitcase[9], were planned to be featured in the first season, but were scrapped likely due to redundancy.

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.[12]

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. This game is played interchangeably with Psycho Math (with the exception of episodes 41 and 47), and is used to open four episodes (2 times each in Seasons 1 and 2).
  • Dancing Dickie (Scrapped)[11] - As confirmed by series co-creator through an email, a game involving a well-dressed Cuban entertainer mannequin dancing around a show stage, telling the audience riddles while playing music. Footage of the segment can be seen in some Factory segments, and the Crashbox Rewind slideshow. This game was likely removed out of redundancy, considering its similarity to Riddlesnake.
  • 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. This game is played interchangeably with Haunted House Party, and is not used to open or close any episodes.
  • 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.This game is played interchangeably with Revolting Slob (only in Season 1), and is used to open five episodes (1 in Season 1, 4 in Season 2).
  • 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. This segment only appears in Season 1, closes only two episodes, and is not played during Crashbox Rewind.
  • 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. This game is played interchangeably with Poop or Scoop, and is only used as an opener once.
  • 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. This game is played interchangeably with Dirty Pictures, and is used to open six episodes (3 times each in Season 1 and 2).
  • 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 segment opens 2 episodes, closes 7 episodes (6 in Season 1, 1 in Season 2) and is not played during Crashbox Rewind. This is the only segment to be played in Season 2A not to have new segments produced for Season 2B, and one of three games (and the only game in Season 1) to be used to both open and close episodes.
  • Lost Suitcase (Scrapped)[9] - A scrapped game from Season 1, not much is known about this segment, other than it being geography-themed. A segment of Psycho Math also namedrops the game as an easter egg. The game's cartridge icon (featuring the titular Suitcase) is shown on the computer during the intro and outro.
  • Mugshots[13] - 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. This game is played interchangeably with Revolting Slob (only in Season 1), and is used to open nine episodes (3 in Season 1, 6 in Season 2).
  • 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. This segment only appears in Season 1, closes three episodes, and is not played during Crashbox Rewind.
  • Poop or Scoop - A purple carnival ringmaster gives four facts about animals where the viewers must guess if they are true or false. This game is played interchangeably with Eddie Bull, and is only used as an opener once.
  • 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". This game is played interchangeably with Captain Bones (with the exceptions of Crashbox 41 and 47), and is not used to open or close any episodes.
  • 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. This game is used to open nine episodes (7 in Season 1, 2 in Season 2), closes only one episode (in Season 2), and is not played during Crashbox Rewind. This is the only Non-Rewind game to not be used as a closer in Season 1 and is one of three games to be used as both an opener and a closer.
  • 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. This game opens twelve episodes (4 in Season 1, 8 in Season 2), the most of any game. It does not play in any episodes with Distraction News or Mugshots in Season 1.
  • Riddlesnake*[14] - 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. This game is not used to open or close any episodes.
  • Ten 2nds*[14] - 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. This game closes eleven episodes (3 in Season 1, 8 in Season 2), and is not played during Crashbox Rewind.
  • 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*[15] - 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. This segment only appears in Season 1, closes five episodes, and is not played during Crashbox Rewind.

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

Major voice cast
Segment Character Actor
Factory, Cafeteria, Maintenance Robots Jerry Stiller,[16] 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[13] Detective Verity Wisenheimer[13] Maggie Baird
Paige and Sage Valley Girl Dawn Maxey
Poop or Scoop Announcer Danny Wells
Psycho Math Professor Rocket Joseph Motiki[17] (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[14] Riddlesnake Raj[14] Veena Bidasha
Sketch Pad Sketch Pad Greg Eagles
Ten 2nds[14] Announcer Alan Schlaifer
Think Tank Captain Bob Greg Eagles
Wordshake[15] Chef Pierre[18] John Watkin
Minor voice cast
Episode Segment Character Actor
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) [19]
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) [19]
Episodes Airdate Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 Game 6 Game 7 Game 8 Full Games
27[20] 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[20] 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[20] 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[20] 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[20] Aug 15, 1999 Radio Scramble (2) Revolting Slob (5) Poop or Scoop (14) Dirty Pictures (4) Mugshots (6) Psycho Math (9) Sketch Pad (8, Non-rewind) Ten 2nds (7) Radio Scramble (2) to Ten 2nds (7)
32[20] Aug 21, 1999 Captain Bones (15, Non-rewind) Revolting Slob (7) Poop or Scoop (17) Haunted House Party (17) Distraction News (11) Ten 2nds (5) Think Tank (13) Riddlesnake (3) Captain Bones (15, Non-rewind) to Riddlesnake (3)
33[20] 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[20] Aug 28, 1999 Mugshots (23) Distraction News (4) Captain Bones (23, Non-rewind) Dirty Pictures (11) Sketch Pad (7, Non-rewind) Eddie Bull (9) Lens McCracken (23) Riddlesnake (25) Mugshots (23) to Riddlesnake (25)
35[20] Aug 29, 1999 Radio Scramble (24) Distraction News (16) Sketch Pad (22, Non-rewind) Haunted House Party (26) Captain Bones (17, Non-rewind) Revolting Slob (22) Eddie Bull (10) Riddlesnake (23) Radio Scramble (24) to Riddlesnake (23)
36[20] Sep 4, 1999 Revolting Slob (13, Non-rewind) Mugshots (16) Sketch Pad (6) Psycho Math (21) Haunted House Party (20) Poop or Scoop (12) Radio Scramble (18) Ten 2nds (3) Revolting Slob (13, Non-rewind) to Ten 2nds (3)
37[20] 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[20] 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[20] 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)

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, in contrast to the rest of Season 2B, which was produced in 2000.

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.[21]

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,[22] with the rest of Season 1 following it. Season 1 then aired again up to two[23][24] times[25][26] until Season 2B returned to the schedule in July.[27]

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.[28] Only Episodes 38[29] and 39[30] were ever aired on the HBO Kids block. The final times Episodes 27-37 aired was on Jam from January 4[31] to January 8,[32] 2016.

Episodes 27-39 have not aired on the channel since February 2016, due to the segments being recycled from Season 1. The episodes are not available on most of HBO's digital or streaming services, including HBO Now, HBO Go, and Max. Crave is currently the only site that features all of Season 2 (erroneously listed as part of Season 1), including Episodes 27-39.[20]

As a result of Episodes 27-39 being removed from syndication, they have since fallen into obscurity, to the point where it was questioned if they even existed. In recent years, the episodes have since been uploaded onto other sites, making them more accessible to watch outside of Canada.

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

  1. ^ "HBO nabs kid eyeballs with sked-centric Web content". Kidscreen. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  2. ^ Richard Katz, "HBO in Family way with heavy push of new fare", Variety, September 9, 1998.
  3. ^ a b Lynne Heffley, "HBO Launches Spinoff With Pair of Excellent Kids' Shows", Los Angeles Times, February 1, 1999.
  4. ^ "Crashbox has British sensibility". Playback. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  5. ^ Eichhorn, P: "Cuppa Coffee brews up a special blend of animation Take One Magazine, Summer, 1999, No. 24
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Pictures, Planet Grande (2015-05-15), Planet Grande Reel, retrieved 2023-08-19
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ a b c "WebVoyage Titles; Source for Lost Suitcase". cocatalog.loc.gov. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  10. ^ Video featuring Creator confirmation of the 52-episode run., retrieved 2023-10-29
  11. ^ a b "Dancing Dickie revealed from John Watkin (per a discord server)". Google Photos. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  12. ^ "Crashbox | Official Website for the HBO Series | HBO.com". HBO. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
  13. ^ a b c "Crashbox 50; Verity is referred to as "Detective Wisenheimer" here". play.max.com. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ Katz, Richard (1998-09-09). "HBO in Family way with heavy push of new fare". Variety. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  17. ^ "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.
  18. ^ "Portfolio". 2001-04-23. Archived from the original on 2001-04-23. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  19. ^ a b Crashbox on HBO's Max; Source for Season 1 and episodes 40-52 of Season 2, 1999, retrieved 2023-10-29
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ "Crashbox's HBO Kids premiere with Episode 14". 2016-01-20. Archived from the original on 2016-01-20. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  22. ^ "HBO Kids premiere of Crashbox's first episode". 2016-02-23. Archived from the original on 2016-02-23. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  23. ^ "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.
  24. ^ "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.
  25. ^ "Season 1 finishes airing for the second time". 2016-05-18. Archived from the original on 2016-05-18. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  26. ^ "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.
  27. ^ "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.
  28. ^ "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.
  29. ^ "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.
  30. ^ "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.
  31. ^ "Final airings of Episode 27-29 on HBO Family". 2015-12-03. Archived from the original on 2015-12-03. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  32. ^ "Final airings of Episode 39 on HBO Family Jam". 2015-12-02. Archived from the original on 2015-12-02. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  33. ^ "Crashbox's Second Season consists of 26 episodes officially, despite the first half of them being removed". DIRECTV. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  34. ^ "Parent reviews for Crashbox - Common Sense Media". Archived from the original on 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
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