Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (game show)

This article is about the PBS game show with this title. For the computer games, see Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? For the theme song, see Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (song).

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
File:Carmsandlogo.jpg
Created by	Brøderbund Software
Developed by	Howard Blumenthal Dana Calderwood Dorothy Curley
Directed by	Dana Calderwood Hugh Martin
Starring	Lynne Thigpen as The Chief Greg Lee as Agent in Charge of Training New Recruits Rockapella as House Vocal Band and Comedy Troupe
Theme music composer	Sean Altman David Yazbek
Opening theme	"Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" by Rockapella
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	296 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Jay Rayvid Kate Taylor
Producer	Jonathan G. Meath
Production locations	Chelsea Studios, Manhattan (season 1) Kaufman Astoria Studios, Queens (seasons 2-5)
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	PBS
Release	September 30, 1991 – October 4,1996
Related
Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? was a popular children's television game show loosely based off the computer games of the same name created by now defunct Brøderbund Software. World aired on PBS from 1991 to 1996 and stars Lynne Thigpen as "The Chief", Greg Lee as "The ACME Special Agent in charge of training new recruits" and Rockapella as the house vocal band and comedy troupe. Rockapella featured Sean Altman (tenor) Elliot Kerman (baritone), Barry Carl (bass) and Scott Leonard (high tenor) with Jeff Thacher (vocal percussion) joining in the final season of the show.

World holds the record for being the longest-running game show on PBS and as the second longest running children's game show in U.S. television history behind Double Dare (which Greg Lee was a contestant coordinator). The show received the George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in 1993. The show's theme song, penned by Altman and David Yazbek, is one of the most well-known themes in television history according to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. In 2001, TV Guide ranked the show at #47 on its list of 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time.

Overview

See complete list of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? episodes.

Origins

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? was created partially as a response to a National Geographic survey that found Americans had an alarmingly low knowledge of geography with one in four being unable to locate the Soviet Union or the Pacific Ocean. The series, started by Brøderbund in 1985, was developed for television by Howard Blumenthal, Dorothy Curley and Dana Calderwood and it was produced by WGBH, Boston and WQED, Pittsburgh. The show premiered in primetime on September 30, 1991. The game franchise also inspired the unrelated Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?, which ran on Fox Kids from 1994 to 1999.

Plot of each episode

The bulk of each World episode consisted of three child contestants answering questions to determine the location of one of Carmen Sandiego's wacky crooks with zany sketches being performed to provide clues. Eventually, the contestant with the lowest score was eliminated, and the remaining two contestants played a Concentration-esque game to capture the day's crook. The winning contestant then moved onto the final round, where siren lights had to be correctly placed on a giant map as locations were named. If the player was successful in this round, Carmen Sandiego was "captured" and the contestant won a trip to anywhere in the continental United States in season 1, expanded to anywhere in North America in season 2 and beyond.

Production

The first season's programs were recorded at Chelsea Studios in Manhattan, but subsequent seasons were recorded at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, where it is home to another PBS hit show, Sesame Street. Contestants were required to reside in the New York City area. The executive producers were Jay Rayvid and Kate Taylor and the directors were Dana Calderwood and Hugh Martin. The programs were produced by Howard Blumenthal, Jonathan Meath, and Ariel Schwartz. The series' writers included McPaul Smith, Charles Nordlander, Dorothy Curley, and James Greenberg. The original stage settings were designed by Jim Fenhagen with subsequent art direction by Laura Brock.

Post-production

Following the completion of the taping of the first season in 1991, massive geopolitical changes in the world, such as the dissolution of the Soviet Union, rendered the entire season geographically inaccurate, and these episodes have not been aired in reruns since. Later seasons included the extremely uncommon practice of displaying the specific tape date in the credits along with a disclaimer, read aloud by Thigpen, stating that "all geographic information was accurate as of the date this program was recorded." Starting in season three, home viewers were asked to participate in a contest. They were told to write down what was stolen and from where on each day's show. If they wrote down four correct loots and locations on a postcard and sent it to the show's address, they won a Carmen Sandiego T-shirt. Five names of winning viewers were shown each day.

Sixty-five episodes were produced each season (except for the last two which each have fifty episodes) and were shown four times a year. The show ended after five seasons and 296 episodes on Present. It was replaced by Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?. Although World, or at least this version of it, was never broadcast outside the United States and Canada, it was adapted as a local production in Spain and in Italy. The show has been in reruns in a few PBS affiliates (though in some years no PBS affiliate has aired reruns).

Funding

The show was funded primarily by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by the annual financial support of Viewers Like You. Delta Air Lines, Holiday Inn and Toyota also provided funding at various points during the run. During the funding credits, on a space background, a rotating CGI model of the earth would spin and pull in the names of the PBS stations that presented it, WQED Pittsburgh and WGBH Boston, respectively. Then the funder logos would fade in over the globe, while Lynne Thigpen otherwise known as The Chief would read this speech: "This program is [presented by WQED Pittsburgh and WGBH Boston. And as always, gumshoes, Carmen's gang is] bankrolled by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (1987 variant of the logo on all episodes, since 1993 accompanied by the familiar byline) and by Viewers Like You. [Corporate bucks provided by Toyota.]" After the funding credits, either the 1989-1993 PBS logo or the 1993-1999 PBS Kids logo would be shown at the very end. The first speech in brackets was omitted from seasons 3-5, while the second speech in brackets is omitted from seasons 3 and The Chief instead said "Corporate bucks provided by Delta Air Lines" which remained from seasons 4 and 5.

The opening variant of the speech is "Today's caper is [presented by WQED Pittsburgh and WGBH Boston. Carmen's gang is] bankrolled by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and by Viewers Like You. [Corporate bucks provided by the following.]" The first part in brackets was only said in Seasons 1 and 2, while the second part was only said in Season 2.

Gameplay

The show's main cast during the final season premiere.

Opening

In the show's opening sequence, the three child contestants ("gumshoes") are introduced. The dossier of one of Carmen Sandiego's outlandish henchpeople then appears on the screen and the Chief explains what kind of spectacularly impossible heist the crook has pulled. Carmen and her crooks were, in contrast to the live-action actors and the child contestants, portrayed as cartoon characters and were never shown directly interacting with the live-action people.

The Chief's description of the day's theft was accompanied by an animation of the crook, inserted into stock photographs, perpetrating the crime in a humorous way (the photographs were doctored to show the loot being removed from the scene). The opening typically ended with the Chief explaining for what silly or petty reason the crook wanted the loot (example: Vic the Slick steals Carmen Island as a gift for Carmen Sandiego's birthday (although wrapping it will be tough), Patty Larceny steals the Lascaux cave paintings so she can turn them in as her school art project, and the Liberty Bell for her history project, Wonder Rat steals the Kenyatta Conference Center so that he can make it the centerpiece of his resort, "Rat-lantic City," and WSKG-TV so that he can rename it "R-TV" (Rat Television) 24 hours a day written, directed, and starring himself etc.)

Round One

Each gumshoe was given fifty "ACME crime bucks" (the show's official currency) to begin the round. Various comedy sketches were performed, each providing clues to a geographical location of the day's crook. After the clues were provided, a map with three possible locations, all within proximity to one another, were shown to the players. Each gumshoe simultaneously selected their answer and then revealed that answer to Greg. Each correct answer earned a gumshoe 10 crime bucks. The typical course of the round would be as follows:

• Lightning Round - After two or three sketches were performed, the game moved to the "Lightning Round" which began with a deliberately cheesy lightning effect. Greg read three questions about the last location visited and provided three possible answers for each. The first gumshoe to buzz in with the right answer earned five crime bucks.
• Chief's Office Sketch - After the Lightning Round, Greg was always called into the Chief's office for a special briefing or conversation. This was used as a comedy break, an opportunity for a bizarre interaction between The Chief and Greg. To end the break the Chief would almost always say exasperatedly, "Greg, go away." In Seasons 1 and 2, the sketches were used to promote the grand prize to whoever caught Carmen Sandiego in the final round. In season 3 and beyond, the sketches were used to promote the contest for the home viewers. However, in some episodes, there is no office sketch. But in most of these instances, the Chief quickly promotes the grand prize (or contest) and announces the Phone Tap. These sketches were always pre-recorded, and often re-used. If a sketch continued as Greg left the office and returned to the live shoot, the sequence had to be re-created live each time the sketch was used.
• Greg Lee's Training Exercise - In the final season, a new mini-game was added, and was played after the Chief's conversation with Greg. This replaced one clue. Greg and the gumshoes would head out into the alleyway of the set, and then come across a few trash cans. Most of the time, Greg's can contained a gag. One example: As Greg tried to lift the lid, Barry Carl's voice would intone, "WARNING! This bag is full, and can only be activated by saying 'Swordfish.'" Once that was done, Greg took out a card with a flag of a country. The gumshoes then took a few seconds to grab the card out of their own bins. After that, each gumshoe would get a clue (e.g., language, government) about the country in question. The first gumshoe to guess the right country earned 10 Acme Crime Bucks, and the game would go to the phone tap.
• Phone Tap Sequence - After the break, the gumshoes watched an animated phone conversation (aka "phone tap" ) between Carmen and the day's crook, courtesy of ACME Bug Net. In this sequence Carmen would tell the crook where to go and, typically, become exasperated by the crook's stupidity. The gumshoes were than asked where the crook went. In the first season up until late season three, Greg would formally introduce the phone tap to the gumshoes, but afterwards until the final season as the Chief's office sketches continued outside the office, Greg would usually just say "Phone tap." to cue the video.
• Several other clues were presented and questions answered. Two or three more skits and questions took place before the next break.
• The Chase - Starting with season two, there was a new series of five questions known as "The Chase" beginning with a funny chase scene performed by Rockapella and occasionally with the Chief (or on rare occasions Greg) participating if either one of them was attacked/robbed by a Rockapella member. While the Lightning Round asked questions related to the last visited country, The Chase provided clues about countries within proximity to the location last visited, indicating that the gumshoes were close on the trail. Each question had three locations as choices and the first gumshoe to buzz in with the right answer received five crime bucks. As with the Lightning Round, there was no penalty assessed for an incorrect response, though unlike the Lightning Round, only one player could buzz in and answer.

After a few more clues or The Chase, Greg showed the gumshoes one more map, in this case before the skit was performed. Gumshoes were asked to make a wager of zero, 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 ACME Crime Bucks on their ability to provide a correct answer. The final skit was performed and gumshoes locked in their guesses. Anyone with a right answer had their wager added to his or her score, and anyone with a wrong answer had their wager subtracted from his or her score. The top two gumshoes at this point moved on to the day's crook's Jailtime Challenge (Round 2), while the third-placed gumshoe was eliminated.

In case of a tie for second place, Greg read clues related to a famous person or place (typically a U.S. state). Gumshoes could buzz in as often as they wanted; the first gumshoe to buzz in with the correct answer moved on to Round Two. Generally speaking, the last clue would contain the answer (for example, "This state's capital, Oklahoma City, is the only one whose name contains the name of the state").

Round Two "(Crook's Name)'s Jailtime Challenge"

The two remaining gumshoes "traveled" to their final destination from round one, where The Chief described various landmarks in that country, city or region, called a "Photo Recon". Often, these descriptions were silly; the writers always used this sequence as an opportunity to poke fun (in one notable visit to Key West, for example, the camera zoomed in on graffiti on a small landmark and the Chief openly scolded the people who had spray painted their initials on a marker). Fifteen names of the local landmarks were placed on a board. Hidden behind three of the landmarks were the loot that was stolen at the beginning of the show, the warrant to arrest the crook, and the crook him/herself. Hidden behind the remaining landmarks were a pair of shoe prints (sometimes one or three), which means nothing was there.

The gumshoe in the lead after Round 1 played first (if the two players were tied, a coin flip determines who would start). If a gumshoe found any of the three key items, he or she could select again. If the gumshoe found a box with shoe prints, took too long, as they have a limit of 10 seconds, or found the loot, the warrant, and the crook in the wrong order, their turn ended and any revealed locations were reclosed. Gumshoes alternated turns until one found the loot, the warrant and the crook in that order in a single turn (as the loot is the evidence needed to get a warrant and the warrant is needed to arrest the crook). When a gumshoe found all three items in the correct order, he or she was given the right to "put the crook in jail" by pulling on a hanging chain before proceeding to the final round to catch Carmen Sandiego. The other Gumshoe was eliminated.

On the one occasion in the show's history that one contestant (Ali Haider) won the Jailtime Challenge on the first try, he not only won the game, but also earned the chance to win a $100 savings bond. The bond was hidden behind one of the remaining twelve landmarks, and Ali was given five chances to find it, although he was unsuccessful in doing so. Because winning the Jailtime Challenge on the first try only happened once, no one won the savings bond.

Final Round "The Map"

In the final round, the sleuth was given a chance to try to catch Carmen Sandiego herself. If successful, he/she won an all-expenses paid trip to anywhere in the lower 48 states (expanded to anywhere in North America starting with season 2). After the sleuth wrote down their desired trip destination, the disgruntled crook then "called" the sleuth on a telephone so as to rat on Carmen. The crook gave the general location of Carmen Sandiego, one of four continents (South America, Europe, Africa, or Asia), or the United States (used only in the first two seasons and then expanded to North America afterwards). The Chief then gave a list of 12 or 13 possible locations Carmen may have traveled -- either countries, states, cities, bodies of water, or national parks (the last two were used from the third season on) on that continent (or in the United States).

The sleuth was then presented with a giant map that covered the floor of the studio, with dots marking the cities, squares marking national parks, and arrows marking bodies of water. As Greg read the locations, the sleuth had to place a marker with a red flashing siren light (a flag in some early episodes) on the correct location on the map. If the sleuth placed the marker on the correct location (indicated by the siren), that marker was activated and the contestant was given the next location. If he or she was wrong (indicated by the buzzer), the sleuth was given one more chance to move the marker. After two incorrect guesses, he/she picked up a new marker and another location was read. The biggest challenge was the fact that from the sleuth's perspective, the map is upside down, which was often given as a reason for a loss.

If within 45 seconds (60 in some first season episodes when the Asia map was used), the sleuth could successfully identify 7 (8 after season 1) locations on the map, they captured Carmen Sandiego and won the trip. If not, they won a set of consolation prizes.

Closing

The show is noted for concluding with Greg, the sleuth and the audience pointing and yelling "Do it Rockapella!" ("Hit it, fellas!" in the pilot episodes) into the camera, signifying the group to begin again their title song for the animated closing credits, which depicted members of Carmen's gang stealing the names of production staff members against a background resembling a notepad (for the final season a black backdrop with confetti was used to commemorate the last episodes). After the credits, the audience was invited onto the map to dance and sing the theme song. Greg and Rockapella would sing and dance with audience members and the eliminated gumshoes would come out to dance with the sleuth.

Afterwards (beforewards during the 1st season), the Chief would say "This is Lynne Thigpen speaking for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, and remember, (something funny in rhyme)" Sometimes the funny rhyme part isn't heard, instead (during some of the 1st season episodes) "See ya Next Time!".

Variations

• The first filmed episodes of the first season did not require the correct order of the loot, warrant and crook in Round two.
• On the first filmed episodes, a slightly different scoring system was used. Gumshoes started with 125 ACME Crime Bucks, with correct answers resulting in 10 points being subtracted (spent), and incorrect answers costing the players 15 points. It was confusing, and so it was changed after the first few episodes were recorded. Also in these episodes, the map of the United States was used in the bonus round, and the markers placed on it were flags of each state.
• In the first season, when the contestant was given the Europe map, Lee would read a description of a location before giving the name of the location itself in the bonus round. He also did this with the United States map in the first few recorded episodes.
• On a few early episodes, the limit on the amount of Crimebucks that could be wagered was 25, in increments of five.
• In the pilot episodes, there was no Lightning Round.
• Occasionally when the show ended early, filler segments would be added to the episode to fill the allotted time. In "pilot" episodes, Greg asks the younger audience questions. The prize for getting them correct is a shirt or the object that the question is about. For the rest of the first season, audience members entered the Chief's office to answer a geography question. If answered correctly, the audience member would win a Carmen Sandiego T-shirt (or sweatshirt); if wrong he/she won an atlas. In season two and beyond, songs by Rockapella were featured, including "Zombie Jamboree" and "Capital", a song of state capitals.
• In the Round One Pilots, Greg Lee does not take off his hat during the round.
• In the pilot episodes, the 2nd round winner didn't pull the chain to throw the criminal in jail, instead they showed a clip of the criminal in jail after the Chief told what the consolation prize was.
• Also in some earlier episodes when the crook was thrown in jail, the in jail tune was not sung or the crooks name for that matter.
• And also in early episodes, the telephone (in the 2nd round) is a shoe (a possibly homage to the detective series Get Smart) instead of an actual phone. In the latter episodes, if the sleuth captures Carmen Sandiego, the Chief would make a comment about the capture; from the rest of the 1st season onwards, she stopped doing that for reasons unexplained.
• While The Contessa was a regular villain in the former half of the first season, she disappeared from Carmen's gang until her return in the fourth season with a new outfit. Her vocal mannerisms and theme music remained consistent with the first season.
• Every new season brought a change in the format and order of the show's opening sequences.
• During the first season, the Chief would introduce the gumshoes, and talk directly to them. From the second season and beyond, the Chief stopped doing that, and Barry Carl did the intros with a Charlie O'Donnell-esqe tone.
• In episodes of the final season, rather than walking to the station in seasons one through four where the thief was last seen, Greg and the two contestants were teleported to the station via a modem while holding their breaths, probably due to the growing prospects of the internet that would follow in the late 1990's.
• For the first season credits, during the scrolling credits part, stills of Carmen's henchmen stealing items from their proper locations (often what were the stolen items from each game) were placed behind the scrolling credits. From season two through four, the henchmen rather popped out behind, or in some cases, in front of the credits amidst the same notepad-like background used at the beginning and end. The final season used a black background with falling confetti.
• In the first season while doing the briefing (aka Photo Recon) of the Final location in Round 1, the Chief used a slide projector and showed slides of various landmarks in the particular location while a business-style music theme played in the background. In Season 2, The Chief displayed the landmarks from the location via a television screen she inserted into a monitor that popped up from her desk when she knocked or tapped with her magnifying glass. (The music also vanished after the first season) From Season 3 onward, she traveled along with the gumshoes to the final location (in Seasons 3 and 4, she traveled while inside a screen which Greg would remove from the monitor, and in the final season, she would modem herself with Greg and the gumshoes) and gave the descriptions there on the Jailtime Challenge board (in which the board turns into a video wall when Greg hits a button to summon the chief) using a push button remote control for the slideshow. In Season 5, the remote control was changed to two knobs, one to modem the gumshoes, and one to change one slide to another.

Prizes

Grand Prize

For each trip, the winning sleuth, their parent, and a guest flew round-trip coach (courtesy of Delta Airlines, the official airline of the show) from New York City to the selected location. The sleuth spent one week at a luxury hotel chosen by the chief (usually the Holiday Inn) (later in Season 4, the contestant chose the hotel he/she want to stay). A Rental Car was included in Season 3. The contestants also received $100 (increased to $200 in Season 2, $500 in Season 4, $1,000 in the second half of the final season) to add to their Crime Bucks as spending money.

Consolation prizes

Eliminated gumshoes received a set of consolation prizes called the official ACME Crimenet Travel Kit (renamed to ACME Gumshoe Gear in season 5). Some of the consolation prizes on the show included:

ACME Travel Kit: This was given by the Chief to the third place contestant. This typically included:

• World Atlas
• Official Carmen Sandiego watch and sweatshirt/T-Shirt
• One year subscription to National Geographic World magazine
• Inflatable globe, which was changed later to a basketball globe with which the Chief would either try to make a basket behind her back or slam dunk it into the basket in the back corner of her office (Seasons 2 and 3)

Typically given to the second place contestant:

• A Sony Walkman (Season 4)
• A pocket translator (Season 1 and 2)
• A personal organizer (Season 5)
• A world-band radio (Seasons 1 and 2)

Typically given for a final round loss:

• (after final round; usually lose, sometimes win) a Carmen Sandiego "Sleuth" Jacket; if the sleuth got six or seven locations right in the Map, they receive a still camera as well. (Season 2)
• A portable CD player, and a library of CDs from around the world (a CD by Rockapella, featuring the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? theme song included in seasons 2 and 3) (Seasons 1 and 3, but was given for making it to the second round in season 2)
• A boom box (season 4)
• A portable color television (season 5)

Other prizes:

• Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego for Computer (Used only on the celeb episode, for the lucky home viewer and the winning gumshoe)
• Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego Board Game (Used only on the celeb episode, for the lucky home viewer and the winning gumshoe)
• A wallet-sized voice recorder, later changed to a pen recorder (Season 5)
• Merriam-Webster's World Dictionary and Thesaurus (Season 4)

External links

• TV.com summary
• Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? at IMDb