Nine, nine, nine...

January 18, 2005 4:11 PM

From MathNet to that silly song about the number nine, Square One was one of my all-time favourite programs as a kid. It hasn't been released on video or DVD, but luckily there are plenty of fansites with video clips, pics, and other media to take you on a trip down mathematical memory lane.
posted by sanitycheck (25 comments total)

A recent ask.me thread reminded me of this wonderful show, and I just had to share the fabulous cache of Square One web goodies I found as a result!
posted by sanitycheck at 4:14 PM on January 18, 2005

Square One +1.
posted by orange clock at 4:15 PM on January 18, 2005

Square two
posted by pokeydonut at 4:19 PM on January 18, 2005

Whoops. I did a search for "square one" and used "from day one." But apparently search is broken right now. Sorry.
posted by sanitycheck at 4:23 PM on January 18, 2005

I adored this show growing up. There was little I looked forward to more than the latest episode of Mathnet. Danke!
posted by pookzilla at 4:26 PM on January 18, 2005

This is great. I have had the Nine song and the Roman Numerals song stuck in my head since about 1987-- now I canfinally hear them again. Thanks!
posted by ibmcginty at 4:34 PM on January 18, 2005

There is one video you can buy, but that's it.

Growing up, when kids would ask me what my favorite TV show was, I would always answer Square One. ...I was not very popular.
posted by Sibrax at 4:45 PM on January 18, 2005

Please do what these people say...

/singing
posted by iamck at 4:57 PM on January 18, 2005

I used to get so pissed when Mathman would make those stupidass mistakes and get eaten by the tornado guy. He never learns.

Mathnet was way cool though.
posted by p3t3 at 4:59 PM on January 18, 2005

That show was such genius. I was raised by public television.

If only there was something like that for 3-2-1 contact or the Letter People.
posted by Alison at 5:00 PM on January 18, 2005

I was rather jolted by the replacement of the female lead on Mathnet. But even though Tuesday wasn't as good looking as Monday, I did appreciate her bigger breasts. Of course, I was 24 at the time (hey, I worked from 7:00 to 4:00, nothing else was on at 4:30, really). And I learned about the Fibonacci series.
posted by 445supermag at 5:38 PM on January 18, 2005

I used to get so pissed when Mathman would make those stupidass mistakes and get eaten by the tornado guy. He never learns.

except on fridays, when he'd make it through the first segment only to blow it on the second go-round. i remember yelling at mathman to get him to not eat the wrong number, but he never listened. i, at age 4, was telling him that 8 was not a square number. fucking football helmet guy never listened.
posted by salad spork at 5:47 PM on January 18, 2005

I loved, loved, loved Square One. They need to put it out on DVD! Pleeeeeeease, please, please, anyone with connections, please make this happen.

(Infinity, keep on building up, infinity, over and over again!)
(
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:31 PM on January 18, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

Mathman and the tornado guy scared me when I was little. I have no idea WHY, but I would dive behind the couch when those segments came on.

Eurrrrghh.
posted by cmyk at 6:56 PM on January 18, 2005

Oh. Em. Gee.


Thank you for this! I loved Square One as a kid,

I wasn't very popular either.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 7:38 PM on January 18, 2005

I've long hoped for a Mathnet movie. The day I saw George Frankley as non-speaking part in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer dream sequence... well, it was a bittersweet moment for me, knowing that that was the closest to Mathnet I was ever likely to get again.
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 7:50 PM on January 18, 2005

Nine... Nine... that craaazy number nine! No matter what you do, it all comes back to nine!

I have had that song in my head going on 17 years now...
posted by allan at 7:51 PM on January 18, 2005

Or the Archimedes "music video". Or any of their zany music videos, for that matter.

I still remember that Fibonacci Sequence, 445supermag. It centered around a parrot belting out "1 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 5, Eureka!"

I remember this show a little too well, I think.
posted by vanadium at 7:58 PM on January 18, 2005

cmyk: Mathman terrified me too. I recall there were some very loud, discomforting sound effects that sent me into the other room. And the anxiety of knowing the sad outcome in advance! I always dreaded that segment of the show, and suffered through it to get to Mathnet.
posted by Tufa at 8:31 PM on January 18, 2005

Mathman! Mathman! Mathman! Mathman! Mathman! Mathman!
posted by interrobang at 8:41 PM on January 18, 2005

First you try the problem, then step back;
take a-nother plan of attack!
posted by krunk at 8:53 PM on January 18, 2005

Probability
Dontcha mess with me
As long as there's a ghost of a chance

If I win or loose
Still have to choose
Help me make the best of my chance
posted by euphorb at 9:26 PM on January 18, 2005

Holy flashbacks, Mathman!

I am humming the theme song, and I haven't heard it in at least 10 years!
posted by r3tr0 at 6:48 AM on January 19, 2005

Ahhhh, MathNet! Where else could kids like me learn about coordinate triangulation!
posted by sonofsamiam at 7:15 AM on January 19, 2005

Oh man...

Kate Monday was a hottie. And her daughter's named Kate too.

That was one of the few intelligently crafted kids shows I can remember.
posted by GreatWesternDragon at 12:34 PM on January 19, 2005