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40 rows  Crashbox is a Canadian-American educational children's television show that airs on the HBO Family digital cable television channel in the United States and Asia and ran from 1999 to 2000. It aims to educate grade-school children in history, math, vocabulary, and other various subjects. Crashbox was one of the cornerstone programs for the relaunch of the HBO Family channel in January 1999. Crashbox is a Canadian television educational game show made to help elementary school aged kids learn things. Crashbox involves history, math, spelling, and various other elementary level subjects. Each game on Crashbox takes about two to five minutes to play. There are many educational games on Crashbox.

Games

• Captain Bones: The skeleton pirate Captain Bones uses his bones to make puzzles to save him 'from going stark ravin' mad.' Many puzzles consist of incorrect math problems that need to be solved (e.g. 1 + 1 = 3 changes to 1 + 1 = 2 by moving one bone on the 3) or puzzles that need to be arranged to make another image (e.g. 5 squares need to be changed to 4 squares).
• Dirty Pictures: Similar to Haunted House Party, the viewer must figure out who the most well-known person is by watching parts of a picture in a museum dusted off by a maid and reading the museum keeper's cue cards.
• Distraction News: In this recurring game of staying focused, Dora Smarmy, the cardboard cut-out anchorperson, tells the news of a particular topic while nonsensical distractions run amok onscreen. After talking about the topic, she asks the viewers five questions about the topic.
• Ear We Are: In this game, the viewers need to listen to sounds and figure out what thing or place two different disembodied human ears are thinking about. This game rarely appeared in the series. When it did, it would usually be the last game.
• Eddie Bull: At the Walla-Walla Washington Zoo, a boy named Eddie Bull (a pun on 'edible'), is swallowed whole by an unseen animal and gives the viewers clues (trivial facts about an animal) to have them figure out what animal swallowed him alive. After he tells the viewer what the animal is, he manages to come out alive in the end, usually due to 'going back the way (he) came'.
• Haunted House Party: At a haunted house party, a famous dead person is the special guest whose silhouette is seen through windows. The viewers have to listen to the person's historical facts and figure out who he/she is. Right before the person reveals who they are, the narrator stops him/her and recaps on the facts about that person.
• Lens McCracken: In order to figure out what happened in a crime scene, a bumbling, self-proclaimed 'ace' photo snoop named Lens McCracken shows the viewers three different things that are zoomed in very closely and has them figure out what those things are. Sometimes they close the episode with this game.
• Mug Shots: Verity Pins, a New Yorkish detective, gets four suspects pinned down for lying and allows the viewers to spot which three are guilty by listening to their lies. The suspect who says something truthful and trivial is innocent.
• Paige and Sage: In one minute, the viewers must find ten differences between two panels. Both panels have the same background, but both Barbie doll girls have the differences in their own panels. This game rarely appeared in the series. When it did, it was usually the last game.
• Poop or Scoop: A sideshow caller, whose arms and cane are only seen, shows four different animals and a fact that relates to each one. If one fact is true, viewers would choose 'SCOOP.' If false, they choose 'POOP.' This was the only game in the series that has rankings on how many questions the viewers answered correctly. If the viewers got only one answer right, the rank is 'Party Pooper', if they got two right, the rank is 'Pooper Scooper', if three, the rank is 'Super Pooper Scooper', if all four questions are answered correctly, the rank is 'Super Duper Pooper Scooper'.
• Psycho Math: Prof. Rocket, the robotic host with a crazy persona, lets viewers solve equations by showing pictures that represent a particular number (e.g. Number of letters of the alphabet = 26, Number of days in a week = 7). Three pictures are placed in the first three boxes with a question mark in the fourth box (e.g. # x # - # = ?). Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division signs are used randomly. Order of operations is not taken into consideration.
• Radio Scramble: At KBOX, 'Jumpin' Johnny Jumble', an anthropomorphic microphone and radio host, plays tunes to let the viewers figure out what words the jumbled letters really make. The music will always relate to the unscrambled word (for example, if the original, unscrambled word was 'mouse', the tune might be about how a 'soume' kept squeaking). The beginning and end always show off an example of mixing the word 'jumble' (e.g. meljub). In occasions, he disguises himself as another person to broadcast either sports, weather, or traffic.
• Revolting Slob: In every episode, an offscreen female narrator (on the episode when revolting slob gets sick, before the second question, she sneezes and revolting slob offers his germy tissue, that's when her hand is seen. Her skin is white, and she has red fingernails. Also, when revolting slob eats a lot of beans and the narrator want him to eat healthier and puts a box of full grain cereal, that is when her hand is seen again. Her skin is white and has non-colored fingernails.) teaches the viewers three new vocabulary words based on a revolting slob's (literally named the Revolting Slob) behaviors and actions. Multiple choices are given before the correct word is revealed. In the end, one word explained from the third multiple choice section has to do with the Revolting Slob exploding into nothingness, and the narrator closes the episode with 'No slobs (and any other living thing) were harmed in the filming of this show.' Usually, they begin the show with this game.
• Riddle-Snake: After the Riddle-Snake plays a tune which brings up a riddle, viewers are given time to figure out the riddle before a man who never opens his eyes appears and gives the answer. When seen, usually it is the last game they play before the episode ends.
• Sketch Pad: On his sketch pad, an artist named Sketch draws pictures that tell a story and omits a picture so the viewers try to figure out what really happened before the final picture of the story is revealed. The story is usually in the form of a lateral thinking puzzle.
• Ten Seconds: A game where viewers must figure out the answers to a series of Rebus puzzles each within ten seconds. (2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd = Ten Seconds. Hence, the title). Sometimes they close the episode with this game.
• Think Tank: Captain Bob, a Jamaican submarine driver, is stuck in a large fish tank. Before all the water in the tank goes down the drain and the sub reaches the ground, the viewers need to figure out what three given things have in common. Each episode consists of two rounds. This game was played in almost every episode in the series.
• Word Shake: In this game similar to Mad Gab, a French chef takes two to three words together and forms them into another word that sounds like the two to three words (or letters) said together. This game rarely appeared in the series, when it did, they almost always close the episode with this game.

Crashbox is a Canadian-Americaneducationalchildren's television show that airs on the HBO Familydigitalcabletelevision channel in the United States and Asia and ran from 1999 to 2000. It aims to educate grade-school children in history, math, vocabulary, and other various subjects.

Crashbox was one of the cornerstone programs for the relaunch of the HBO Family channel in January 1999.^[1][2] The series has never been released on DVD or VHS, but reruns air on HBO Family to this day.

• 4Episodes

Creation team[edit]

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 award-winning Cuppa Coffee Studios 7 months to complete 13 hours of programming.^[3]

Plot[edit]

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 robots. Each half-hour episode consists of at least seven 2-to-5-minute educational games.

Games[edit]

The following games appear in this show:

• Distraction News - A cardboard cutout newswoman named Dora Smarmy (voiced by Mari Weiss) will tell the viewers about certain things as the viewers watch to learn about them while not getting distracted of the things that appear during the broadcast.
• Sketch Pad - A beatnik (voiced by Greg Eagles) will draw pictures of some things as the viewers must solve the reason of certain things happening.
• Psycho Math - Professor Rocket (voiced by Arif S. Kinchen) gives the viewers long math problems for them to solve with countable pictures.
• Ear We Are - A right ear (voiced by John Watkin) and a left ear (voiced by Alan Schlaifer) help viewers identify different sounds to let people know where they are.
• Haunted House Party - A haunted house is the setting of a house party hosted by an unseen Horrid One (voiced by John Watkin) that ghosts attend as the viewer must identify the historical 'ghost of honor' by listening to clues about them. When all the clues have been said, the Horrid One will recap them to the viewers before the historical figure is revealed in cardboard cutout form.
• Eddie Bull - Eddie Bull (voiced by Ritchie Montgomery) gives viewers three hints at what animal at the Walla Walla Washington Zoo ate him. Once the animal is identified, Eddie will be regurgitated.
• 10 Seconds - The game's announcer (voiced by Alan Schlaifer) gives the viewers 10 seconds to guess what the word in question is doing.
• Radio Scramble - An anthropomorphic microphone named DJ Jumpin' Johnny Jumble (voiced by Peter Lurie impersonating Wolfman Jack) has the viewers unscramble a word that is the title of the song that he plays at the KBOX radio station.
• Captain Bones - A pirate skeleton named Captain Bones (voiced by S. Scott Bullock) has the viewers solve math problems and other types of puzzles by having his bones form the numbers or objects and having the viewers move one of his bones to pull it off.
• Poop or Scoop - The game's announcer (voiced by Danny Wells) gives facts about animals where they must guess if they are true or false.
• Revolting Slob - A puppet sketch where a polite female narrator (voiced by Edie McClurg) uses the Revolting Slob (performed by Tom Vandenberg and Johan Vandergun, voiced by Michael McShane) where she gives a three-choice answer to a question that describes what the Revolting Slob is doing. The sketch ends with the other word of the final question having the Revolting Slob explode with the female narrator quoting 'No slobs were harmed in the making of this show.'
• Wordshake - A live-action French chef (voiced by John Watkin) in a silent movie setting cooks up two words that can be used by the viewers to form one word like the words drag and in to form 'dragon' and the words disturb and honey to make 'Easter Bunny.' The sketch usually ends with the kitchen exploding with flour.
• Mug Shots - Detective Verity (voiced by Maggie Baird) has the viewers look at the interrogated testimony from the 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. Each of the suspects are shown in live action. When the innocent one is identified, Verity will arrange for the guilty party to be locked up.
• Like Totally Paige & Sage - An unseen valley girl (voiced by Dawn Maxey) walks the viewers through the pictures of identical twins Paige and Sage where they must spot the differences in the pictures.
• Think Tank - Inside a fish tank, a Jamaican submarine captain named Captain Bob (voiced by Greg Eagles) has the viewers figure out what each of the three things that appear has in common.
• Dirty Pictures - In a museum that is closed for cleaning, a maid dusts off a picture with the elderly security guard holding up cards that give the hints of the person in the picture. This is a non-speaking segment.
• Lens McCracken - An ace photo snoop named Lens McCracken (voiced by S. Scott Bullock) develops pictures from a case he is working on in a puzzled way that the viewers must solve which would also be solved by his dark room's computer called the Solutionator.
• Riddlesnake - An unseen Raj (voiced by Veena Bidasha) reads the riddles from the Riddlesnake that the viewers must solve.

Near the end, the robots will do 'Crashbox Rewind' where they review most of the games to the viewers.^{[citation needed]}

Episodes[edit]

Season 1[edit]

Season 2[edit]

Cast[edit]

• Carlos Alazraqui - Harry Houdini, Benjamin Franklin, Richard Nixon, Christopher Columbus, Thomas Edison
• Maggie Baird - Detective Verity, Woman in Haunted House Party, Eleanor Roosevelt
• Dee Bradley Baker - Thomas Jefferson, Henry Ford, Noseless Calhoun
• Veena Bidasha - Riddlesnake Raj, Ivana Flipova, Cleopatra
• S. Scott Bullock - Captain Bones, Lens McCracken, Julius Caesar, Irv Goldberg, Lug Nut Muldoon, Leonard da Vinci, Sir Isaac Newton, George Washington
• Greg Eagles - Captain Bob, Sketch Pad, Jackie Robinson, Sammy Six Toes, Bass Henderson, Danger Jones, Dean De Luca
• Arif S. Kinchen - Professor Rocket
• Peter Lurie - Jumpin' Johnny Jumble, Green Robot, Roger Hammerstein, Noah
• Dawn Maxey - Valley Girl Voice in Like Totally Paige and Sage
• Edie McClurg - Female Polite Voice in Revolting Slob
• Michael Montgomery - The Revolting Slob, Sleepy Eyes McGee
• Ritchie Montgomery - Eddie Bull, Checkers LaRue, Babyface McGurie, Scooter Hayes, Billy Crimp
• Alan Schlaifer - Ten Seconds Announcer, Butler in Haunted House Party, Ghost in Haunted House Party, Left Ear, Iddy Pitts, Gilbert Sullivan, Muscles Stankowski, Louis Clark
• John Watkin - Horrid One, Right Ear, Wordshake Chef, Dr. Cleanpick, Mellon Ball Jones, Stu Rumpitz, Larry The Lump, Mickey O Grady, Paul Revere, William Shakespeare, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein
• Mari Weiss - Dora Smarmy, Viola Hardcase, Puddin Lemon
• Danny Wells - Poop or Scoop Announcer

References[edit]

Hbo 4 Kids Crashbox Games

1. ^Richard Katz, 'HBO in Family way with heavy push of new fare', Variety, September 9, 1998.
2. ^Lynne Heffley, 'HBO Launches Spinoff With Pair of Excellent Kids' Shows', Los Angeles Times, January 25, 1999.
3. ^Eichhorn, P: 'Cuppa Coffee brews up a special blend of animation Take One Magazine, Summer, 1999, No. 24

Hbo For Kids Crashbox

External links[edit]

• Crashbox at TV.com
• Crashbox on IMDb