Mathnet | The Case of the Deceptive Data

[@JSSMVCJR2.2]

Is that Vicious Vinny Vermin show a potshot to Nickelodeon?

[@amyv1143]

I'm assuming so! Double Dare, specifically. I also liked that show, though it was a bit gross at times...

[@KarlBonner1982]

How are you supposed to accurately pull out 1,000 marbles when you're blindfolded?!?

[@ScottNapolitan]

I felt just about the same way when the Game Show Temple return channel got terminated in early 2021.

[@detmstr341]

Fun fact- did anyone know Sam Salazar and Steve Freeman were real life L.A.P.D. officers at the time?

[@jakebluethunder]

Yep.

[@detmstr341]

@@jakebluethunder I'd prefer episode with those 2 officers over New York.

[@kathyquinn8616]

@@detmstr341 I'll Bet those two are old by now.

[@detmstr341]

@@kathyquinn8616 They may even be up in that t.v. studio in the sky.

[@ScottNapolitan]

Dick Sargent was the second of the two actors to play Darrin Stephens on Bewitched. Dick York was the first.

[@johnathanmonsen6567]

Finally found it. That ending scene was all I remembered from this episode, I had no idea it was this long--heck, I thought it was just a sketch series on The Electric Company, not its own show. I remember being confused at the joke with the policemen watching the kids' show on TV, as it didn't occur to me that it was unusual for grown police officers to watch children's programming (and of course, the point that nobody was supposed to be watching the show anyway went over my head; I might have only tuned in then and hadn't had the context).

[@colleen4ever]

Fun fact- in a Six-Degrees-of-Separation twist, when McLean Stevenson (who plays Mike Pliers) left MASH, his replacement was Harry Morgan, who played Bill Gannon, who was Joe Friday's partner in Dragnet, which is obviously what Mathnet is a parody of!! How's that for coincidence?

[@DrCrow13]

Good Lord this show was SO GOOD! WHERE IS THE REBOOT?!?!

[@cllewis1]

The more of these I watch, 30 years later, the more I appreciate the one-liners. "the rhinestone cowboys on rodeo drive." And so on.

[@zyzzy-ko4ww]

1:07:31 When you multiply zero by zero, you get what Vicious Vinnie is!

[@KororaPenguin]

"Oooh. Gonna need a medic for THAT one." -- DustyKatt, "Seven Nation Army Part III"

[@yennisopheialestarish3272]

I want Mathnet poster.

[@discoweasel1977]

If the Mike Pliers show is real, I would always like to watch it a zillion times more than the Vicious Vinnie Vermin Show.

[@nylac100]

Disco Weasel1977 "I hate that show!" 6:15

[@discoweasel1977]

So do I, because it's so disgusting.

[@seanadams3551]

@@discoweasel1977 It's a parody of Mike Hammer.

[@detmstr341]

So, would I. His show probably has those morals and values that kids needs to learn and not how to be a thug or criminal.

[@JohnSmith-zw8vp]

Fax Headful: That's not even a real number!

[@sunsetradioasmr7344]

Basically the way George feels about Mike Pliers in this show is how we all feel about Mathnet being taken off the air. A little prophetic, haha.

[@rebeccahowe8927]

HA! I said the same thing when I first rewatched. George is All of Us.

[@NDW85]

I felt the same way when one of my favorite hangout spots here in Carbondale, Spinoni's pizza and pasta house, closed down a few years back.

[@Ian16545]

The same way _I_ feel whenever a restaurant near me goes under.

[@kathyquinn8616]

@@rebeccahowe8927 I would have to agree with my fellow KZbinrs, Because I too felt the same way when Netflix, Hulu, and Peacock took out most of my Favorite TV shows and Movies, also when CW Vortex TV goes off too.

[@VahanNisanian]

And one last thing: At the time, this was the longest episode they had done, as well as the longest in the Los Angeles era. This was when, little by little, they were experimenting with over one-hour-long story arcs in season 2, and when they moved to New York City in season 3, it would become the norm.

[@petermay6097]

14:14 Watching: Have you ever been on television? Frankly: No... [glances at camera] but-

[@detmstr341]

I loved the music when those 2 police officers arrived at the studio at 1:10:16. It sounded like official business was going to take place.

[@NickCMedia]

About 4: I compared the bit with the one from Passing Parade, and they're a little different. Chief Green said "good luck" in different shots.

[@Nabinut]

How the heck did they get McLean Stevenson to make an appearance on a children's show? I think it was pretty cool how they would get at least one B-D list star to appear on Mathnet.

[@colleen4ever]

And in a Six-Degrees-of-Separation twist, when McLean Stevenson left MASH, his replacement was Harry Morgan, who played Bill Gannon, who was Joe Friday's partner in Dragnet!! How's that for coincidence?

[@JMFabiano]

That's It Was A Thing On TV Hall of Famer McLean Stevenson!

[@NDW85]

I am only guessing but this must have been one of the last roles Dick Sargent (Darren number 2 from Bewitched) did before he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

[@cllewis1]

But could Dick York have done a better job?

[@robertdubs9466]

@@cllewis1 Not in 1988, he couldn't have. He was bedridden from a back injury (that he actually obtained before he was even on Bewitched, but it ended up being the reason he left the show), and dying of emphysema by that time, and he passed away in 1992.

[@tanyagarcia3721]

I thought he was familiar. I watched that show when I was a kid back home every summer because the reruns were on before I got out of school during the rest of the year

[@Isolder74]

Well he did appear on an episode of Columbo, as himself. Uneasy Lies The Crown.

[@rebeccahowe8927]

"George and I arrived at the office at the same time" no way that's a coincidence. Methinks someone had a sleepover. Dick Sargent is so delightful in this role. RIP. And finally, the whole brief scene capped by Leech's take at 59:58 ("what kind of stuff") is comedy gold. I can't watch it without laughing. She is so good.

[@wishingstar22]

YES. I remember this episode, thank you!

[@Mr.Chatterly]

Vicious Vinnie is bad enough to entertain people on TV to give out bad lies!

[@zyzzy-ko4ww]

Vicious Vinnie: Are you finished? George Frankly: No, YOU are!

[@jonacme]

1:07:47: And George, Any number plus or minus zero is the same!

[@Garrettk41]

Well, Stevenson has done at least one children's movie. Namely, "The Cat From Outer Space". In an interesting coincidence, that movie also featured Ronnie Schell, who appeared in the Mathnet episode that came directly before this one.

[@jasonpp1973]

Harry Morgan as well, also from MASH

[@Garrettk41]

I was thinking of actors who've been on "Mathnet", but yes.

[@colleen4ever]

@@jasonpp1973 Harry Morgan replaced McLean Stevenson on MASH, and he also played Bill Gannon, who was Joe Friday's Partner on the 60's Dragnet, which as we all know Mathnet is a parody of! :D

[@NickCMedia]

2. Not quite. There are a few others, such as The Case of the Willing Parrot (part 2), and the Swami Scam (part 4).

[@JohnSmith-zq9mo]

Kate looks really different. Looks much more feminine than usual? On a more substantive point: it really got the basic idea of sampling across.

[@colleen4ever]

Check out her in New York! Got a real makeover and she;s a knockout there.

[@yennisopheialestarish3272]

Please, add to television in Jakarta.

[@trevorbrown_artist]

13 people knowing a password sort of makes it useless. #🔐

[@NickCMedia]

trevor brown Not if they are all sworn to secrecy. Remember, the ratings company was security conscious. If it was divulged, they would be forced to change it and give it to those who didn't divulge it, with a warning.

[@nylac100]

Computer security was different in the 80s.

[@Isolder74]

@@nylac100 Dialing into a computer was more complicated back then. You had to dial the computer's actual phone number before you could even try anything.