'I first saw Mathnet sometime in 1987. (Or was it '86?) Like Jill here, math was definitely not my forte. I absolutely loathed it. I think Square One TV, and especially Mathnet, changed all that.

The first episode of Mathnet I saw intrigued me- it was with Jane Rice Burroughs (Yeardley Smith), a girl who was trying to find Grunt, the kidnapped gorilla. Somehow, they worked math into the entire story, but it was really well done. I'd never even heard of the show it was parodying, Dragnet, so I thought this was a completely new type of show. Looking back on it now, I guess that episode started my five-year obsession with the little show-within-a-show.

I've told Jill that we must be related, and it's weird, because I too thought that I would eventually meet Kate and George and Debbie, and maybe even the Chief, Thad Green. Almost every week, there was a new and exciting series of episodes. And some of the cases were pretty freaky. Remember the one with Fatty Tissue's parrot, Louis, and Walter, the kid? The part when the taxidermist showed them the stuffed birds was an especially freaky scene. My other favorite episode series was the one where Kate broke her leg and George had to stop that bizarre bearded guy next door from blowing her up. Another good one that got me scared for George's life was when he was nearly crushed to death at the auto-wrecking yard in that limo. And then there was the one with the Maltese Pigeon, with George doing a great Bogie impression. You really can't get any better than those first few seasons.

The move that disappointed me initially was the move to New York, but in retrospect, a lot of those episodes were equal to some of the LA ones. The show lost its original premise to be a parody of Dragnet, but luckily the writing was good and we got some excellent episodes as well, my favorite being 'The Unkidnapping' with Lauren Bacchanal and Eve, Kate's friend. Also, there were some excellent additions to the cast, like their boss, Joe, and their cabdriver/undercover partner, Benny.

Then, in 1991, Beverly Leech left the show and so did her character, Kate. Now that bummed me out, big time. I turned on the TV anxious to see a new episode, and I saw George sitting with this rather plump woman. I wondered who the hell it was. Martha? Nope, we never saw her. It turned out that they had replaced Kate Monday with the creatively named Pat Tuesday, a poor replacement for Kate and for Leech herself. The thing that made me mad was the fact that they never once mentioned Kate again. Not once! She just disappeared. At least in other shows with cast replacements, like "Charlie's Angels", they explained why the character was out of the picture. It didn't happen here. I wrote to our local Q&A section for the TV weekly guide asking about the switch and they told me Leech had left to pursue other interests. That wasn't enough for me. They also said it took an extensive search to discover Toni DiBuono, who portrays Pat. Now that is a crock of B.S. if I've ever heard one. That lady had no acting talent and apparently they thought they could get away with it. Pat sucked.....that's all there is to it. And so did the episodes- they got more and more wacked out. Pat and George undercover as a punk rock band, The Googols? Pat and George playing baseball? Come on, give me a break. No wonder the show was finally put out of its misery in 1993. It simply had lost all of its original charm and intriguing plotlines.

If the Pat episodes were the nadir of the Mathnet years, what was the high point? Probably the pilot episode, which was a true Dragnet ripoff in all its splendor. You can tell it was shot before most of the other episodes were, because the office building is different, there is a different actress playing Debbie, and Thad Green isn't featured. (They do recast shows after the original pilots if changes need to be made.) It was hilarious, with Kate and George being continually exasperated with that annoying brat Howie and then dealing with that crotchety old hag who lived in that weird house. They were at their best, with Leech showing she could play deadpan and Joe-Friday-type humor well, and Joe Howard (George) showing he made an excellent partner.

Mathnet....great show, great memories. Now, if they could only release it on videocassette...'

'I'm glad to see that I'm not the only fan of Mathnet. Very funny show. A lot of references to very intellectual things, and classic movies. (The Maltese Falcon, King Kong, Citizen Kane, Rear Window...) It probably went over a lot of kid's heads, and more than a few adults as well.

You were 10 when you first tuned in? Shoot... I was in my 30's. Using my mathematic skills, I'd surmise you must be under 20. -My car is older than you!

Brings me to a question: at your tender age, how much of MATHNET did you understand? (allusionwise I mean?) To me, that is one of the things that made it so interesting. For example(s) Bennie Pill's name sounds mighty close to the English comic Bennie Hill. The character Archie Leach, well, Archibald Leach was the actor Cary Grant's real name. There was a guy in one of the NY episodes (who later went on to star in Jurassic Park, and plays the recurring role of Newman on Seinfeld) named Peter Pickwick--no doubt an allusion to the Dickens novel THE PICKWICK PAPERS.

Then again the episode about Little Louie, referred to the late great silent film star "Roscoe 'Fatty' Tissue"--no doubt a play on the great Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.

Also, there is an episode that refers to a "Mr. Roarke" of the construction firm of "ROARKE, ATLAS AND SHRUGGED". Roarke was the name of the hero in one of Ayn Rand's heady novels: THE FOUNTAINHEAD. ATLAS SHRUGGED was the actual name of another of her novels.

In the episode about the irascible talk show host, the allusion was clearly at a guy named Joe Pyne, truly a crass talk show host from the 60's.

In one of the NY episodes George and Kate interviewed a girl on the street who was, well, Lizzie Borden.

Another very funny line was when they were interviewing a sweet little old lady, and she let drop that she had once kissed Richard Dawson. George asked her, "Oh, so you've been on the FAMILY FEUD?" -She smiled devilishly and replied, "noooo...!"

And of course there were other references as well: the "despair diamond" -instead of the "hope diamond". And the puns: George spent his vacation on "Nomanisan Island".

And let us not forget the movie references (something that because of your youth I'd be surprised if you caught) like THE MALTESE FALCON, CASABLANCA, CITIZEN KANE, (remember a character named Charles Kane Foster?) KING KONG, REAR WINDOW (and probably more if I could remember.)

I know the producer/head writer (same guy) of Mathnet and Square One TV, and he told me that they had talked about doing a Mathnet movie, but the legalities were too overwhelming.

Also in the episode about George on trial, we get to see George's car mechanic. This is played by none other than Jim Thurman, the Senior Producer and Head Writer of the show. Jim also did many of the voice-overs for the show (that's him intoning that the show you are about to see is a fib, but it's short). He also did the voice on "Mathman", and some of the voices on "Dirk Niblick".

Between Kate and Pat: no contest! Kate wins hands down. She WAS Joe Friday (Jack Webb). She could also do the best take in the business. She and George were a perfect team.

It's amazing, but of all the people who've satired Jack Webb, the best came from a woman, Beverly Leech... Kate and George were great together. Her reactions to George were sublime. Perhaps my favorite was when the villain wanted his ransom placed in a 240 lb block of ice. Kate asks George where would you put a 240 lb block of ice, and he replied: "...a very large glass?" Her take at hearing the stupidity of his answer cannot be described.

I have to admit, I began to lose interest in the show when they moved to New York; it began to lose it's DRAGNET flavor. (DRAGNET took place in L.A.) Even moreso when Kate left the show. No one could be a better Jack Webb.'

'For the past 10 years, I thought I was the only one obsessed with Mathnet. Today during my calculus class(of all places!), I thought I'd check out the web for anything about Square One and/or Mathnet. I'm so happy to find out I'm not alone!!

I started watching during the first season, when I was 9. I tried watching the first Monday Square One was on, but I wasn't interested, although I loved math. But then Thursday came. It was the case with Grunt. And I was hooked. I watched fathfully every day, even if it meant arguing with my father, who wanted to watch the news. When I wouldn't be home to watch, I'd beg one of my parents to set the VCR.

I thought it was cool when they moved to NY, but I was not happy when Pat took over, although I got used to her. Then as I became more active in school, I had less time to watch. And then it happened: My local PBS station stopped carrying Square One. I cried as I read TV Guide, seeing it listed on all the PBS stations except mine.

I had always loved math, so the entire show interested me, and it sparked my acting interest, too. I had/still have an wild imagination and fantasy life. While my friends pretended to be She-Ra or Jem, I was Kate(later Pat) and George's junior helper.

Now that I think about it, Mathnet has probably helped me get where I am today. I'm currently a freshman in college, and if everything goes according to plan, by next semester I'll be declaring a double major in math education and drama.'

'First up, I wanted to say that you have a great site - I never knew that anyone else out there still remembered Mathnet...  Anyway, my name is Lindsay Livermore, I'm fifteen, and I'm a Mathnet addict. :)

I began watching at the tender age of five, being that a) being five, I didn't have much else to do, and b) PBS was the only network my parents let me watch (product of the "Superbaby Eighties" and all that.)

The Story:  I had sat through "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood", "3-2-1-Contact", and "The Bloodhound Gang" before something new came on, instead of "Sesame Street".  Intrigued, I was glued to the screen.  It was not long before I was laughing at the antics of Mathman and the Tessellations.

And then, it happened.  I'll never forget the opening lines:  "This story is a fib, but it's short.  The names are made up but the problems are real."  Cut to a shot of a woman in a bright blue blazer marching towards an imposing gray building.  "My name is Monday.  I'm a mathematician."  I was hooked.

As the months went by, I got to the point where I could solve the cases along with Kate and George.  I remember watching as Steve Stringbean was found (and George using his calculator to figure out how to time LA traffic and never hit a stoplight), laughing as Little Louie the parrot was kidnapped (I'll never forget the Mathnetters exploring that spooky attic with candles since the power was out), and biting my nails as George was nearly crushed in the junkyard (despite the homing device Kate had conveniently attached to the car.)

But all good things do come to an end, and when I was sentenced to the prisons of Clarkston Elementary School, I no longer had the option of watching; I was suffering through Miss Shotwell's advanced math course instead.  I watched whenever I could, on free days and when I was sick (the happiest week of first grade for me was when I got the chickenpox, since it meant a whole week of uninterrupted Square One).

And then one day came when I had a day off and there was no more Square One.  Instead, I suffered through thirty minutes of "Reading Rainbow" before turning off the TV in disgust.  I already could read at a twelfth-grade level; what did I want with a reading program?  I was in the third grade then, and I was crushed that the "meanies" at WTVS-56 had taken my beloved Square One away from me.  I even went so far as to beg my parents to donate during their spring telethon, and when they wouldn't I called the number myself, asked to pledge five hundred dollars, and hung up.  They never found out, but it made me feel better to do it anyway.

As I became more and more embroiled in school, I began to forget about my once-favorite show.  I went through brief "affairs" with pseudo-educational shows such as "seaQuest DSV" and "Star Trek", but it
just wasn't the same.  I even began watching reruns of the original "Dragnet" on Nick at Nite, trying to get a better feel for the ancestry of Mathnet.

This morning, I had to reset my computer's newsgroup subscription list when I noticed a new group in the alt.tv hierarchy.  I subscribed immediately, and here I am now.  Thanks to Mathnet and Square One Television for many years of entertainment and education!'

   'I enjoyed your web page on Mathnet, and I must say, I agree with almost everything you said.  I way prefer Kate Monday to Pat Tuesday.  Frankly, Pat Tuesday was too serious for the show.  Even George lost his humor later in the show.  I don't know if it was working with Pat Tuesday, or being in New York, but he was way funnier in the LA episodes.'  

'Boy, do I have some great memories of this show!

It all started around 1987, and I was in kindergarten.  Some of my friends started telling me about this show called Square One TV, and they told me that I should watch it.  I thought, why not, it was on after Sesame Street.  So I started watching Square One, and of course Mathnet.  The first case I think I saw was the one with the Karamazov brothers, and the last scene in the courthouse kind of scared me a little, seeing the mask come off of the Karamazov guy and it not being George.  But I kept on watching, every day, till it went off the air about 5 years ago.  I also remember when sometimes they would have Mathnet specials at night, and I think that one of them (around 1990, I think) was the Eve Adams story.  I'd think that my favorite story of all would be the one where Kate is laid up in her apartment and George is trying to short the bomb (Just do it, Kate, gosh darn it!).  That story was a real edge-of-your-seat one!  But still, I thought that the whole Square One show was the best, not just Mathnet!  All of the skits were great, and I still remember most of them.  The general consensus around here seems to be that everyone who watched it didn't do well in math, but I watched it for all of those years, and didn't do well in math in grammar/Jr. High school, but I'm doing GREAT in high school, and just finished up taking AP Calculus this year.   Now I can safely say that math is my favorite subject, and I guess that all of those scenes of Mathnet when Kate, Pat, or George were solving their problems took a little while to sink in, but they sure did in the long run.  Thanks again for such a great page and for bringing back so many memories!'

     'My first glimpse of Mathnet was sometime in 1987, and I must admit that I was hooked instantly.  I don't know why--I just simply loved the show!  I watched it religiously for 6 years.  My friends quickly learned not to come over my house after school.  Every time they did, I would make them watch it, and try to convince them what a fantastic show it was.  They thought I was crazy, but that didn't stop me.  It's kind of embarrassing, now that I look back on it.  Kate, George, and Pat were my role models.  Given the chance, I would have kissed the ground they walked on.  And I knew that one day, I would finally meet them, and they would make me a Jr. Mathnetter.  I even wrote a few of my own Mathnet episodes after the move to New York.  I was so disappointed, and it seemed like a good way to keep the memories of the Los Angeles episodes alive.  But unlike some unhappy viewers, I eventually adjusted to the new setting, and I even grew to like Pat.  Sure, she was a little corny at times, but she seemed very sweet and gentle.  If I had to pick my absolute favorite episode, I don't think that I could.  But "The Case of the Swami Scam" and "The Case of the Despair Diamond" definitely would be at the top of my list.  I thought it was so exciting--scuba diving for diamonds off the California Coast.  And the one where Pat was accused of stealing Hester Phestor's pearl.  It was so dramatic--I loved it!  Another one I absolutely loved was the one where Kate had a broken leg.   George was so sensitive to Kate's feelings, and so caring!  It's like they were married or something.  I wish I had a wonderful guy like him.  Martha was lucky!  And after watching those great episodes-over and over and over again-there was no going back.  I had become a Mathnet junkie.  I recorded all the episodes and watched them on Saturday mornings, when the rest of the pre-adolescent world was watching cartoons.  I even (here's another juicy part) dragged my Barbie dolls out of my closet and re-enacted some scenes with them.  Things got pretty interesting on the Barbie/Mathnet scene! 

Needless to say, I was devastated when Mathnet was cancelled so abruptly. No other TV show interested me.  Luckily, I lived through the loss, and I didn't even need psychiatric help.  I found other programs to watch on television, and got involved in school activities, which helped my wounds to heal.  And even though I am currently a college student attending the University of Central Florida, I still miss Mathnet.  I miss the happy days of childhood, and my relationship with the world's best TV show.  But maybe we will meet again.  Who knows???????  After all, I am a volunteer at a local PBS station.  And thanks for reading my obsessive ramblings--you Mathnet fans are the greatest!  It's like we're one big, happy family!'  

'Ok, time for my contribution to the "Mathnet Confessional:"

::brooding theme march:: It was a rainy Thursday, about 5 p.m.  I was home and extremely bored when I stumbled onto a website devoted entirely to Mathnet.  This was definitely worth investigating.  I was working the site out of Netscape.  My name is Wednesday (not really).  I'm a MATHNETaholic.  ::Dum da dum dum.  Dum da dum dum DUM!::

::underscored by eerie synthesizer music, sort of a mixture of the themes from "The Twilight Zone" and "The X-Files"::  I started to pull out my endless pile of MATHNET videos, and had this sudden urge to discover Kate Monday's real name (she's gorgeous and funny), and quickly discovered that, in my youthful innocence, I hadn't taped more than three or four "Kate" episodes, none of them case endings with the credits!  So I hopped on the Internet to search for Ms. Monday, my first acting inspiration.

I started watching MATHNET at about 5, the very first season.  I've never been much of a math person, but I love comedy and detective dramas.  I've never seen DRAGNET, so I didn't get a lot of those jokes (like "Monday" instead of "Friday"), but I got many of the other puns.  One of my favorites is Pat and George as Nick and Nora Chuck. 

I used to daydream (occasionally I still do) that I was the new partner at MATHNET, George's new partner, of course.  I was young, pretty, and a recent graduate of Mathnet U.  I loved the blue suits, I loved the synchronized walk, I loved the calculator holsters, I loved the gags and the never-ending parade of odd victims and villains who populated the show.  My name was Wednesday, of course, but I never really settled on a first name.  If I did, I've forgotten it.

I have to say that although I like Pat (Toni diBuono), I love Kate (Beverly Leech) to no end, and the LA cases were miles better.  They were more fun and suspenseful than the ones in New York, all of which looked like they were shot on a sound stage.  The ones in LA used real landmarks; I've been to the house where they shot The Case of the Willing Parrot.  The wall with the patterned tiles was a prop, obviously, but the house itself is quite real.  It's actually a lot bigger than it looks; they used a side door as the front entrance. 

Another thing I noticed is that in the early LA episodes, Kate and George were in a lot more danger than Pat and George ever were.  Indeed, Kate and George never really seemed to be in peril once they moved to New York.  In LA, Kate and George were threatened at gunpoint, nearly killed by a bomb, and nearly crushed by a car wrecker.  In NY, a "planenapped" Z-13 threatened to demolish New York City, and the series treated it as one big farce.  Likewise with Pat and George in NY.  Whatever danger they were in (and they were never in much), it was treated as a gag, as something to be melodramatic and sarcastic about rather than a real danger.  Needless to say, the early MATHNETs were much more gripping.  I still remember seeing the sweat on Beverly Leech's face as Kate and George battled for their lives against the clock-bomb. 

The two best endings of the whole series were George's trial with the boxers, and the bomb in Kate's apartment planted there by her psychotic clock-fixing neighbor.  (Notice these are both LA/Kate episodes.  Everything about them was perfect except for Kate's truly eighties hair.)  Another of my favorites was from Pat's second season, after she cut her hair.  I believe it was the first one, with  I.M. Peeved the butler, and Pat and George as Sherlock and Whatsit.

Now I truly have to confess:  I always thought that George and Kate were perfect for each other, that he should have divorced Martha (by the way, George and Martha.  "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"), and the two of them should have honeymooned and then gone on solving cases as husband and wife. That was just a fantasy, of course, but wouldn't it have been great?  Can't you just see them arresting some crook and arguing at the same time?  "You have the right to remain silent. . ."  "George, did you do the dishes like I asked?"  "Not now, Kate, I'm in the middle of an arrest. . . If you give up that right, anything you say. . ."  "George, you didn't answer my question." "Can and will be used against you in the court of. . ."  "George!"  "Kate, you're interfering with an arrest.  You can get your calculator taken away. . . Can and will be used against you. . ."  "George, you're taking forever." Kate grabs the bewildered suspect. "You have the right to remain silent.  If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." 

Why on earth did they move the show to New York?  The only thing good that came out of that was Kate's new hairdo.  Well, and the new boss.  I loved James Earl Jones as the LA boss, but I loved Joe Greco, too.  And why did they have to switch to Pat?  I really like her, but the show changed too much when Kate left.  It went from being smart and a great parody to being farcical, still funny, but not as intelligent anymore.

Enough whining.  Oh, an interesting bit of trivia pointed out by my aunt, another MATHNETaholic:  most episodes contain either the number 13 or 31.  The stolen car in the Despair Diamond/Wooden Hamburger case had licence plate number 0 0 313.  The landlord Ebenezer Squeeze from the Charlie the Dummy case lived at 1313 Thirteenth Place.  Any clues as to why?

So ends my confession.  ::the eerie Twilight-Zone-meets-X-Files synthesizer music ends:: 

::Dum da dum dum.  Dum da dum dum DUM!::'