slot, but also at 8 p.m., when KCET and KPBS will show two half-hour episodes. Tonight, “Carmen Sandiego” will be broadcast not only in its regular 5 p.m. But the facts-in the form of puzzles and clues-are slipped in, and are surrounded by music, skits and hype. The idea, according to Blumenthal and others involved with the show, is to create an atmosphere of enthusiasm for geography, while not making the show explicitly instructional.Īccording to Jay Rayvid, co-executive producer and senior vice president of WQED, each program contains about 70 pieces of geographical information, a subject about which most American children know very little. “We intentionally designed the show to have a really fast pace, (which) that age group is accustomed to from watching MTV.” “We have a lot of comedy, animation and silliness, which we felt was essential to be able to compete,” said senior producer Howard Blumenthal. She appears on a video screen, urging the young “gumshoes” to hurry and find the criminals, and berating the show’s host, Greg Lee, for moving too slowly. “Carmen Sandiego” is structured around the idea of a 1940s Hollywood-style detective agency: “The Chief,” played by Lynne Thigpen, is the agency’s tough-talking head.

And, she said, game shows are relatively inexpensive to produce, a plus at a time when public television is suffering from recession-related drops in corporate funding. “Research shows that kids adore game shows,” Taylor said.

Seeking a vehicle to teach geography, PBS opted for a game show for two reasons, said Kate Taylor, co-executive producer and director of children’s and family programming at WGBH. Produced by WGBH in Boston and WQED in Pittsburgh, the program casts its young contestants in the role of detectives who must figure out “where in the world” criminals-who are part of a gang run by a woman named Carmen Sandiego-have hidden their loot. Like the computer game, the questions and puzzles in PBS’ “Carmen Sandiego” are based on geography.

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