Mathnet is a live-action sketch originally used in Square One Television, a show by Sesame Workshop. Because Sesame Workshop co-owned Noggin when the channel was launched, it aired a variety of skits from its archive library on Noggin, including reruns of Mathnet.
The sketch was featured in several episodes of Noggin's Phred on Your Head Show after Noggin viewers voted to have it shown. Each episode has five parts, one for each day of the week.
Story[]
In a parody of "Dragnet," two officers at the Los Angeles Police Department solve mysteries using their mathematical skills.
Episodes[]
Mathnet in a 1999 Noggin promo
Only 12 weeks of the show aired on Phred on Your Head Show. In the first incarnation of Phred (July 26, 1999-September 17, 2000), these episodes were difficult to predict, but on September 18, 2000, the following cycle was introduced.
3pm / 6pm (and noon in the summer schedule)
Week 1: The Case of the Poconos Paradise/The Mystery of the Maltese Pigeon
Week 2: The Case of the Map With A Gap/The Problem of the Passing Parade
Week 3: The Case of the Missing Air/The Case of the Deceptive Data
Week 4: The Case of the Unkidnapping/The Problem of the Dirty Money
Week 5: The Problem of the Trojan Hamburger/The Case of the Masked Avenger
Week 6: Despair in Monterey Bay/The Trial of George Frankly
They would then reverse positions for weeks 7-12, and start at the beginning again. Saturday and Sunday airings would repeat Thursday and Friday, respectively. The final airing on September 10, 2001, at 3pm, aired the Friday show of that week (as the 52nd week, it was Week 4, The Case of the Unkidnapping).
At some point during its run, probably when the cycle was stabilized, Mathnet became always the final segment of the hour long Phred on Your Head Show before the closing theme. It never aired in the half-hour version, and it wasn't introduced by the host by name.
Sources[]
Posts on alt.tv.mathnet