Why should Noggin show Square One more often?

I know this one seems very easy to answer -- because it's the best show ever -- but there's really much more to it than that. I'm going to counter every one of Noggin's clever retorts, and show everyone exactly why Square One should be accessible to everyone, all the time.

Noggin Myth #1. Square One is too dated. Well that's easy enough. More than half of Noggin's Square One episodes are from the early 90s, the same time period that spawned Clarissa Explains it All, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, and Ghostwriter, a few of Noggin's most popular programs. Clarissa, in my opinion, is a displaced 80's show. If you think that "kids can't watch shows from the 80's," it's time to lock up the Cosby Show reruns that have become so popular! A glance at your message board shows that kids are so happy you show them those other shows... because they remember them from when they were little. Remember, retro is popular with kids.

Noggin Myth #2. Square One is aimed at middle-school kids, and we only program shows for preschoolers (Noggin) and preteens (The N). There are two ways I can answer this. First, Noggin was created to be an educational teaching resource -- the 24 hour Cable in the Classroom Channel, more or less -- that didn't have advertising, which meant that ratings would presumably have no effect on programming. In essence, it was for teachers and by teachers. It's clear that Noggin jumped the shark on this one, but I digress: I'm really questioning the whole format change. So, the other reason: Ghostwriter, Sponk, and Clarissa were written for the same age group as Square One. So kids that age are watching, and, before the format change, they were the main audience. Yet, for some reason, Noggin has chosen to withhold it from them. Which brings me to the next point...

Noggin Myth #3. Kids don't like Square One. Did Noggin use isolated focus group testing or a widely sampled survey like Square One always touted? I'm not going to openly criticize Noggin when I don't know all the facts, but all I know is that just when Noggin started to get picked up by cable companies, Square One moved to a timeslot where no kids would watch it. Now, I find it hard to stay attentive to some episodes of 3-2-1 Contact, from the very same time period -- mid to late 80s -- as Square One, yet even that continued to air twice a day! I personally think that the show could not have been rated so poorly by kids... especially when kids VOTED to show Mathnet, Dirk Niblick, and The Adventures of Zook and Alison two to THREE TIMES EVERY FREAKIN' DAY on The Phred on Your Head Show. And, Noggin, just in case you're reading, please be aware that the Mathnet episodes that aired on Phred were not a fair sample of Sesame Workshop's Mathnet library, there are episodes with plenty of ACTION and SUSPENSE too. I'd say that kids usually like that.

Noggin Myth #4. Square One is a strictly educational show, educational shows are boring, and therefore, kids will think Square One is boring. That's the number one argument I have with people who have never seen Square One before. Only once I show them Square One do they understand. Square One is mainly an entertainment show that also teaches math concepts. When it was introduced, it was criticized for being too entertaining: "Where's the math?" said Dr. Richard Griego of the Univerity of New Mexico's mathematics and statistics department in 1987, "I would like to see more math and less show business. Learning is not all fun and games".1 If anything, Noggin shouldn't be afraid that it's boring or just for nerds. It's actually more like SNL than like Bill Nye the Science Guy!

Sesame Workshop and Noggin are sitting on a real gem. Just look at the Curriculum goals: prime numbers, Fibonacci sequence, pigeonhole principle, topology, amicable numbers... there are things in there that kids don't learn until college! And they can and would understand it now... and enjoy it! Since many kids won't make it to college, Noggin is depriving them of a whole new world of mathematics. How can a variety show that's like SNL do it? I don't know, and I couldn't do it if I tried.

A plea from brian@squareonetv.org

1 "Survival Isn't Child's Play", TV Guide, July 25-31, 1987, pp. 36-39. Triangle Publications, Inc., Radnor, PA