Summary[]
Mathman is a video game segment on the PBS show Square One TV.
Plot[]
A parody of Pac-Man, Mathman was a fictional arcade game starring a character of the same name. Mathman's objective was to run around a Pac-Man-like maze board (the traditional dots were replaced with + and - signs) and eventually encounter a number or polygon. He would then have until the count of three to determine if that number/polygon was consistent with a given category, and if so, eat it. If he made a mistake, his enemy Mr. Glitch (a parody of the multi-colored Ghost enemies of Pac-Man) would eat him, ending the game in a disaster.
During the later seasons, the format of the game was changed so that Mathman would have to decide if a certain statement (read aloud by the game's announcer) was true or false, and then eat the letter T or F. He would then have until the count of seven to make his decision. These were usually general-knowledge statements about math rather than questions that required actual problem-solving skills. For example, "True or False? Mathematics and arithmetic are the same thing."
If Mathman was able to eat all the correct numbers/polygons or answer his questions correctly, he was awarded a free game. However, Mathman accomplished this feat only a handful of times. On at least one such occasion, a giant Mr. Glitch ate Mathman as soon as the free game began.
Occasionally, Mathman did not play the game himself, making Mr. Glitch the contestant. If he answered incorrectly, he would be eaten by Mathman (or on one occasion, Mathman's dog Mathdog.) Interestingly, on one occasion, Mr. Glitch got away with an incorrect answer, but on the second incorrect answer, he was eaten by a giant Mathman.
The computer animation for Mathman was produced by Blue Sky Studios.
Trivia[]
- Coincidentally, there is a Flash game of the same name with the same premise.