Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (1991) Retrospective (Featuring Sean Altman)

[TMC]

I take a look back at the 1991 geography game show for kids, "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?". I cover the computer game, the conception of the game show, the cast, the music, the production, and the show's success. After the retrospective, I give a comedic recap of the episode: The Williamsburglary and present of snippet of my Sean Altman interview.

In this episode of DefunctTV, Kevin explores the history of the Carmen Sandiego franchise, specifically the hit PBS game show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

This video is NOT made for kids. This video is for adult collectors.

Carmen Sandiego: History and Origins.

Who in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Carmen Sandiego, the gentlewoman thief who stole our hearts (along with our national treasures) in the 80s and 90s, is back with an all new Carmen Sandiego reboot on Netflix starring Gina Rodriguez. Carmen Sandiego has a history going much further back however, beginning with the iconic game from Broderbund. The edutainment classic spawned a multimedia franchise, including additional games like Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego and Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego, as well as an animated series, Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego, and of course, the legendary Carmen Sandiego game show on PBS, simply known as Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego.

Hosted by Greg Lee and Lynn Thigpen as the Chief, the Carmen Sandiego game show cemented her status as an all-time icon, especially when you hear the Carmen Sandiego intro with the amazing Carmen Sandiego theme song performed by Rockapella. For Carmen Sandiego, 2019 will be a new chapter in her life of crime, thanks to the new Carmen Sandiego animated series on Netflix with Gina Rodriguez and Finn Wolfhard, and a brand new Carmen Sandiego origin. The cartoon has an all-star voice cast and pays tribute to all aspects of Carmen San Diego lore in the medium of animation, and as we scoured every trailer, clip, and scene to figure out where in the world she is, we learned a lot more about Carmen’s world, and our own.

[Hawkee]

When it was announced that PBS would have it's first kids game show many people were excited to hear about what this new game show would be and what would kids do on it. And so PBS had the answer by sticking a popular computer game series and making a game show out of it. And Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? was born and from the date the debut episode aired PBS had a hit on their hands because not only was it fun it also fit the educational mold that meant to teach kids about countries around the world centered around a mystery themed storyline. And with the duo of Greg Lee and the late Lynne Thigpen as The Chief this show added a comedic style to it that kids game shows had. And with amazing characters such as Double Trouble and the popular RoboCrook Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego proved that kids game shows could work on PBS. Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? also launched the stardom of Rockapella by having them sing the theme song but also sang many of the game show's songs and having them provide voices of the characters and after the show's end Rockapella went on to release albums and appear in commercials for Folgers Coffee. PBS was happy with the success Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? bought them and they knew that this show was a hit. After Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego ended PBS created a second show called Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego? that was destined to be a hit but the reason why this second show in the Carmen Sandiego game show series failed was because with the absence of Rockapella and Greg Lee this show tried hard to be like the original but it wasn't meant to be. But with the cartoon series on FOX Carmen Sandiego computer games became hot items and even made Sega Genesis versions of them too were made as well as a Nintendo version. But nowadays you don't hear much about Greg Lee since the show ended because he was funny and smart and a perfect fit for the show. Will Carmen Sandiego game shows make a comeback to PBS Kids in the future? Only time will tell

[Hawkee]

My favorite part of Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego was the round that had Rockapella sing the clues "The Warrant "The Loot" and when the winner found the crook the winner would pull this ring and the crook would be in "jail" and Rockapella would say for instance "Double Trouble in jail" and then confetti would land in the winner's hair. That round was very funny and clever