History Series / SquareOneTV

* MaliciousSlander: In "The Calpurnian Kugel Caper", the main export of Calpurnia, Chuck Berries, see sales drops from the combination of high prices and an article claiming it causes pimples. In truth, the latter is engaging in the FalseCause LogicalFallacy, with the Chuck Berry eaters who got pimples being all teenagers, while those who didn't get pimples were the eldery. In any case, its pointed out even if the bad research is retracted, there is little chance the public will know of the retraction, meaning the market for Chuck Berries is gone, taking down Calpurnia's economy with it.

* TheButlerDidIt: The outcome of one the ''Mathnet'' cases, with the twist that [[spoiler: the butler was actually the owner of the mansion in disguise.]]

** In part one of the Mathnet story arc The View from the Rear Terrace, George gets Kate a model airplane, to help her cope with having a broken leg. In part five, [[spoiler: George talks Kate into using it to save her life]].

* ClearTheirName: Kate Monday's old college friend, Eve Adams, in "The Case of the Unkidnapping", who's also an aspiring actress, when she's accused of kidnapping veteran theatre star [[Creator/LaurenBacall Lauren Bacchanal]], whom she had been acting with and understudying in the in-show musical [[Theatre/AnythingGoes "Anything Went"]], which Ms. Bacchanal had been starring in and producing as well. [[spoiler: In reality, however, Ms. Bacchanal actually faked the kidnapping because she wanted the show to close in order to [[SpringtimeForHitler avoid having to pay investors and pocket the unused funds]] and Ms. Adams was getting such rave reviews for her performance that it was putting a monkey wrench into Ms. Bacchanal's plans.]]

** [[spoiler: George Frankly]], in "The Case of the Great Car Robbery". [[spoiler: They thought he was crushed in the junkyard along with the car they had rented over at LAX as their way of setting up a trap, so that they would be able to follow the lead of the head of the car theft ring, Henry Edsel III. George managed to roll out of the car, the moment he was about to be crushed.]]

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* SmoothTalkingTalentAgent: Subverted in one episode of the ''Mathnet'' PoliceProcedural miniseries called ''The Case of the Unnatural'', and not in the way you'd think, either: a pitcher in a minor league baseball game is performing amazingly, and has an agent who says he owns him. This agent displays little empathy, and the pitcher seems like a CloudCuckooLander, but all is not as it seems: [[spoiler: The pitcher is actually a RidiculouslyHumanRobot, and his remote control is the agent's cellular phone. And the pitcher was created to look like and impersonate a specific human being, who the agent had kidnapped!]]

* StealTheSurroundings: In the first story arc of ''Mathnet'', "The Problem of the Missing Baseball", a woman's house is stolen in order to find some gold bricks which had been hidden in the house. [[spoiler: The house was stolen by XY-313, one of the few helicopters that could steal one. The chopper was piloted by a man named Clarance Sampson ([[IHaveManyNames alias Charles Sampson, alias Carl Sampson, alias William Howard Taft Sampson)]], because the house belonged to an accomplice of his, and he needed the gold that was in there.]]

Educational program from [[Creator/SesameWorkshop the Children's Television Workshop]], which originally ran on Creator/{{PBS}} from November 2, 1987 to November 6, 1992, with reruns airing until October 7, 1994. ''Square One Television'' was a half-hour sketch show which featured music videos, game shows, animations and parodies of other popular television programs designed to teach UsefulNotes/{{mathematics}} to children. Ironically, ''Square One Television'' was often criticized for being too entertaining. Some people just couldn't believe that it was really possible for something that children actually enjoyed watching to be educational. It is also notable for the large amounts of ParentalBonus (often coming in the form of [[ShoutOut shout outs]] to the UsefulNotes/UniversityOfMichigan, where many of the creators matriculated). A number of shorts were the earliest projects for [[WesternAnimation/{{Doug}} Jumbo Pictures]].

Players are shown estimation problems. The two out of the four that each give the closest answer to one get spots in the final round, and the one of them that wins that problem wins the game. Hosted by Arthur Howard in Seasons 2-3, and Luisa Leschin in Season 4.

A ''Series/FamilyFeud''-like game where the surveys are percentage-based. Differences are that play is in teams of three, 50% is the winning score, and the bonus round is three questions and played to 100 points (100%). Each team also gets one "huddle" during the game to consult with each other. Hosted by Cris Franco in Seasons 2-3, and Beverly Mickins in Season 4.

Visual problems are shown, and the two panel members give their solutions. The two players lock in their guesses as to which ones were correct or a bluff. For the third and final problem, the players wager any amount of their points. The one with the most points after this wins. Introduced Season 3, as revamp of ''Square One Squares''. Hosted by Larry Cedar in Seasons 3-4.

* JurisdictionFriction: Averted in the ''Mathnet'' segments. Whenever the Mathnetters happen to meet up with an outside organization, said organization is very willing, and often excited, to be working together with ''Mathnet''

* BeneathNotice: How the car thieves were able to act undetected in the ''Mathnet'' segment "The Case of the Great Car Robbery". Specifically they used a tow truck that looked like the ones used by the police and targeted illegally parked cars. Anyone witnessing them would only see a police tow vehicle doing their duty. Their scheme was eventually exposed when some of the car owners were able to witness their cars being towed, upon which they went to the police to recover their vehicles, only for the police being unable to locate the towed cars at their garages.

** Used by [[spoiler:Kaboom Pickens]] in "The Calpurnian Kugel Caper", it's revealed that [[spoiler:a "Wheel of Jeopardy" game was what generated the suspicious serial numbers for the counterfeit kugels.[[labelnote:How it was done]]Set to "bingo cage" mode to draw from numbers 0-9, and "no replace" to make sure digits never appeared more than once--This is what made the kugels given to them by King Chris suspect. The irony is that he could used the machine in replacement mode and have never been found out but he was obsessed with non repeating digits. [[/labelnote]]]]

** Used by [[spoiler:Kaboom Pickens]] in "The Calpurnian Kugel Caper", it's revealed that [[spoiler:a "Wheel of Jeopardy" game was what generated the suspicious serial numbers for the counterfeit kugels.[[labelnote:How it was done]]Set to "bingo cage" mode to draw from numbers 0-9, and "no replace" to make sure digits never appeared more than once--This is what made the kugels given to them by King Chris suspect.[[/labelnote]]]]

** At the end of one Mathman sketch, after Mathman ate the wrong number and Mister Glitch ate him, Glitch hums the life-lost motif from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros''

* FunWithPalindromes: The song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36gPrA2ZR2I "Palindromes"]] is about numbers that are palindromes, including the fact that if a number is ''not'' a palindrome, you can add it to itself reversed and eventually get a number that ''is'' a palindrome.

* NoPronunciationGuide: In "The Trial of George Frankly" episode of ''Mathnet'', there's a running gag about the pronunciation of the last name of the two criminals (two brothers) that might be trying to have George framed for a bank robbery.
-->"I remember them. The brothers Karamazov (KAIR-ah-mah-zoff). Or was it kair-ah-MAHZ-off?"
** The judge takes it a step further by pronouncing it ka-RAAH-ma-zoff. Even the ''narrator'' isn't sure how it's pronounced.

** Some ''Mathnet'' episodes, such as "The View From the Rear Terrace" and "The Case of the Purloined Policies" have George doing the narration at certain points instead of Kate/Pat - In the former, his narration of one part's recap is heard as a recording.
** Then in the first part of "The Galling Stones", it's Captain Joe Greco on the opening narration - As they're off to arrest Pat.

* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Peter Pickwick (played by ''Seinfeld'' actor ''Creator/WayneKnight'']] is a jolly and friendly copy-center proprietor who [[spoiler:poaches parking meters just when they're due to be emptied, for maximum haul. [[VerbalTic Maximum haul]]]].

* TotallyRadical: In a dual parody of ''Series/AmericanBandstand'' and ''Series/{{Star Trek|TheOriginalSeries}}'', Captain Jamie Lee Curt and Science Officer Sprock of the Starship ''Interface'' accidentally beam into a recording of ''American Blandstand'' with [[Creator/DickClark Rick Clark]]. After the two take a moment to get their bearings, Curt decides that he and Sprock should "try and speak his language", and proceeds to clumsily pepper his speech with 1950s slang (Sprock, of course, sticks with SpockSpeak). Clark is also trying too hard to fit with the times, but for [[WereStillRelevantDammit the opposite reason.]]

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: In the Mathnet story "The Trial of George Frankly", George mentions that two criminals, the brothers Karamazov, had been sending him death threats before they escpaed. As George is a police officer, this would be a serious crime. This would have led the brothers to having time added to their sentence and probably getting sent to a more secure prison (making an escape harder).

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* {{Corpsing}}: Invoked in one of the bank pranks from "The View from the Rear Terrace", when a bank was flooded with laughing gas.