Science Court
| Science Court | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Squigglevision |
| Genre | animation/nontraditional court show |
| Created by | Tom Snyder |
| Developed by | Tom Snyder |
| Written by | Bill Braudis David Dockterman Tom Snyder |
| Directed by | Loren Bouchard Tom Snyder |
| Voices of | Bill Braudis Paula Plum H. Jon Benjamin Paula Poundstone Fred Stoller |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 29 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Bonnie Burns Tom Snyder |
| Producers | Loren Bouchard Tom Snyder |
| Cinematography | Ivan Rhudick (post-production director) |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Burns & Burns Productions Tom Snyder Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC (Disney's One Saturday Morning) |
| Release | September 13, 1997 (1997年09月13日) – January 22, 2000 (2000年01月22日) |
Science Court (retitled Squigglevision in 1998)[1] is an educational entertainment, animation/non-traditional court show from Tom Snyder Productions, which was aired on ABC's Disney's One Saturday Morning block from 1997 to 2000. The cartoon was animated in Squigglevision.[2]
Development
[edit ]Science Court utilized the limited-animation Squigglevision as its style of animation.[3] In 1998, Science Court was renamed to Squigglevision in its second to third seasons. Tom Snyder Productions has released twelve of the episodes into a series of educational CD-ROMs with accompanying workbooks and experiment kits for schools.[4] On December 2, 2004, Snyder, founder and former CEO of Tom Snyder Productions, was inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers Hall of Fame to honor his extraordinary contribution to educational publishing.[5]
Plot and characters
[edit ]The half-hour program mixed courtroom drama, science experiments, and humor to teach fundamental concepts in elementary and middle school science such as the water cycle, work, matter, gravity, flight, and energy. As each case unfolded, the characters in the trial used humor to highlight scientific misconceptions and model good scientific practice.[6] In a typical episode, a lawsuit or criminal action would take place based around some scientific point. Humor and musical numbers were used to break down scientific concepts.[7]
The primary characters of Science Court were the trial lawyers Alison Krempel and Doug Savage. Alison Krempel, voiced by Paula Plum, was modest, intelligent and kind. Her logical and articulate arguments always lead to the explanations of the scientific points. Doug Savage, voiced by Bill Braudis, was ignorant, arrogant and unscrupulous.
Both Doug and Allison called on a variety of expert witnesses to prove their case. Doug, often to his detriment, called upon child academics Dr. Julie Bean and Dr. Henry Fullerghast to testify. Their scientific testimony usually disproved Doug’s case. Professor Nick Parsons, voiced by H. Jon Benjamin served as an expert for Alison Krempel. He used science to successfully refute Doug Savage's usually ludicrous and ill-informed claims. Often Micaela and Tim, Miss Krempel's assistant, helped to break down scientific concepts. Comedians Paula Poundstone and Fred Stoller rounded out the cast playing Judge Stone and court stenographer Fred respectively.
- Paula Plum as Alison Krempel
- Bill Braudis as Doug Savage
- H. Jon Benjamin as Prof. Nick Parsons
- Paula Poundstone as Judge Stone
- Fred Stoller as Stenographer Fred
Episodes
[edit ]Series overview
[edit ]| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 13 | September 13, 1997 (1997年09月13日) | January 17, 1998 (1998年01月17日) | |
| 2 | 8 | September 12, 1998 (1998年09月12日) | January 16, 1999 (1999年01月16日) | |
| 3 | 8 | September 11, 1999 (1999年09月11日) | January 22, 2000 (2000年01月22日) | |
Season 1 (1997–98)
[edit ]| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Water Cycle" | September 13, 1997 (1997年09月13日) |
| 2 | 2 | "Work and Simple Machines" | September 20, 1997 (1997年09月20日) |
| 3 | 3 | "Gravity" | September 27, 1997 (1997年09月27日) |
| 4 | 4 | "Inertia" | October 4, 1997 (1997年10月04日) |
| 5 | 5 | "Sound" | October 11, 1997 (1997年10月11日) |
| 6 | 6 | "Data & Statistics" | October 18, 1997 (1997年10月18日) |
| 7 | 7 | "Particles" | October 25, 1997 (1997年10月25日) |
| 8 | 8 | "Heat Absorption" | November 1, 1997 (1997年11月01日) |
| 9 | 9 | "Electric Current" | November 8, 1997 (1997年11月08日) |
| 10 | 10 | "Soil" | December 13, 1997 (1997年12月13日) |
| 11 | 11 | "Living Things" | December 27, 1997 (1997年12月27日) |
| 12 | 12 | "Seasons" | January 10, 1998 (1998年01月10日) |
| 13 | 13 | "Fossils" | January 17, 1998 (1998年01月17日) |
Season 2 (1998–99)
[edit ]| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "Rockets" | September 12, 1998 (1998年09月12日) |
| 15 | 2 | "Pendulums" | September 19, 1998 (1998年09月19日) |
| 16 | 3 | "Lightning" | September 26, 1998 (1998年09月26日) |
| 17 | 4 | "Friction" | October 3, 1998 (1998年10月03日) |
| 18 | 5 | "Flight" | October 10, 1998 (1998年10月10日) |
| 19 | 6 | "Planets" | October 17, 1998 (1998年10月17日) |
| 20 | 7 | "Reflection" | January 2, 1999 (1999年01月02日) |
| 21 | 8 | "Magnets" | January 16, 1999 (1999年01月16日) |
Season 3 (1999–2000)
[edit ]| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | 1 | "Acid Rain" | September 11, 1999 (1999年09月11日) |
| 23 | 2 | "Barn Fire" | September 18, 1999 (1999年09月18日) |
| 24 | 3 | "Hang Time" | September 25, 1999 (1999年09月25日) |
| 25 | 4 | "Siphon" | October 2, 1999 (1999年10月02日) |
| 26 | 5 | "Rocks" | October 30, 1999 (1999年10月30日) |
| 27 | 6 | "Depth Perception" | November 6, 1999 (1999年11月06日) |
| 28 | 7 | "Compass" | January 15, 2000 (2000年01月15日) |
| 29 | 8 | "Density" | January 22, 2000 (2000年01月22日) |
Critical reception
[edit ]Science Court earned top television awards for Tom Snyder.[5]
Variety thought that the TV series tried too hard to make science entertaining, and that it would come across as too complicated for its target audience.[8]
References
[edit ]- ^ Staff (September 13, 1998). "'Science Court' changes into 'Squigglevision' to charm the kids". St. Louis Post-Dispatch . St. Louis, Missouri, USA: Kevin Mowbray. ISSN 1930-9600. OCLC 1764810 . Retrieved August 2, 2012.(subscription required)
- ^ Rosenberg, Ronald; Ackerman, Jerry (May 7, 1997). "Television Software creator hopes science series catches on". The Boston Globe . Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Christopher M. Mayer. p. D.4. ISSN 0743-1791. OCLC 66652431. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2012.(subscription required)
- ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 533. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- ^ De Nike, Kristina (October 1, 2001). "Science Court: Gravity". Macworld . San Francisco, California, USA: David Bunnell. ISSN 0741-8647. OCLC 607262846 . Retrieved August 2, 2012.
- ^ a b Hodin, Debbie (December 3, 2004). "Tom Snyder Inducted into Hall of Fame" (Press release). Tom Snyder Productions. Archived from the original on October 25, 2005. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
- ^
"(unknown)". HighBeam Research . Retrieved March 21, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) [dead link ] - ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 717–718. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- ^ Everett, Todd (September 5, 1997). "Review: 'Science Court'". Variety. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
External links
[edit ]- 1997 American animated television series debuts
- 2000 American television series endings
- 1990s American animated comedy television series
- 1990s American children's comedy television series
- 2000s American animated comedy television series
- 2000s American children's comedy television series
- American children's animated comedy television series
- American children's animated education television series
- Court shows
- American English-language television shows
- Television series by Soup2Nuts
- Television series by Disney–ABC Domestic Television
- Science education television series
- Television series created by Tom Snyder (animator)
- ABC Kids (TV programming block)
- Squigglevision
- American Broadcasting Company animated television series