Crashbox

"*Now that we got your attention, let the games begin!*" ~ Pre-opening

***Crashbox*** is a Canadian-American game show-esque stop motion-animated series produced by Cuppa Coffee Studios and Planet Grande Pictures. The series premiered on February 1, 1999, and ran to April 1, 2000. In 2001, the series became a main part of the *Magnet* tween block, until its closure in 2005, then it moved to *Jam*, where it remained until that block was rebranded as *HBO Kids* in January 2016, where the show airs to this day.

This show is rated TV-Y7.

## Synopsis

The series is designed like a game show, and quizzes viewers on subjects such as math, nature, history, among other various subjects. In comparison to other edutainment shows seen on HBO Family, Crashbox features more relatively mature humor and content.

The entire show takes place in a homemade-styled computer where robots make green boxes, or "cartridges", containing the games seen throughout the show. The overall inside of the computer is designed like a factory, having weird Rube Goldberg-like contraptions made from unusual parts.

Throughout the show, robots (some of which voiced by the late Jerry Stiller) can be heard making random comments and/or pressuring other robots. Each robot usually has a varied amount of phrases they'll use such as "Next game coming up!" or "Crazy, isn't it?"

At the end of each episode, a "Crashbox Rewind" is done, with a robot hammering a button to rewind back to some of the previously shown games to go over the answers of the segments again.

## Games (in order of Introduction)

* **Distraction News** - A cardboard cutout news anchor, Dora Smarmy (voiced by Mari Weiss) tells a story about a particular topic, and the viewer must listen closely and not get distracted by the many things going on in the background. At the end of each story, Smarmy asks a few questions about the subject. Dora Smarmy also stars in the interstitial *Smart Mouth*.
* **Sketch Pad** - A beatnik named Sketch (voiced by Greg Eagles) draws a few sketches in a story, but purposely leaves out one of the details. The viewer must guess what's missing and what really happened.
* **Psycho Math** - The game's name is a pun on "psychopath". Hosted by Professor Rocket (voiced by Joseph Motiki in Seasons 1 and 2A, and Arif S. Kinchen in Season 2B), an explosive math robot, the viewer must solve math equations, but instead of using numbers, pictures and phrases are used, and the viewer must find what exact number they stand for. Professor Rocket also stars in the interstitial *Who Knew?*.
* **Ear-We-Are** - Two ears (voiced by both John Watkin and Alan Schlaifer) are trying to find out where they are, so they play three sounds to give a hint before determining their location. There is an online game based on this that was on HBO Family's website. This game was only seen in Season 1.
* **Haunted House Party** - This game takes place at a creepy haunted house, and the idea of this game is that the player must guess who the historical person is, who is seen as a silhouette in a window having a conversation with another guest. The guest drops clues in their sentences, and before they introduce themselves, the narrator named the "Horrid One" (voiced by John Watkin) quickly stops them and goes over the clues before revealing the person.
* **Eddie Bull** - A little figure named Eddie Bull (voiced by Ritchie Montgomery), a pun on "edible", ends up getting eaten by an animal in each segment, and at the start of each segment, the animals of the "Walla Walla Washington Zoo" sing a song. The viewer must guess what animal Eddie is in, who gives a few clues before revealing the creature.
* **Ten 2nds** - An off screen announcer (voiced by Alan Schlaifer) provides rebus puzzles, and the viewer must figure out what the phrase is in 10 seconds before time runs out. (e.g. the word "going" on top of the word "vacation" is "going on vacation").
* **Riddlesnake** - An unseen narrator (voiced by Veena Bidasha) introduces us to the Riddlesnake, who plays a horn which blows out a riddle. Eventually, a human will rise out of a basket and move to Riddlesnake's music, eventually blowing a horn that reveals the answer.
* **Radio Scramble** - At a radio station named "KBOX" (referencing the show's name), a radio DJ named Jumpin' Johnnie Jumble (voiced by Peter Lurie), who is basically a microphone with glasses and a blue hairdo, gives the viewers a word that is scrambled up, and they must unscramble the word. Clues are provided in song lyrics, sports reports, and weather reports.
* **Captain Bones** - On a shipwrecked pirate ship, a pirate skeleton (voiced by S. Scott Bollock) named Captain Bones, who insults the viewers fairly often, makes puzzles out of his own bones out of boredom. The bones form a faux math equation that the viewer must correct by only moving one bone. Sometimes, the puzzles are pictures as opposed to math equations.
* **Poop or Scoop** - An announcer (voiced by Danny Wells) spins a wheel showing four real animal clips, and while doing so, he gives a fact that is either fact "scoop", or fiction "poop". At the end, he scores the viewer, and if they get only one question right, they are a "Pooper", if they get two right, they are a "Pooper Scooper", if they get three questions correct, they are a "Super Pooper Scooper", and if they get all correct, they are a "Super Duper Pooper Scooper".
* **Revolting Slob** - A fat and lazy puppet slob (voiced by Michael McShane) sits in his chair while living in a complete pigsty. A female narrator (voiced by Edie McClurg) talks to the slob and also comments about his actions, quizzing the viewers about what word would describe the action best among three other words (e.g. Revolting Slob being hungry would either one of the three: A. Ravenous, B. Radiated, or C. Raunchy). After going over the three words learned in each segment, the narrator explains another word that is in the effect of "explosion", and the entire room is suddenly seen in smoke. She claims "No slobs were harmed in the making of this show." In Season 2B, the Revolting Slob is considerably more eccentric and quirky in comparison to his portrayal in Seasons 1 and 2A. His design also changes and he is seen wearing other types of clothes. The lighting is also much better and the sketches are more set near his kitchen instead of his living room.
* **Wordshake** - In the style of vintage black and white films, a French chef (voiced by John Watkin) will mix in two words, and the viewer must combine the two together. (e.g. the words "parrot" and "ice" combined together are "paradise"). This game was only seen in Season 1.
* **Mugshots** - An off screen detective named Verity (voiced by Maggie Baird) invites the viewers to come into her office and solve a crime, by looking at the photographed suspects and hearing what things they have to say. Three of the suspects state a fact which is false, making them guilty, but only one of them is not guilty.
* **Paige & Sage** - A valley girl narrator (voiced by Dawn Maxey) gives the viewers 60 seconds to find the differences between two shots featuring Barbie-like dolls. This was only seen in Season 1.
* **Think Tank** - Taking place in an aquarium, Captain Bob (voiced by Greg Eagles), a Jamaican submarine driver who can't get back to Jamaica due to being stuck in the tank, gives the viewers three objects and they must find out what they all have in common before the drain sucks them down, much similar to *Tribond*. (e.g. an egg, a smile, and a knuckle can all crack).
* **Dirty Pictures** - In a museum closed for cleaning, a maid who seems to be made from wood dusts off a portrait bit by bit, and the viewer must guess who the historical person is by looking at the hints the wooden security guard gives. This is the only game to not have dialogue. There is an online game based on this that was on HBO Family's website.
* **Lens McCracken** - A detective game similar to Mug Shots. The narrator, Lens McCracken (voiced by S. Scott Bollock) solves a crime case by showing the viewers three photos that are zoomed in to only show the texture of each object, making puns about each photo that give hints on what the object will be. Eventually Lens will put the photos in his "Solutionator" computer which will zoom the photos out. After that the entire story of how the crime happened will be explained. This was only seen in Seasons 1 and 2A.

## Game Loaders/Motherboards

* **Scrap Metal Game Loader**: A rusted motherboard made up of scrap metal, it is held together by a handle, and falls apart when loaded.
	+ Distraction News (Upper)
	+ Captain Bones (Upper)
	+ Haunted House Party (Lower)
	+ Lens McCracken (Lower; Season 1-2A)
	+ Ten 2nds (Lower)
	+ Think Tank (Lower)
* **Wireframe Game Loader**: A motherboard covered with yellow, red, and orange sheet metal, and are tangled with wires. Unlike most of the game loaders, this one slides when transitioning to or from a game.
	+ Sketch Pad (Lower 1)
	+ Psycho Math (Lower 1)
	+ Ear-We-Are (Upper; Season 1)
	+ Distraction News (Upper)
	+ Radio Scramble (Lower 2)
	+ Poop or Scoop (Lower 2)
* **Arcade Game Loader**: This is a brown and silver motherboard that always closes the final game of each episode.
	+ Psycho Math (Lower 1)
	+ Paige & Sage (Lower 1; Season 1 only)
	+ Riddlesnake (Lower 2; S1-2A only)
	+ Revolting Slob (Lower 2; Ep. 22 and Season 2)
	+ Haunted House Party (Lower 2)
	+ Lens McCracken (Lower 2; Eps. 12 and 13 only)
	+ Radio Scramble (Upper)
	+ Riddlesnake (Upper)
	+ Dirty Pictures (Lower 1; Eps 8, 24, 33 only)
	+ Eddie Bull (Lower 1)
* **Closet Game Loader**: An old brown cabinet that splits open when loaded. Two buttons lie on the doors, along with number dials and radio bits.
	+ Eddie Bull (Upper 1)
	+ Mugshots (Upper 1)
	+ Think Tank (Lower)
	+ Sketch Pad (Lower)
	+ Eddie Bull (Lower; S1 and Ep. 51 only
	+ Poop or Scoop (Lower)
	+ Ear-We-Are (Upper 2; Season 1)
	+ Lens McCracken (Upper 2; S1 and Ep. 38 only)
* **Lights Game Loader**: A blocky motherboard made up of colorful Geometric shapes with flashing lights. It is accompanied with sounds of crossing signals and a train departing during transitions.
	+ Poop or Scoop (Lower)
	+ Mugshots (Lower)
	+ Wordshake (Lower)
	+ Captain Bones (Lower)
	+ Psycho Math (Upper)
	+ Revolting Slob (Upper)
	+ Paige & Sage (Upper; Season 1)
	+ Haunted House Party (Upper; Ep. 45 and 51 only)
* **Phone Game Loader**: This tan motherboard is wrapped in tinfoil, features a phone dial as its loading pad, and is decked out with satellites, speakers, and buttons.
	+ Radio Scramble (Lower 1)
	+ Wordshake (Lower 1; Ep. 11 and 24 only)
	+ Ten 2nds (Lower 2)
	+ Dirty Pictures (Lower 1/2)
	+ Captain Bones (Lower 1)
	+ Revolting Slob (Upper)
	+ Riddlesnake (Upper)

## Episodes

### Season 1 (1999)

1. Episode 1 (February 1, 1999)
2. Episode 2 (February 2, 1999)
3. Episode 3 (February 3, 1999)
4. Episode 4 (February 4, 1999)
5. Episode 5 (February 5, 1999)
6. Episode 6 (February 6, 1999)
7. Episode 7 (February 7, 1999)
8. Episode 8 (February 13, 1999)
9. Episode 9 (February 14, 1999)
10. Episode 10 (February 20, 1999)
11. Episode 11 (February 21, 1999)
12. Episode 12 (February 27, 1999)
13. Episode 13 (February 28, 1999)
14. Episode 14 (March 6, 1999)
15. Episode 15 (March 7, 1999)
16. Episode 16 (March 13, 1999)
17. Episode 17 (March 14, 1999)
18. Episode 18 (March 20, 1999)
19. Episode 19 (March 21, 1999)
20. Episode 20 (March 27, 1999)
21. Episode 21 (March 28, 1999)
22. Episode 22 (April 3, 1999)
23. Episode 23 (April 4, 1999)
24. Episode 24 (April 10, 1999)
25. Episode 25 (April 11, 1999)
26. Episode 26 (April 17, 1999)

### Season 2 (1999-2000)

1. Episode 27 (August 1, 1999)
2. Episode 28 (August 7, 1999)
3. Episode 29 (August 8, 1999)
4. Episode 30 (August 14, 1999)
5. Episode 31 (August 15, 1999)
6. Episode 32 (August 21, 1999)
7. Episode 33 (August 22, 1999)
8. Episode 34 (August 28, 1999)
9. Episode 35 (August 29, 1999)
10. Episode 36 (September 4, 1999)
11. Episode 37 (September 5, 1999)
12. Episode 38 (September 11, 1999)
13. Episode 39 (September 12, 1999)
14. Episode 40 (February 19, 2000)
15. Episode 41 (February 20, 2000)
16. Episode 42 (February 26, 2000)
17. Episode 43 (February 27, 2000)
18. Episode 44 (March 4, 2000)
19. Episode 45 (March 5, 2000)
20. Episode 46 (March 11, 2000)
21. Episode 47 (March 12, 2000)
22. Episode 48 (March 18, 2000)
23. Episode 49 (March 19, 2000)
24. Episode 50 (March 25, 2000)
25. Episode 51 (March 26, 2000)
26. Episode 52 (April 1, 2000)

## Trivia

* This show's name features a pun on HBO, "CrasHBOx"

* Out of all of the shows that still air on HBO Kids currently, Crashbox is the most well-known, as in contrast to most of its contemporary shows, Crashbox is more often remembered in due part because of how unsettling off-the-wall the show can be.
* The studio that animated *Crashbox*, *Cuppa Coffee Studios*, also produced *HBO Family: 411* for the network.
* The music used in the show's game segments are stock music, while only the factory segments feature uniquely made music.
	+ The music used in the *Captain Bones* segment is often used in *SpongeBob SquarePants*, which aired a few months after Crashbox's premiere.
		- Similarly, the music from the *Lens McCracken* segment was also used in *SpongeBob SquarePants*, most notably in the infamous "We Have Technology" meme.
* This is one of HBO Family's first original shows (alongside *A Little Curious*), not counting any shows produced before the channel's launch.
	+ On top of that, this is also HBO Family's first original show made for older kids.
* This show is similar in concept to Braingames (1980's), another educational show created by HBO.
	+ The show was on *HBO Family* (until 2000), which was only a year into Crashbox's run on the channel.
* This is the only show that aired on *Jam* with a TV-Y7 rating (at least in its later years), as the show was designed with an older (7-11) audience in mind.
	+ It is also the only show aired on *HBO Kids* with a TV-Y7 rating (with the exception of *El Perro y El Gato* being erroneously rated as such).
* In contrast to most of its fellow shows, Crashbox has a more off-the wall tone, most evident in the shows' more jagged animation and more juvenile humor. Other shows seen on HBO Family with a similar tone include 30 by 30: Kid Flicks, *The Way I See It* and *Yuk.*
* Despite the series still being syndicated on HBO Kids, Latin America, and Asia to this day, the first half of Season 2 hasn't aired since Jam's rebranding to HBO Kids. This is because episodes 27-39 are repeated segments from episodes 1-26. While those episodes aren't available for HBO Max, Amazon Prime and Hulu, they can still be streamed on Crave's website, especially in Canada.
	+ Episodes 27-39 were only available to watch on Crave for years until the episodes were ripped from the site and uploaded to YouTube (and later, the Internet Archive).
* At the end of the credits in all 52 episodes, there's a link, as well as a voice, telling you to play Crashbox games at HBO4Kids.com, which was the original site for HBO Family before it changed to HBOFamily.com (though briefly, there's a site between the transition called HBOMagnet.com). This still remains today, even though the HBO Family website has been defunct since 2014.
	+ The link was shown onscreen:
		- Episodes 1-39, 43, 45, 48 and 50: http://www.hbo4kids.com/crashbox
		- Episodes 40-42, 44, 46-47, 49 and 51-52: www.hbo4kids.com
* According to the credits, Episodes 43, 45, 48, and 50 were produced in 1999 while the rest of the episodes were produced in 2000.
* Despite reusing segments from Season 1 (episodes 1-26), Season 2A (episodes 27-39) are officially considered part of Season 2B (episodes 40-52) as confirmed through various official HBO sources.
* Along with the 52 aired episodes, it has been confirmed that a total of 65 episodes were at one point produced/planned, as confirmed through an interview from Planet Grande Pictures. All of the segments produced for Season 2 were already featured in the aired episodes, implying that the remaining episodes could've recycled segments from Season 2 (if not remaining ones from Season 1).
* Despite originating as a US/Canada co-production, Crashbox is still considered American due to it being aimed for an American audience on HBO.
* Occasionally before an episode, a Crashbox ID would be played. It featured Captain Bob taking a group photo of select characters (Jumpin' Johnnie Jumble, Dora Smarmy, Professor Rocket, Paige and Sage, Captain Bones, and an assortment of robots, to be exact). He takes the photo and it is put in a scrapbook with the HBO Family logo.
* There was a scrapped game which was intended to be featured in the first season, called *Lost Suitcase* The only proof of the game being this page showing the copyright of the game's script. Additionally, a suitcase icon can be seen in the intro for a quick second on the computer, likely being meant for the game. Footage presumably from the game can also be seen in various factory segments.

**WARNING: The trivia piece below may be distressing. It is highly suggested that readers who aren't knowledgeable about the subject (pedophilia) should not read it. To reiterate: Read at your own risk.**

* The Distraction News segment from the show was used in nefarious "The Daily Capper" videos that were previously posted on the internet, that highlighted a ring of pedophiles who pressured minors into exposing themselves on camera, which they took pictures of to later use for blackmail. Dora Smarmy's voice was also dubbed over with a text-to-speech voice.

## Schedule times over the years

* 4:00pm (February 1999-August 25, 2001)
* 5:00pm (August 26, 2001-May 2004)
* 2:30pm and 3:00pm (June 2004-December 2004)
* Monday-Fridays only at 8:00am (January 2005-December 2006)
* 10:00am and 10:30am (January 2007-July 2011)
* 9:30am, 10:00am, 10:30am (August 2011-January 16, 2016)
* 4:30pm (January 17, 2016-December 2016)
* 8:30am (January 2017-March 2020)
* 9:30am (April 2020-October 2020)
* 7:20am (November 2020-present)

## References

1. ↑ https://vimeo.com/127992197
2. ↑ WebVoyage Titles.