Crashbox facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Crashbox
Genre	Educational Children's Variety Science fiction
Created by	Eamon Harrington John Watkin
Directed by	Dave Thomas
Voices of	Maggie Baird Veena Bidasha S. Scott Bullock Greg Eagles Arif S. Kinchen Peter Lurie Dawn Maxey Edie McClurg Michael McShane Ritchie Montgomery Alan Schlaifer John Watkin Mari Weiss Danny Wells
Composer(s)	Matthew Morse
Country of origin	Canada United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	52
Production
Executive producer(s)	Adam Shaheen Eamon Harrington John Watkin
Producer(s)	Eamon Harrington John Watkin
Camera setup	Single Camera
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	Planet Grande Pictures Cuppa Coffee Animation HBO
Release
Original network	HBO Family
Picture format	480i (4:3 SDTV)
Original release	February 1, 1999 (1999-02-01) – April 1, 2000 (2000-04-01)

Crashbox is a fun and educational TV show from Canada and the United States. It was created by Eamon Harrington and John Watkin for HBO Family. The show first aired in 1999 and ran until 2000.

Crashbox was one of the first shows to launch when the HBO Family channel started again in February 1999. Even though you can't buy it on DVD or VHS, it still plays on HBO Family. You can also find it on different streaming services today.

What is Crashbox About?

The show takes place inside a game computer. Rusty tin robots create and load green game cartridges made of clay. Sometimes, you'll see short clips of them "fixing" broken games.

Each episode is like a variety show, with different mini-games that don't connect to each other. Every half-hour episode has seven educational games. These games are usually 2 to 5 minutes long. Sometimes, there's even an eighth bonus game!

Meet the Games!

Here are some of the cool games you'll find in Crashbox, listed in alphabetical order:

• Captain Bones - A pirate skeleton named Captain Bones challenges you to solve math problems and other puzzles. He uses his bones to form numbers or objects. You have to move one of his bones to find the answer. Captain Bones loves to tease you with pirate insults, but it's all in good fun!
• Dirty Pictures - This game takes place in a museum that's being cleaned. A maid dusts off a picture, and an old security guard holds up cards with hints. You have to guess who the person in the picture is without anyone speaking.
• Distraction News - Dora Smarmy, a cardboard cutout news reporter, tells you interesting facts. Your job is to learn about them without getting distracted by all the funny things that pop up during her broadcast!
• Ear We Are* - Get ready to listen! A nervous left ear and a silly right ear describe sounds. You have to guess what event or thing the sounds are referring to. This game was only in the first 25 episodes.
• Eddie Bull - Eddie Bull gives you three clues about which animal at the Walla Walla Washington Zoo ate him! Once you figure out the animal, Eddie gets, well, "un-eaten," and the game ends.
• Haunted House Party - An unseen host called the Horrid One throws a party in a haunted house. Ghosts attend, and you need to identify the famous historical figure who is the "ghost of honor." Listen carefully to the clues!
• Lens McCracken* - Join Lens McCracken, a cool detective, as he develops blurry, zoomed-in pictures from his cases. You have to figure out what the full image is. His computer, the Solutionator, helps solve them one by one. Then, Lens tells a story based on the solved pictures. This game appeared in episodes 4 to 38.
• Mug Shots - Detective Verity needs your help! You look at statements from suspects in a crime. You must figure out who is telling the truth and who is lying. Look for things that don't make sense or are wrong in their stories.
• Paige and Sage* - An unseen "valley girl" talks about pictures of identical Barbie doll twins, Paige and Sage. Your mission is to spot the differences between the two pictures. This game was in episodes 3 to 19.
• Poop or Scoop - The announcer gives you facts about animals. You have to guess if the facts are true (scoop!) or false (poop!).
• Psycho Math - Professor Rocket, a robot, gives you long math problems to solve. He uses pictures or descriptions of numbered things to help you count. For example, a baseball team might represent the number "9."
• Radio Scramble - DJ Jumpin' Johnny Jumble, a talking microphone, plays a song at KBOX radio. But first, you have to unscramble the word that is the song's title! He also gives traffic, sports, or weather reports that are anagram puzzles.
• Revolting Slob - This is a puppet show where a polite voice asks vocabulary questions. The messy Revolting Slob helps describe the three answer choices. The sketch usually ends with the Slob making a huge mess!
• Riddle Snake - An unseen voice reads riddles from a riddle snake. You have to solve them!
• Sketch Pad - A cool artist named Sketch Pad draws pictures that are part of a riddle. You need to figure out why these specific things are happening. The goal is to guess the event or outcome that Sketch Pad didn't mention.
• Ten Seconds - An announcer gives you just 10 seconds to solve each of four or five rebus puzzles. A rebus puzzle uses pictures and words to represent a phrase.
• Think Tank - Inside a fish tank, a Jamaican submarine captain named Captain Bob shows you three things. You have to figure out what all three things have in common.
• Word Shake* - Chef Word Shake, a French-accented cook, shows you two words. Your job is to combine them to make one new word or phrase. For example, "drag" and "in" could become "dragon." This game was in episodes 2 to 25.

At the end of most episodes, the robots do a "Crashbox Rewind." They quickly review some of the games you just played. Games marked with an asterisk (*) did not appear in the second season.

Who Are the Voices?

Images for kids

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  A friendly robot, like those in Crashbox.