Mathnet poster
Seen it?

Mathnet

TV·1987–1992·5 seasons, 30 episodes·PBS

Not streaming in your region — see every region's options

Mathnet is a segment on the children's television show Square One Television, of which five seasons were produced. This parody of Dragnet featured detectives at the Los Angeles Police Department who solved mysteries using their mathematical skills. There were two main characters: detectives Kate Monday and George Frankly. Mary Watson also had a regular role as the duo's technical analyst, Debbie Williams. The third season had the show's setting moved to New York City. Beginning in the fourth season, Kate Monday was replaced by Pat Tuesday. James Earl Jones played a recurring role as Chief Thad Green. He also briefly appears in season 4 and indicates he knows Pat Tuesday. When the duo was transferred to New York, Captain Joe Greco became their new boss and undercover NYPD officer Benny Pill became their semi-regular backup support.

Cast

Episodes by season

Season017Episodes1987AiredSeason avg
  1. S01E01The Problem Of The Missing BaseballJanuary 26, 1987Burbank, summer 1985. Young Howie and his friends have lost a baseball belonging to Howie's father. It's a unique baseball in that it has
  2. S01E02The Problem Of The Missing MonkeyFebruary 2, 1987Los Angeles, 1986. A grocery store is robbed of 20 pounds of bananas, the first of several heists apparently done by a gorilla. When the L
  3. S01E03The Problem Of The Passing ParadeFebruary 9, 1987Santa Monica, 1986. After the Mathnetters help estimate the crowd at a parade honoring rock star and Burbank native son Steve Stringbean, t
  4. S01E04The Trial Of George FranklyFebruary 16, 1987Los Angeles, May 1986. George Frankly comes back from a week in the Great North Woods. He has just heard of a robbery at the Next to the L
  5. S01E05The Problem Of The Dirty MoneyFebruary 23, 1987Glendale, 1986. Three truck drivers call within six hours to report that their dump trucks full of dirt have been stolen. Initially, this
  6. S01E06The Mystery of the Maltese PigeonMarch 2, 1987
  7. S01E07The Problem of the Trojan HamburgerMarch 9, 1987L.A. County, April 1985. Two crimes start separately, but merge a few days later. Multi-talented Hans Ballpeen is kidnapped for one of his

Season 1 ranked & reviewed

Season026Episodes1988AiredSeason avg
  1. S02E01The Case of the Great Car RobberySeptember 19, 1988Los Angeles, September 1988. For two months, the number of stolen cars in the area has skyrocketed. An estimated 20,000 cars have gone mis
  2. S02E02The Case of the Deceptive DataOctober 3, 1988Los Angeles, 1988. A shocking development in the rapidly-deteriorating TV scene: The Mike Pliers Show has been canceled. The leader of the M
  3. S02E03The View from the Rear TerraceLos Angeles, 1988. Kate is out with an injured foot, leaving George Frankly to investigate a strange set of pranks. One by one, a differen
  4. S02E04The Case of the Willing Parrot
  5. S02E05The Case of the Missing AirOctober 17, 1988
  6. S02E06The Case of the Map With A Gap

Season 2 ranked & reviewed

Season036Episodes1990AiredSeason avg
  1. S03E01The Case of the Ersatz EarthquakeLos Angeles, fall 1988. For some time, a ""prognosticator"" named Sybil Divine has been exposing her apparent ability to predict earthquake
  2. S03E02The Case of the Swami ScamJanuary 13, 1990New York City, November 1988. Kate and George have just moved in to the Mathnet division at NYPD, with a new chief and a new ally, cabdrive
  3. S03E03The Case of the Parking Meter Massacre
  4. S03E04The Case of the Unkidnapping
  5. S03E05The Case of the Strategic Weather Initiative
  6. S03E06The Case of the Masked Avenger

Season 3 ranked & reviewed

Season046Episodes1992–91AiredSeason avg
  1. S04E01The Case of the UnnaturalRivervale, New Jersey, 1991. In the minor leagues, a journeyman baseball player attempts to attract every major club's attention. Roy (Lefty
  2. S04E02Despair in Monterey BaySeptember 7, 1992
  3. S04E03The Case of the Calpurnian Kugel CaperSeptember 23, 1991
  4. S04E04The Case of the Galling StonesArmed with a search warrant, Captain Greco and George search Pat's apartment, where they believe a particular (and very expensive) bracelet
  5. S04E05The Case of the Poconos Paradise
  6. S04E06The Case of the Purloined Policies

Season 4 ranked & reviewed

Season055Episodes1992AiredSeason avg
  1. S05E01The Case of the Mystery WeekendSeptember 21, 1992
  2. S05E02The Case of the Smart DummySeptember 28, 1992
  3. S05E03The Case: Off The RecordOctober 5, 1992
  4. S05E04The Case of the Bermuda TriangleOctober 12, 1992
  5. S05E05The Case of the Piggy BankerOctober 19, 1992

Season 5 ranked & reviewed

Keep exploring top shows