TELEVISION; 1 Mystery Plus 2 Detectives Adds Up to 'Mathnet'
Craig Wolff
/vi-assets/static-assets/favicon-d2483f10ef688e6f89e23806b9700298.ico
It was morning in New York and the detectives were confounded. The baseball player, who looked suspiciously like the actor John Sayles, had taken a sudden leap from has-been to star at the plate, and they had been around long enough to smell foul play. Logic told them that nobody has a .718 batting average. At least nobody human.

Pat Tuesday is her name. George Frankly is his. They bounded for the door, some scribbled clues in hand and a few hypotheses in mind. One more thing: Their holsters were packed -- with calculators, that is.

Tuesday and Frankly solve mysteries. They don't leap into cars or use their fists. Mathematicians both, they pause a lot to look at each other and quietly ponder the problem at hand.

The two are the featured characters on "Mathnet," a serialized segment of "Square One TV," a public television show produced by Children's Television Workshop that tries to bring home the message that learning math need not be painful.

The episode in question, with the film maker John Sayles stepping up to bat, was taped on location in and around Manhattan recently and will be shown in the fall as part of the program's fourth season.

Pat Tuesday (played by Tony DiBuono), the brains of the operation, is intended as a role model for young girls who might think math is for boys. Joe Howard plays her sidekick, who always seems to be half a decimal place behind. Tuesday is taking over from Kate Monday, who left the series last season when Beverly Leech, the actress who played her, moved on.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.