Difference between revisions of "1023: Late-Night PBS"

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(→‎Explanation: Added info to host part showing that Randall isn't the first to show the hosts of the Carmen Sandiego shows drinking on the job.)
(Undo revision 351437 by ConscriptGuide (talk) No. Don't do that.)
 
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| date      = February 29, 2012
 
| date      = February 29, 2012
 
| title    = Late-Night PBS
 
| title    = Late-Night PBS
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| image    = late_night_pbs.png
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| image    = late night pbs.png
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| imagesize =
 
 
| titletext = Then it switched to these old black-and-white tapes of Bob Ross slumped against the wall of an empty room, painting the least happy trees you've ever seen. Either PBS needs to beef up studio security or I need to stop using Ambien to sleep.
 
| titletext = Then it switched to these old black-and-white tapes of Bob Ross slumped against the wall of an empty room, painting the least happy trees you've ever seen. Either PBS needs to beef up studio security or I need to stop using Ambien to sleep.
 
}}
 
}}
  
 
==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
−
In this comic, Megan falls asleep with the TV on after watching Downton Abbey.  When she wakes up, around 3 AM, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego is airing.  Unlike typical late night TV, which is usually re-runs of previously recorded episodes, she claims that the episode she watched is set in the modern day (i.e. PBS had ordered new episodes of the show) and all of the people on the show have aged accordingly.
+
This comic examines the way the world seems different for adults today compared with how we remember it as a child, due to complex subtext or naïvety, to a humorous extreme, and with a specific reference to {{w|television programs}} for children.
  
−
{{w|PBS}} stands for Public Broadcasting Service and is an American TV broadcaster that is predominantly supported by the viewers themselves through pledge drives. It often runs (and sometimes co-produces) acclaimed British {{w|costume drama}}s, including the mentioned "{{w|Downton Abbey}}".
+
{{w|PBS}} is a US public television network known for {{w|highbrow}} and educational programming, and shows a high proportion of {{w|BBC}} programming. The show ''{{w|Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (game show)|Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego}}'' was a light-hearted educational game show that ran from 1991 to 1995. In the show players followed geography-based clues to find out where a master criminal, Carmen Sandiego, was going, and catch her. After catching (or failing to catch) Carmen Sandiego, a character called The Chief would congratulate or encourage the players. Rockapella was an {{w|a cappella}} band featured on the show that gave clues, punctuated the show with humor, and closed the show.  
  
−
"{{w|Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego}}" was a {{w|computer game}} series in the mid-80s.  The series moved to a {{w|Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego (Game Show)|game-show TV series}} in the early from around 1990 to 1995.  The point of the series was to learn about geography and the world while playing a game or watching a game show.  {{w|Carmen Sandiego}} was a mysterious character that you tracked around the globe, attempting to find clues to find out where she was headed to next. The show was split into 3 rounds.  In the first round, there were 3 sleuths.  Each question they got right gave them additional points.  The top 2 scoring sleuths moved onto the next round, where they had to place a game( like the game Memory) where they had to find the thief, warrant, and loot in the correct order. Whichever sleuth did so captured the thief, saved the loot, and moved onto the next round, where they had a chance to catch Carmen Sandiego herself.  Success was not always guaranteed in this round, as contestants had to plant flags correct on 7 different countries in a continent within a very short time period.  If the sleuth was successfully able to do this, they captured Carmen and won the grand prize (a trip to a place of their choosing in the continental US).  If not, Carmen would escape and the sleuth would win a lesser prize (like a computer).
+
[[Megan]] recounts her surprise as to the nature of programming on late night PBS to [[Cueball]]. She claims to have fallen asleep after watching ''{{w|Downton Abbey}}'' and woken up to see that ''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego'' is still making new episodes, but is significantly darker than she remembers it. The host has aged poorly (the show would have been off the air for 20 years) and developed a drinking problem; the locations the child contestants visit are traumatizing; and the children are clearly freaked out. In the end they find Carmen Sandiego hiding behind a Dutch bookcase, an allusion to ''{{w|The Diary of a Young Girl|The Diary of Anne Frank}}'', thus implying that instead of aiding legitimate law enforcement in finding thieves they have been aiding the Nazis in their search for Jews (and others) to murder. The Chief admonishes the children for their actions and Rockapella glares at the children disapprovingly until the children break down in tears.  
  
−
The role of The Chief was played by {{w|Lynne Thigpen}} (RIP), a role she played in all 3 computer games (Where in the USA, Where in the World, and Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego) and both TV shows (Where in Time and Where in the World). She was responsible for telling the detectives (sleuths) what had been stolen, which of Carmen's thieves was suspected of stealing it, and some relevant information about their last whereabouts (effectively, telling the sleuths what their mission was). Whenever the detectives would catch a thief (or Carmen), she would appear and congratulate them or console them if Carmen got away (unlike what she does here).
+
After Megan concludes her story, Cueball remarks that he did not remember the show being that dark. In response Megan replies that as kids, they may not have been able to understand the darker subtext of the show. It is true that some programs intended for children often have subtle themes for adults who may be watching the show with their children that the children do not usually remember or pick up on. The joke is that although young viewers may not be able to pick up on everything, they would certainly have noticed if the show was as dark as Megan described.{{Citation needed}}
  
−
The host of the TV show was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Lee_%28actor%29 Greg Lee].  When the show originally aired, Greg was in his last 20's/early 30's. His job was to ask the questions of the contestants and tell them which flags to plant on the map in the final round, as well as engage in silly situations with The Chief and Rockapella to keep the show moving and provide clues. If the show were still airing today in 2012 he would be 50, hence the aging joke.  This comic is not the first time a host of one of the Carmen Sandiego TV shows was mocked and shown as drinking on the job; Robot Chicken showed a similar scenario with the host of Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego in 2010 ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EIULR-zLEk link] -- the voice of the host in the skit is the voice of the actual host from Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego).
+
The title text describes the next program, an episode of ''{{w|The Joy of Painting}}'', in which a depressingly weary painter paints unhappy trees. This contrasts with the usual mood of the show where {{w|Bob Ross}} was upbeat and the components of his paintings were described as "happy little" objects. Megan then postulates that either people are breaking into the television station to produce horrible programming, or she is experiencing {{w|hallucinations}} due to her sleep aid {{w|Ambien}}. This gives hallucination as an alternate explanation for the main comic.
 +
   
 +
===Locations visited===
 +
*{{w|Mogadishu}} is the battle-torn capital city of {{w|Somalia}}, where the "{{w|Battle of Mogadishu (1993)|Battle of Mogadishu}}" took place in 1993, which would coincide with the air dates of ''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego''.
  
−
{{w|Rockapella}} was the '{{w|A cappella}}' group (keeping up the tradition of punny names for a cappella groups) which sang the theme song to "Where in The World Is Carmen Sandiego."  'A cappella' is a loan word from Italian meaning "''in the manner of the Church''" hearkening back to {{w|Gregorian chant}}; in the 19th century the term evolved to mean any vocalization without accompaniment.  In the TV version of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, Rockapella also acted as a "house band" of sorts, singing songs while the contestants transitioned between events, providing clues, playing pranks on Greg Lee, etc.  At the end of each show, Greg Lee and the episode's winning contestant would shout "Do it, Rockapella!" at which point the band would sing the shows theme song.  Thus, it is unsurprising that they would be on the set when the contestants captured Carmen Sandiego.  The humorous part is that, instead of singing, like everyone else in this comic, they make the contestants feel uncomfortable by glaring at them (something they would never do).
+
*The {{w|Killing Fields}} are a number of sites in {{w|Cambodia}} where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the {{w|Khmer Rouge}} regime, during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979, following the end of the {{w|Cambodian Civil War}} (1970-1975).
  
−
In the Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego TV show, the places the contestants went were always portrayed as fun and happy, unlike the places that they have to visit in this comic.  Situations like those mentioned in this comic were never really discussed.
+
*"A bookshelf in a Dutch apartment" is a reference to {{w|Anne Frank}}, a Jewish girl who hid from the {{w|Nazi}}s with her family in a secret annex hidden behind a bookshelf in an apartment in {{w|Amsterdam}}. Her diary recounting her experiences was later published as the ''Diary of Anne Frank''.
  
−
{{w|Mogadishu}} is a battle-torn city in {{w|Somalia}}, where there was the aptly named "{{w|Battle of Mogadishu (1993)|Battle of Mogadishu}}" in 1993, which would coincide with the air dates of "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego" game show.
+
===Carmen Sandiego===
 +
''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego'' was originally an educational {{w|video game}} released in 1985. {{w|Carmen Sandiego}} was a mysterious character that the player tracked around the globe, attempting to find clues as to where she was heading to next. The game helped players learn geography and facts about the world while having fun. The video game inspired the TV show ''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?''.
  
−
{{w|The Killing Fields}} are a number of sites in {{w|Cambodia}} where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the {{w|Khmer Rouge}} regime, during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979, immediately after the end of the {{w|Cambodian Civil War}} (1970-1975).
+
The show was split into three rounds. In the first round, there were three child contestants, called “gumshoes” on the show, who scored points for every question they answered correctly. The top two scoring gumshoes moved onto the next round, where they had to play a game based on the card game {{w|Concentration (game)|Concentration}}, in which they had to find the thief, warrant, and loot in the correct order. Whichever gumshoe did so captured the thief, saved the loot, and moved onto the next round, where they had a chance to catch Carmen Sandiego herself. Success was not always guaranteed in this round, as contestants had to plant flags correct on seven different countries in a continent within a very short time. If successful, they captured Carmen and won the grand prize (a trip to a place of their choosing in the continental US). If not, Carmen would escape and the contestant would win a lesser prize (such as a computer).
  
−
The reference to "A Bookshelf in a Dutch Apartment" is a reference to {{w|Anne Frank}}, who was a Jewish girl who hid from the {{w|Nazi}}s in a Secret Annex hidden behind a bookshelf in an apartment in {{w|Amsterdam, Netherlands}}. She wrote the famous diary, {{w|Diary of Anne Frank}}.
+
The role of The Chief was played by {{w|Lynne Thigpen}}. She explained the mission to the contestants, and gave some clues to the thief's last whereabouts. When the mission was over The Chief would appear and congratulate them if successful or console them if Carmen got away.
  
−
One continuity issue in this comic is that the places they have to visit in this episode seem to require traveling to different periods in time (1993, 1975-1979, 1940's, respectively).  Episodes of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego usually did not deal with this -- this is what the TV show Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego (the successor to Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, albeit with a different house band and a different host) did.
+
The host of the TV show was an actor named {{w|Greg Lee (actor)|Greg Lee}}. His role was to ask the contestants questions, provide clues, and tell them which flags to plant on the map in the final round, as well as engage with The Chief and Rockapella to keep the show moving.
  
−
The last frame also makes mention of how some programs intended for children often have subtle themes for adults who may be watching the show with their children.  SpongeBob Squarepants and The Fairly OddParents are other [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpongeBob_SquarePants#Reception examples] of shows that have hidden meanings in things for the adults watching the show with their children. The joke in the panel is that these sorts of underlying themes were always present in the show, but the young/less mature viewers weren't able to pick up on them.  When Cueball expresses his doubt that the show was this dark when he watched it (presumably as a kid in the early 1990's), Megan tells him exactly this, that maybe these scenarios were always there but they were too young to understand them.
+
{{w|Rockapella}} was an {{w|A cappella|a cappella}} group (a group that sings without any instruments), which sang the theme song to ''Where in The World Is Carmen Sandiego.'' Rockapella also acted as a "house band", singing songs while the contestants transitioned between events, providing clues, and playing pranks on the host along with other gags. At the end of each show, the host and the episode's winning contestant would shout "Do it, Rockapella!" at which point the band would sing the show's theme song.
  
−
In the title text there is a reference to {{w|Bob Ross}}, a famous painter with a painting show on PBS called "{{w|The Joy of Painting}}" that ran for 12 years.
+
===Continuity issues===
−
 
+
The locations the contestants visit in the episode depicted in this comic seem to require traveling backwards in time (1993 for the Battle of Mogadishu, 1975-1979 for the Cambodian killing fields, and 1944 for the arrest of Anne Frank). Episodes of ''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego'' did not deal with this, but its successor, ''{{w|Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? (game show)|Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?}}'', did.
−
{{w|Ambien}}, also known as Zolpidem, is a prescription medication used for the treatment of insomnia, as well as some brain disorders. Known side effects are vivid dreams and hallucinations if you wake up (or haven’t yet fallen asleep) while it is still active.
 
−
 
 
−
Thus, the joke in the title text is that Randall/Megan isn't sure if his is hallucinating from taking Ambien, or if something horrible has happened because PBS's security staff isn't large enough.  The entire comic, in general, revolves around this notion.
 
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
−
:[Megan is rubbing sleep out of her eyes and talking to Cueball.]
+
:[Megan with disheveled hair is rubbing sleep out of her eyes and talking to Cueball.]
 
:Megan: Have you ever watched PBS late at night?
 
:Megan: Have you ever watched PBS late at night?
−
:Megan: I fell asleep after Downton and woke up at like 3 AM.
+
:Megan: I fell asleep after ''Downton'' and woke up at like 3 AM.
  
−
:[The upper portion of the panel continues dialogue, while the lower shows a drunk gameshow host and several contestants. The monitor shows a field of crosses, presumably graves.]
+
:[The next panel is split in two. The upper portion, which is not in a frame, continues Megan's dialogue, while the lower part, in a frame, shows a drunk game-show host (indicated with two small bobbles and a third exploding next to his head). He has stubble and only little hair on his head. He is holding a bottle in one hand and the other hand is up over a TV monitor showing a black field filled with crosses, presumably graves, going out to the far off horizon. In front of him are three kids, who are contestants in the game. They stand behind three lecterns to the left. The first kid is a boy with thin black hair, who has turned away from the monitor. The middle kid is a girl with blonde hair in a ponytail who looks at the host, and the last kid looks like Cueball and he looks down at his lectern.]
−
:Megan: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego was back on, except the host hadn't aged well and he'd clearly been drinking.
+
:Megan (off-panel): ''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego'' was back on, except the host hadn't aged well and he'd clearly been drinking.
−
:Megan: Every question took them to some horrible place like Mogadishu or the Cambodian killing fields.
+
:Megan (off-panel): Every question took them to some horrible place like Mogadishu or the Cambodian killing fields.
  
−
:[Now it shows a bookshelf revealing a hidden room.]
+
:[In a room with tiles on the floor, a bookshelf full of books has been moved away from the wall revealing that is was a door to be opened with a hidden room behind it. Megan continues to speak, her text is above the shelf but inside the frame this time.]
−
:Megan: The kids were freaked out, but they kept playing. Eventually they were told they'd found Carmen Sandiego hiding behind a bookshelf in a Dutch apartment.
+
:Megan (off-panel): The kids were freaked out, but they kept playing. Eventually they were told they'd found Carmen Sandiego hiding behind a bookshelf in a Dutch apartment.
  
−
:Megan: The Chief appeared and asked "Are you proud of what you've become?"
+
:[Megan has stopped rubbing her eyes but still talks to Cueball.]
 +
:Megan: The Chief appeared and asked "Are you ''proud'' of what you've become?"
 
:Megan: Then Rockapella walked out and just glared at the kids until they started crying.
 
:Megan: Then Rockapella walked out and just glared at the kids until they started crying.
 
:Cueball: I, uh, don't remember the old show being that dark.
 
:Cueball: I, uh, don't remember the old show being that dark.
 
:Megan: Maybe we were too young to pick up on it.
 
:Megan: Maybe we were too young to pick up on it.
 +
 +
==Trivia==
 +
*This is the second comic posted on a Leap Day ({{w|February 29}}), it was a Wednesday in 2012.
 +
**The previous leap day was the first after xkcd began, and that day fell on a Friday in 2008, and the first leap day comic [[390: Nightmares]] was released then.
 +
**The leap day after this comic also fell on a Friday in 2016 and [[1649: Pipelines]] was released then.
 +
**If the current M-W-F schedule continues, the next such comic will not happen before 2036 when the leap day again falls on a Friday.
 +
**Interesting to note that the first three leap years after xkcd began (in just over 10 years) all fell on a release day, then followed by a break of 20 years. And three of these first four leap days all fell on a Friday.
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
 +
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 +
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] <!-- Bob Ross for certain and maybe the TV host -->
 +
[[Category:Dreams]] <!-- Apart from the title text note, it is clearly not real what Megan has experiences at 3 AM.-->
 +
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
 +
[[Category:Kids]]

Latest revision as of 23:29, 26 September 2024

Late-Night PBS
Then it switched to these old black-and-white tapes of Bob Ross slumped against the wall of an empty room, painting the least happy trees you've ever seen. Either PBS needs to beef up studio security or I need to stop using Ambien to sleep.
Title text: Then it switched to these old black-and-white tapes of Bob Ross slumped against the wall of an empty room, painting the least happy trees you've ever seen. Either PBS needs to beef up studio security or I need to stop using Ambien to sleep.

Explanation[edit]

This comic examines the way the world seems different for adults today compared with how we remember it as a child, due to complex subtext or naïvety, to a humorous extreme, and with a specific reference to television programs for children.

PBS is a US public television network known for highbrow and educational programming, and shows a high proportion of BBC programming. The show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego was a light-hearted educational game show that ran from 1991 to 1995. In the show players followed geography-based clues to find out where a master criminal, Carmen Sandiego, was going, and catch her. After catching (or failing to catch) Carmen Sandiego, a character called The Chief would congratulate or encourage the players. Rockapella was an a cappella band featured on the show that gave clues, punctuated the show with humor, and closed the show.

Megan recounts her surprise as to the nature of programming on late night PBS to Cueball. She claims to have fallen asleep after watching Downton Abbey and woken up to see that Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego is still making new episodes, but is significantly darker than she remembers it. The host has aged poorly (the show would have been off the air for 20 years) and developed a drinking problem; the locations the child contestants visit are traumatizing; and the children are clearly freaked out. In the end they find Carmen Sandiego hiding behind a Dutch bookcase, an allusion to The Diary of Anne Frank, thus implying that instead of aiding legitimate law enforcement in finding thieves they have been aiding the Nazis in their search for Jews (and others) to murder. The Chief admonishes the children for their actions and Rockapella glares at the children disapprovingly until the children break down in tears.

After Megan concludes her story, Cueball remarks that he did not remember the show being that dark. In response Megan replies that as kids, they may not have been able to understand the darker subtext of the show. It is true that some programs intended for children often have subtle themes for adults who may be watching the show with their children that the children do not usually remember or pick up on. The joke is that although young viewers may not be able to pick up on everything, they would certainly have noticed if the show was as dark as Megan described.[citation needed]

The title text describes the next program, an episode of The Joy of Painting, in which a depressingly weary painter paints unhappy trees. This contrasts with the usual mood of the show where Bob Ross was upbeat and the components of his paintings were described as "happy little" objects. Megan then postulates that either people are breaking into the television station to produce horrible programming, or she is experiencing hallucinations due to her sleep aid Ambien. This gives hallucination as an alternate explanation for the main comic.

Locations visited[edit]

  • Mogadishu is the battle-torn capital city of Somalia, where the "Battle of Mogadishu" took place in 1993, which would coincide with the air dates of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego.
  • "A bookshelf in a Dutch apartment" is a reference to Anne Frank, a Jewish girl who hid from the Nazis with her family in a secret annex hidden behind a bookshelf in an apartment in Amsterdam. Her diary recounting her experiences was later published as the Diary of Anne Frank.

Carmen Sandiego[edit]

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego was originally an educational video game released in 1985. Carmen Sandiego was a mysterious character that the player tracked around the globe, attempting to find clues as to where she was heading to next. The game helped players learn geography and facts about the world while having fun. The video game inspired the TV show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?.

The show was split into three rounds. In the first round, there were three child contestants, called “gumshoes” on the show, who scored points for every question they answered correctly. The top two scoring gumshoes moved onto the next round, where they had to play a game based on the card game Concentration, in which they had to find the thief, warrant, and loot in the correct order. Whichever gumshoe did so captured the thief, saved the loot, and moved onto the next round, where they had a chance to catch Carmen Sandiego herself. Success was not always guaranteed in this round, as contestants had to plant flags correct on seven different countries in a continent within a very short time. If successful, they captured Carmen and won the grand prize (a trip to a place of their choosing in the continental US). If not, Carmen would escape and the contestant would win a lesser prize (such as a computer).

The role of The Chief was played by Lynne Thigpen. She explained the mission to the contestants, and gave some clues to the thief's last whereabouts. When the mission was over The Chief would appear and congratulate them if successful or console them if Carmen got away.

The host of the TV show was an actor named Greg Lee. His role was to ask the contestants questions, provide clues, and tell them which flags to plant on the map in the final round, as well as engage with The Chief and Rockapella to keep the show moving.

Rockapella was an a cappella group (a group that sings without any instruments), which sang the theme song to Where in The World Is Carmen Sandiego. Rockapella also acted as a "house band", singing songs while the contestants transitioned between events, providing clues, and playing pranks on the host along with other gags. At the end of each show, the host and the episode's winning contestant would shout "Do it, Rockapella!" at which point the band would sing the show's theme song.

Continuity issues[edit]

The locations the contestants visit in the episode depicted in this comic seem to require traveling backwards in time (1993 for the Battle of Mogadishu, 1975-1979 for the Cambodian killing fields, and 1944 for the arrest of Anne Frank). Episodes of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego did not deal with this, but its successor, Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, did.

Transcript[edit]

[Megan with disheveled hair is rubbing sleep out of her eyes and talking to Cueball.]
Megan: Have you ever watched PBS late at night?
Megan: I fell asleep after Downton and woke up at like 3 AM.
[The next panel is split in two. The upper portion, which is not in a frame, continues Megan's dialogue, while the lower part, in a frame, shows a drunk game-show host (indicated with two small bobbles and a third exploding next to his head). He has stubble and only little hair on his head. He is holding a bottle in one hand and the other hand is up over a TV monitor showing a black field filled with crosses, presumably graves, going out to the far off horizon. In front of him are three kids, who are contestants in the game. They stand behind three lecterns to the left. The first kid is a boy with thin black hair, who has turned away from the monitor. The middle kid is a girl with blonde hair in a ponytail who looks at the host, and the last kid looks like Cueball and he looks down at his lectern.]
Megan (off-panel): Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego was back on, except the host hadn't aged well and he'd clearly been drinking.
Megan (off-panel): Every question took them to some horrible place like Mogadishu or the Cambodian killing fields.
[In a room with tiles on the floor, a bookshelf full of books has been moved away from the wall revealing that is was a door to be opened with a hidden room behind it. Megan continues to speak, her text is above the shelf but inside the frame this time.]
Megan (off-panel): The kids were freaked out, but they kept playing. Eventually they were told they'd found Carmen Sandiego hiding behind a bookshelf in a Dutch apartment.
[Megan has stopped rubbing her eyes but still talks to Cueball.]
Megan: The Chief appeared and asked "Are you proud of what you've become?"
Megan: Then Rockapella walked out and just glared at the kids until they started crying.
Cueball: I, uh, don't remember the old show being that dark.
Megan: Maybe we were too young to pick up on it.

Trivia[edit]

  • This is the second comic posted on a Leap Day (February 29), it was a Wednesday in 2012.
    • The previous leap day was the first after xkcd began, and that day fell on a Friday in 2008, and the first leap day comic 390: Nightmares was released then.
    • The leap day after this comic also fell on a Friday in 2016 and 1649: Pipelines was released then.
    • If the current M-W-F schedule continues, the next such comic will not happen before 2036 when the leap day again falls on a Friday.
    • Interesting to note that the first three leap years after xkcd began (in just over 10 years) all fell on a release day, then followed by a break of 20 years. And three of these first four leap days all fell on a Friday.


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Discussion

I still remember playing the Carmen San Diego educatonal games. Oh, good, good days. Davidy22[talk] 13:17, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

Now I know why my copy was glitchy... Anonymous 17:20, 5 December 2013 (UTC)

The show is Downton Abbey, not Downtown Abbey. I feel like if I actually edit it the strip Randall made about that very annoyance will win. 199.27.128.190 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

So, it has come to this. 108.162.216.33 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)


I've just gone through the whole explanation, correcting spelling and grammar. As I went I fixed other issues, so it's not JUST spelling and grammar - I've updated links, reworded sections, and revised sentence order. I think we can remove the Incomplete tag now, but in light of the heavy editing and the low activity this explanations receives, I'll leave it a week or so for comments before I do so. Cosmogoblin (talk) 14:36, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for cleaning up my mess. 108.162.216.32 19:36, 12 July 2015 (UTC)

I would like to suggest for someone to edit the explanation for this comic. The killing fields were created in the time period mentioned, however they still exist to this day, so Carmen Sandiego could *easily* have gone there. However, not stepping on a landmine might have proved to be a problem. I am not editing it personally because it's a really big explanation and I'm fairly busy at the moment. Znayx (talk) 19:45, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

Are we going to mention the excellent cartoon Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Yeah, let's mention it! I used to watch it all the time. RadiantRainwing (talk) 18:16, 31 July 2024 (UTC)

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