63-432: Mathnet is a segment on the children's television show Square One Television that follows the adventures of pairs of police mathematicians. It is a pastiche of Dragnet . Mathnet is a pastiche of Dragnet , in which the main characters are mathematicians who use their mathematical skills to solve various crimes and mysteries in the city, usually thefts, burglaries, frauds, and kidnappings. Each segment of
126-472: A district attorney was prosecuting a defendant for a math crime the defendant did not commit. The judge was sometimes quick to issue a verdict, but in the end always ruled the defendant innocent after the defendant was able to prove it, leaving the district attorney very embarrassed. Mathman was a regular segment as a parody of Pac-Man . The skit helped viewers learn to recognize common mistakes while solving math problems, such as forgetting to carry
189-486: A Box , which showed kids making dioramas to represent their personalities; Citizen Phoebe , about a girl who wants to run for president; and Oobi , a preschool series about bare-hand puppets. By 2001, original content made up 40% of Noggin's schedule. That year, Noggin premiered four new shows: Big Kids , a British-American co-production; On the Team , a documentary about a Little League baseball team; Sponk! ,
252-475: A blue background. The logo and motto were also featured on the doors of the police cars used in the Los Angeles episodes, mimicking the appearance of actual LAPD police cars. Despite having their origins in Los Angeles, the show continued to use the logo and motto even after the setting of the show moved to New York City. In 1991, GPN released five episodes from the first two seasons on VHS ("The Problem of
315-487: A closing segment titled Mathnet , starring Joe Howard as George Frankly and Beverly Leech as Kate Monday. A parody of Dragnet , the storyline of each skit featured the detectives attempting to solve a crime by using math. Each Mathnet story line spanned five episodes, or one complete broadcast week (Monday through Friday). Originally set in Los Angeles , the skit was later moved to New York City . Leech left
378-408: A different negative adjective. He was a parody of the multi-colored Ghost enemies of Pac-Man and would appear whenever Mathman had to make a decision. If Mathman ate an incorrect number or polygon, answered a question incorrectly, or used up too much time, Mr. Glitch would "power up" (with lightning bolts and thunder crashing), chase after Mathman, and then eat him. He won this right the majority of
441-482: A digit, or making errors with negative numbers. A blue tornado character named "Mr. Glitch", a parody of the Ghosts, was Mathman's enemy and would eat him if he got the wrong answers. Pauline's Perilous Pyramid was another sketch that spoofed arcade games. The heroine Pauline would jump around a pyramid similar to the one used in the game Q*bert . Each square had either a positive or negative number on it. Her objective
504-465: A few episodes, Mathman was delayed arriving at the beginning so The Announcer gave the mission to Mr. Glitch. Mathman arrived later in Mr. Glitch's role as the nemesis. Mathdog was Mathman's flatulent pet dog and wore a football helmet like that of Mathman. When he went around the maze, he would say "Mathdog, Mathdog, Mathdog." Mathman's nemesis was Mr. Glitch, a cranky tornado who was always described with
567-590: A free game if he finished the game perfectly. The "Dirk Niblick of the Math Brigade" segment was an animated cartoon. The title character, Lt. Dirk Niblick, is tasked in each segment with helping friends through practical dilemmas through the use of mathematics. Episodes frequently center on outsmarting scam artists who use deceptive language to attempt to trick the protagonists out of money or property. Most episodes also feature Dirk having one or more telephone conversations with his mother. Supporting characters on
630-724: A game show centered around improv acting ; and The URL with Phred Show , which showcased viewers' submissions to the Noggin website. On April 1, 2002, the channel was reorganized into two blocks: a daytime block for preschoolers and a nighttime block, The N, for teens. Play with Me Sesame , a new series featuring Sesame Street characters, debuted on the same day. Sesame Workshop continued to co-produce shows for Noggin through 2009, most notably Out There and The Upside Down Show , two live-action series. Both shows were developed by Sesame Workshop's writers in New York and filmed by
693-443: A giant Mr. Glitch ate Mathman as soon as the free game began. During season 4, the format of the game was changed so that Mathman would have to decide if a certain statement (read aloud by the game's announcer) was true or false, and then eat the letter T or F. He would then have until the count of seven to make his decision. These were usually general-knowledge statements about math (e.g., "True or False? Mathematics and arithmetic are
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#1732797526251756-525: A joint venture of Nickelodeon and CTW. However, only 65 episodes were leased by the Noggin network. Mathnet segments also aired on Phred on Your Head Show (one of Noggin's original programs). A Mathnet comic briefly appeared in 3-2-1 Contact magazine. Six Mathnet books, based on episodes of the show, were published: All episodes this season were directed by Charles S. Dubin. Square One Television Square One Television (sometimes referred to as Square One or Square One TV )
819-491: A mascot costume of Moose A. Moose. Reviewers for Time Magazine compared Jamarama to a family-friendly version of Lollapalooza . In November 2005, a Noggin float appeared at America's Thanksgiving Parade . In November 2006, Noggin hosted an online charity auction on its website, called the "Noggin Auction." Viewers could bid on props from different Noggin shows. Noggin also auctioned off props from The N's teen shows, with
882-496: A multinational team in Australia. The Noggin brand was placed on a six-year hiatus from 2009 to 2015; on September 28, 2009, its channel space was taken over by a 24-hour channel based on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block . The N (standing for N oggin) was an overnight programming block on the Noggin channel, aimed at older kids and teenagers. It premiered on April 1, 2002, and aired until December 31, 2007. Promotions advertised
945-438: A parody of The Honeymooners ; etc.). "Patterns", a polka about patterns that can be detected in daily life, was performed by "Weird Al" Yankovic . Since Yankovic did not write this song, it is unavailable on any of his records, though bootleg versions have circulated. The Judds appeared on Square One Television many times, as they performed various songs. Mathcourt was a regular segment that parodied television shows of
1008-444: A particular subject in mathematics and taught the subject through song (e.g., Roman numerals , obtuse and acute angles , percentages, negative numbers, etc.) or comedic sketches (e.g., General Mathpital , a parody of General Hospital ; Nobody's Inn , a parody of Fawlty Towers ; Late Afternoon with David Numberman , a parody of Late Night with David Letterman , I Love Lupy , a parody of I Love Lucy , The Phoneymooners ,
1071-481: A person's head), reflecting its purpose: to encourage kids to think, discover new things, and use their imaginations. When it started, Noggin was mostly aimed at kids aged 6–12. Its main goal was to provide "fun shows that help kids learn and inspire their curiosity – all without feeling like they're in school." Noggin's core values included the statements: "Kids want to learn. Kids are naturally curious. There are no stupid questions." From 1999 until 2019, Noggin used
1134-461: A section on the service. On February 15, 2024, corporate owner Paramount Global announced that the Noggin streaming service would be shutting down later that year, with the entire Noggin team being laid off. The platform was shut down on July 2, 2024, with billing stopped by May 30. Some of Noggin's programming was moved over to sister streaming service Paramount+ . In October 2024, the website (no longer owned by Paramount Global since September)
1197-461: A trick, Blackstone explained how the trick worked. Other animated segments included The Further Adventures of Zook & Alison ; and Fax Headful , a parody of Max Headroom . Several segments featured child contestants competing to win prizes. All game shows featured Reg E. Cathey as announcer, except for But Who's Adding/But Who's Multiplying? , which had Cynthia Darlow announcing. Season 5 did not feature any game show segments. " Mathman "
1260-399: Is a video game segment on Square One TV . A parody of Pac-Man , "Mathman" was a fictional arcade game starring a character of the same name. "Mathman"'s objective was to run around a Pac-Man -like maze board (the traditional dots were replaced with + and - signs) and eventually encounter a number or polygon. He would then have until the count of three to determine if that number/polygon
1323-530: Is an American children's television program produced by the Children's Television Workshop (now known as Sesame Workshop ) to teach mathematics and new abstract mathematical concepts to young viewers. Created and broadcast by PBS in the United States from January 26, 1987 to November 6, 1992, the show was intended to address the math crisis among American schoolchildren. After the last episode aired,
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#17327975262511386-412: Is the only way to ensure a home for its highly acclaimed shows, which are often passed over by networks in favor of more commercially successful fare." Meanwhile, Nickelodeon (part of MTV Networks ) planned its own educational channel called "Big Orange." When the two companies learned of each other's ideas, they partnered to create a channel together. The channel was named Noggin (a slang term for
1449-611: The Brooklyn Borough Hall . The Mathnet logo is a pastiche of the Los Angeles city seal . The symbols representing the city were replaced with mathematics iconography. The founding date is the year the pilot episode was filmed. The Mathnet motto "to cogitate and to solve" is a pastiche of the LAPD motto "to protect and to serve." At the conclusion of each episode, a title screen displays the Mathnet logo and motto against
1512-544: The second incorrect answer, he was eaten by a giant Mathman. Mathman was a green, Pac-Man-like character with a big mouth, a winged football helmet (patterned after that of the University of Michigan Wolverines , as a significant number of the show's staff were U-M alumni), and a single foot on which he walked around the game maze. When he moved around the maze, he would repeat the phrase "Mathman, Mathman, Mathman," similar to Pac-Man's familiar "wakka-wakka-wakka". In
1575-651: The English-language service, including the Spanish dub of Rugrats . A Portuguese version was released on November 21, 2015. On September 21, 2020, it was announced that versions of Noggin would launch in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Austria as an add-on to Amazon Prime Video . The UK version of Noggin replaced the More Milkshake! SVOD service, with the name transitioning over as
1638-896: The Los Angeles Police Museum and is located at 6045 York Boulevard. The exterior shots of the New York City police station for seasons 3 and 4 were filmed at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Lower Manhattan . It now houses the George Gustav Heye Center of the National Museum of the American Indian and is located at 1 Bowling Green. Exterior shots for the fifth and final season were filmed at
1701-892: The Missing Baseball", "The Trial of George Frankly", "The Problem of the Dirty Money", "The Case of the Missing Air", and "The View from the Rear Terrace"). Around the same time, select PBS stations combined parts of an episode to air in primetime. This was done primarily for seasons 3-5 (New York City era), although at least one omnibus from the Leech era was also broadcast. These versions were re-edited so that they would come in at just under an hour long, featured other segments from Square One TV as "commercials", and newly created end credits, among other differences. Two of
1764-478: The Noggin logo. Noggin shows were also occasionally seen on the main Nickelodeon channel. On June 6, 1999, Nickelodeon ran the first episode of Noggin's Phred on Your Head Show . On March 27, 2000, Nickelodeon introduced a half-hour block of Noggin shows that aired every weekday morning until June 2001. The block was originally titled "Noggins Up" and became "Noggin on Nickelodeon" during its second year on
1827-456: The Noggin website was changed to show a green Noggin logo, with green text at the bottom saying "Rebooting...", hinting at a possible but not yet confirmed revival of either the Noggin channel or the streaming service. Blocks based on Noggin have appeared on other channels. TV Land aired a one-night Noggin special on April 26, 1999. Spanning two hours, the special featured reruns of The Electric Company , along with animated shorts featuring
1890-446: The United States. The monthly events were hosted by trained YMCA leaders , who offered crafts and activities based on Noggin characters. Each meeting was themed around a different Noggin show. From October 2005 until late 2006, Noggin sponsored a music festival called "Jamarama Live", which toured the United States. The tour had performances from Laurie Berkner , a musician on Jack's Big Music Show . It also had appearances from
1953-545: The acquired series Hey Duggee and JoJo & Gran Gran . Noggin interstitials played during commercial breaks, and a purple screen bug reading "On Noggin" was shown toward the beginning of each show. Noggin held live events to promote its shows. At the 2001 North American Trade Show in Minnesota, Noggin presented a replica of the set from Oobi . In spring 2002, Noggin launched a live version of its Play with Me Sesame series, featuring mascot characters and music from
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2016-625: The air. It showcased one tween-oriented program every weekday, including A Walk In Your Shoes and On the Team . The block attracted thousands of visitors to the Noggin.com site. Nickelodeon revived the block for a single day on April 7, 2003. Following the block's removal, premiere episodes of Noggin series were often simulcast on Nickelodeon and Noggin. The Noggin name was used for an otherwise unrelated programming block on Nick Jr. UK from May 2004 until September 2005. It ran for two hours every night and included reruns of older British television series for children. On January 30, 2006, Noggin
2079-599: The block as "The N: The New Name for Nighttime on Noggin." It took several months for Noggin to choose the right name for the block; as reported by Kidscreen in 2002, they needed a name to "help distance and distinguish the tween programming from the preschool fare," but the legal department also required the block to maintain a relation to Noggin's main name. Noggin's preexisting tween-targeted shows—like A Walk in Your Shoes and Sponk! —only aired during The N from 2002 onward. Noggin produced several original series for
2142-521: The block, including the animated comedy O'Grady , the drama South of Nowhere , and the competition show Girls v. Boys . The N was also the U.S. broadcast home of the Canadian series Degrassi: The Next Generation . Noggin aimed to promote a variety of life skills through the shows on The N, including self-respect, constructive thinking, and tolerance of diversity. Like the rest of Noggin, The N's shows were created with educational goals, which
2205-478: The brand was dormant until 2015, when it was announced that Noggin would relaunch as a streaming service. The service launched on March 5, 2015. In 2020, the Noggin streaming service started producing its own exclusive shows. Noggin's creation dates back to 1995, when Sesame Workshop (then known as the Children's Television Workshop) planned to start an educational cable channel called "New Kid City." The Los Angeles Times reported that "launching its own channel
2268-697: The channel mainly showed reruns from Sesame Workshop and Nickelodeon's libraries. Noggin was originally aimed at pre-teens, since Noggin's creative team felt that this age group was "underserved when it comes to new, quality educational television." The Noggin channel was commercial-free and allowed teachers to tape its programs for use in the classroom. Noggin's original lineup included classic episodes of The Electric Company , 3-2-1 Contact , Cro , Square One Television , and Ghostwriter from Sesame Workshop's library. It also included series like Wild Side Show , Nick News , and Doug from Nickelodeon's library. From 2000 to 2002, Noggin aired reruns of
2331-435: The day and relegated The N's content to a block at night, similar to The N's structure before it spun off from Noggin. According to Polygon , "Nickelodeon began phasing out The N's programming and replacing it with TEENick, an entertainment block with no educational curriculum and zero involvement from Noggin. The N lost its footing by 2009, and both [The N] and its website closed down completely." On March 5, 2015, Noggin
2394-454: The day set in courtrooms, presided by Judge Sandra Day O'Crater (played by Cynthia Darlow), who showed zero tolerance for unacceptable behavior from the audiences (and the announcer, with the judge sometimes not knowing who it was), frequently telling the gallery she'd have them do time or punish them in another extreme way if they didn't shut up and stop the interruptions (she even threatened to have them all hanged on one occasion). In all cases,
2457-483: The detectives to solve crimes include: After a successful first season, production began on six new episodes for the second season. By the time production ended on the third season and its six episodes in 1989, Beverly Leech (Kate Monday) left, and was replaced by a new character named Pat Tuesday, played by Toni DiBuono. Production on the first six episodes with the new character commenced in 1990, and ended in 1991, in time for Square One TV's fourth season. Production on
2520-423: The final season and its five episodes began taping in 1991, and the last episode aired in 1992. During production, the background music also changed. Originally, it had a synth score. Gradually, as the series progressed, it was replaced with an orchestral score. The exterior shots of the Los Angeles police station were filmed at the former LAPD Highland Park Police Station , which had closed in 1983. It now houses
2583-403: The logo. The goal was to make the logo "look unlike any other network" and inspire kids' creativity. In 2019, the original Noggin face logo was retired for the first time in 20 years; it was replaced with a lowercase noggin wordmark written in purple. The first service established under Noggin was a cable TV channel. It operated from February 2, 1999, until September 28, 2009. When it started,
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2646-517: The primetime airings were also commercially released as VHS tapes from Republic Pictures in 1994 ("Despair in Monterey Bay" (retitled to "Treasure in Monterey Bay") and "The Case of the Unnatural"). Both Mathnet and Square One went off the air in 1994 (it was rerun until then after the final 1992 season was completed), reappearing from 1999 to 2003 on the cable television network Noggin ,
2709-400: The question, explaining their favorite topics that "spark" their imaginations. Noggin's logo was featured in a large amount of original shorts and animations that ran between shows on the channel. In its early years, Noggin's creative team hired "sick and twisted" independent animators to create station ID commercials, hoping that they could each bring their own personal design elements to
2772-437: The same logo: the bottom half of a smiling cartoon face. The logo's upper half featured different icons that represented topics the head was "thinking of" (such as a beaker to reflect science, or flowers to reflect springtime). Hundreds of different "toppers" were designed for the logo. For its first few years, Noggin often captioned its logo with the slogan "What sparks you?" It also aired videos of kids and teens responding to
2835-583: The same thing") rather than questions that required actual problem-solving skills. He had until the count of seven to make a decision in this version, but sometimes lost because he wasted too much time explaining his rationale for his decision before making it. Usually two or three correct answers would win a free game. Occasionally, Mathman did not play the game himself, making Mr. Glitch the contestant. If he answered incorrectly, he would be eaten by Mathman (or on one occasion, Mathman's dog Mathdog). On one occasion, Mr. Glitch got away with an incorrect answer, but on
2898-771: The science show Bill Nye the Science Guy . Bill Nye also starred in brand-new segments made specially for Noggin, where he played the role of Noggin's "head sparkologist" and tried to find out what topics sparked viewers' imaginations. Noggin's first original show was Phred on Your Head Show , which featured an animated host named Phred. A second original series, A Walk in Your Shoes , premiered in October 1999. Each episode of A Walk in Your Shoes followed two different people "switching lives" to better understand each other's cultures. In 2000, Noggin introduced three series of shorts that aired during program breaks: Me in
2961-718: The series aired on one episode of Square One , a production of the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) aimed at teaching math skills to young viewers. Five segments made up an episode (one for each weekday), with suspense building at the end of each segment. Instead of guns, the detectives carry calculators. A number of well-known actors and actresses made guest appearances on this show. Among them were: In addition, real-life LAPD officers Sam Salazar and Steve Fellman appeared as themselves; head writers David D. Connell and Jim Thurman also appeared as various characters. Real principles of math and science and mathematical tools used by
3024-587: The service introduced a half-hour educational show called Noggin Knows and a series of shorts called The Noggins , which featured new teal-colored mascots called Noggins. The Noggin streaming service would expand into international markets, starting with the rollout of a Spanish-language version that launched in Latin America in November 2015. This version included some shows that were not available on
3087-449: The show after the third season; she was replaced by Toni DiBuono, playing Pat Tuesday. Noggin (television) Noggin was an American edutainment brand that launched on February 2, 1999. It was co-founded by MTV Networks (owners of Nickelodeon ) and Sesame Workshop . It started out as a cable television channel and a website, both centered around the concepts of imagination, creativity, and education. From 2015 to 2024, Noggin
3150-549: The show include Dirk's two young friends, the brother-and-sister pair Fluff and Fold Noodleman, and Dirk's neighbor, Mr. Beasley. The Dirk Niblick segments are similar in appearance to the 1965 cartoon Roger Ramjet ; Fred Crippen animated for both, and Gary Owens voiced both title characters. Square One Television featured at least one music video per episode. They were original songs and featured popular artists such as Kid 'n Play and The Fat Boys . The series reran over 20 videos over 7 seasons. Each episode featured
3213-686: The show went into reruns until October 7, 1994. The show was revived for the 1995–96 PBS season as a teacher instruction program, Square One TV Math Talk . From 1999 to 2003, Square One was also shown on Noggin , a cable channel co-founded by Sesame Workshop. Square One comprised short sketches that introduced and applied concepts in mathematics such as counting, combinatorics , simple fractions , estimation , probability , and geometry . The sketches featured regular characters and were mainly parodies of pop culture icons, popular television commercials or popular television shows. Sketches were presented in various formats, including music videos featuring
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#17327975262513276-650: The show. In May 2002, the Jillian's restaurant chain offered "Noggin Play Days" each Wednesday afternoon, where attendees could watch a live feed of Noggin with themed activities and meals. In March 2004, Noggin partnered with GGP shopping malls to host a free arts-and-crafts program called Club Noggin. It debuted at five malls in April of the same year. Attendance at the first few events exceeded expectations, leading GGP to bring Club Noggin to over 100 malls across
3339-501: The teen block ran from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. The teen block was given a new name, " The N ," to distinguish itself from the preschool block. The shows that made up Noggin's original older-skewing lineup aired exclusively during The N from 2002 onward. Sesame Workshop eventually sold its stake in Noggin to Viacom in August 2002 but continued to co-produce shows for Noggin until 2009. The original Noggin channel closed on September 28, 2009, and
3402-435: The times the game was played, only being defeated a handful of times. Mr. Glitch took over Mathman's role in a few episodes when Mathman was delayed arriving at the beginning. At the beginning of each sketch, an off-screen voice told either Mathman or Mr. Glitch what his mission would be. Then, a warning was issued to the playing character stating "He will eat you if you are wrong." He also congratulated Mathman and awarded him
3465-428: The website's first games was the "Noggimation Station," which taught visitors about the animation process and allowed them to design their own animations, some of which were chosen to air on TV. Another website, called MyNoggin.com, was launched in October 2007. It was a subscription-based site that offered educational games and allowed parents to track their child's progress in different subjects. On October 6, 2024,
3528-473: Was a streaming service . In Noggin's first three years, it was mainly aimed at pre-teens and teenagers. One of Noggin's goals was to disprove the idea "that educational programming is not entertaining enough to attract pre-teens and young adults." It only aired preschool shows in the morning and devoted the rest of its schedule to tween and teen shows. In April 2002, Noggin extended its preschool block to last for 12 hours, airing from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, and
3591-558: Was active until 2024. The website features games, blogs, printables, and fact sheets. The website was integrated into many of Noggin's earlier shows, like Sponk! and The URL with Phred Show , which featured viewer-submitted questions and artwork from Noggin.com. Throughout 2000, Bill Nye of Bill Nye the Science Guy answered questions asked by Noggin.com users between airings of his show. In 2001, Noggin launched "Chattervision", which allowed viewers to comment on different shows online and see their conversations appear live on TV. One of
3654-511: Was consistent with a given category (see examples below), and if so, eat it. If he made a mistake, his enemy Mr. Glitch (a parody of the multi-colored Ghost enemies of Pac-Man ) would eat him, ending the game. If Mathman was able to eat all the correct numbers/polygons, he was awarded a free game. However, Mathman accomplished this feat only a handful of times (i.e., "Multiples of 3," "Factors of 24," "Symmetrical Polygons," "Rectangles" and "Fractions Greater than 1"). On at least one such occasion,
3717-635: Was launched as a block on TMF in the United Kingdom, this time in the style of the US Noggin. It ran every weekday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Noggin continued for a short time on TMF's successor, VIVA , until March 2010. From May 2021 to March 2022, the Nick Jr. Channel aired an hour-long block of programming from the Noggin streaming service every Friday. The block, titled "Noggin Hour," featured shows such as Noggin Knows and Kinderwood , as well as
3780-403: Was relaunched as a mobile streaming service. From 2015 to 2020, it included older shows from Noggin's time as a cable channel. In 2020, Noggin started to make new shows for the service. These included an exercise show called Yoga Friends and a cooking show called School of Yum . Kinderwood , an animated series about five classmates at a magical school, premiered on Noggin in 2020. In 2021,
3843-443: Was to get to the very top of the pyramid, keeping the total of the squares she landed on between 25 and -25. Backstage with Blackstone featured math-related magic tricks and performances by Harry Blackstone, Jr. Each segment involved two cast members at a time (either Larry Cedar and Cynthia Darlow, Cris Franco and Luisa Leschin or Arthur Howard and Beverly Mickins; Reg E. Cathey portrayed Blackstone's assistant). After performing
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#17327975262513906-468: Was uncommon for teen programming at the time. The block was managed by the same team that made Noggin's preschool shows. The team considered it a challenge to focus on both preschoolers and an older audience, but because both focused on educational shows with valuable life lessons, they felt Noggin and The N had a "unified brand identity." From 2007 to 2009, the block was moved from Noggin to a new channel . The channel carried TEENick programming throughout
3969-434: Was updated with the return of the 1999 logo and a message saying "Rebooting…". Throughout its history, Noggin has featured unique cartoon characters who act as the hosts and mascots of the brand. During Noggin's time as a cable channel, these mascots often appeared during program breaks to introduce shows. Noggin has had the following mascots: The Noggin channel launched along with an interactive website, Noggin.com, which
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