''Numbers'' (stylized as ''NUMB3RS'') is an American

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

that was broadcast on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

from January 23, 2005, to March 12, 2010, for six seasons and 118 episodes. The series was created by

Nicolas Falacci Nicolas Falacci is a television writer and producer. Along with his wife and writing partner Cheryl Heuton, he co-created the television series ''Numb3rs'' (2005). Falacci and Heuton won the 2005 Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Scien ...

and

Cheryl Heuton Cheryl Heuton is an American television writer and producer. Along with her husband and writing partner Nicolas Falacci, she co-created the television series '' Numb3rs'' (2005–2010). The couple created the show, a mathematics-centered departure ...

, and follows FBI Special Agent

Don Eppes Donald "Don" Eppes is a fictional character and one of the protagonists of the CBS crime drama '' Numb3rs''. He is portrayed by Rob Morrow. Don is an FBI Special Agent who runs the FBI Violent Crimes Squad in Los Angeles. Don recruits his mathe ...

(

Rob Morrow Robert Alan Morrow (born September 21, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is known for his portrayal of Dr. Joel Fleischman on '' Northern Exposure'', a role that garnered him three Golden Globe and two Emmy nominations for Best Acto ...

) and his brother

Charlie Eppes Charles Edward Eppes, Ph.D., is a fictional character and one of the protagonists of the CBS crime drama ''Numb3rs''. He is portrayed by David Krumholtz. Eppes is portrayed as a young mathematical genius and professor of applied mathematics at t ...

(

David Krumholtz David Krumholtz (born May 15, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He played Mr. Universe in '' Serenity'', Charlie Eppes in the CBS drama series ''Numb3rs'', and starred in the ''Harold & Kumar'' and ''The Santa Clause'' film franchises. Ear ...

), a college mathematics professor and prodigy, who helps Don solve crimes for the FBI. Brothers Ridley and

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as ''Top Gun'' (1986), ''Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''Day ...

produced ''Numbers''; its production companies are the Scott brothers'

Scott Free Productions Scott Free Productions is an independent film and television production company founded in 1970 by filmmakers and brothers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. They formed the feature film development company Percy Main Productions in 1980, naming the ...

and

CBS Television Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

(originally

Paramount Network Television The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its na ...

, and later

CBS Paramount Network Television CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

). The show focuses equally on the relationships among Don Eppes, his brother Charlie Eppes, and their father,

Alan Eppes Alan Eppes is a fictional character in the CBS crime drama '' Numb3rs'', played by Judd Hirsch. Alan is the father of the main characters, brothers Charlie and Don Eppes. First introduced in the pilot episode, the character of Alan received m ...

(

Judd Hirsch Judd Seymore Hirsch (born March 15, 1935) is an American actor. He is known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), John Lacey on the NBC series '' Dear John'' (1988–1992), and Alan Eppes on the CBS seri ...

), and on the brothers' efforts to fight crime, usually in Los Angeles. A typical episode begins with a crime, which is subsequently investigated by a team of FBI agents led by Don and mathematically modeled by Charlie, with the help of

Larry Fleinhardt Larry Fleinhardt, Ph.D., is a fictional character in the CBS crime drama ''Numb3rs'', played by Peter MacNicol. He is the best friend and colleague of Charlie Eppes. Dr. Lawrence Fleinhardt holds the Walter T. Merrick Chair of Theoretical Physic ...

(

Peter MacNicol Peter MacNicol (born April 10, 1954) is an American actor. He received a Theatre World Award for his 1981 Broadway debut in the play ''Crimes of the Heart''. His film roles include Galen in ''Dragonslayer'' (1981), Stingo in ''Sophie's Choice'' ( ...

) and

Amita Ramanujan Amita Ramanujan, Ph.D., is a fictional character from the CBS crime drama ''Numb3rs'', played by Navi Rawat. Over the course of the series, she has become a professor at CalSci and has since become romantically involved with her former thesis a ...

(

Navi Rawat Navlata Rawat (born June 5, 1977) is an American television actress, known for her roles as Theresa Diaz on the drama series ''The O.C.'' and math prodigy Amita Ramanujan on the drama series ''Numb3rs''. Early life Rawat was born in Malibu, Cal ...

). The insights provided by Charlie's mathematics were always in some way crucial to solving the crime. On May 18, 2010, CBS canceled the series after six seasons.

Cast and characters

The show revolved around three intersecting groups of characters: the FBI, scientists at the fictitious California Institute of Science (CalSci), and the Eppes family. *

(

), Charlie's older brother, is the lead FBI agent at the Los Angeles Violent Crimes Squad. *

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

(

) is a mathematical genius, who in addition to teaching at CalSci, consults for the FBI and

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

. *

(

) is a former

L.A. Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

city planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

, a widower, and the father of both Charlie and Don Eppes. Alan lives in a historic two-story California bungalow furnished with period

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

furniture. * David Sinclair (

Alimi Ballard Alimi Ballard (born October 17, 1977) is an American television actor. He is best known for his role as FBI agent David Sinclair on the CBS police procedural ''Numb3rs'' (2005–2010). Early life Ballard was born in The Bronx, New York and be ...

) is an FBI

field agent In espionage, a field agent is an agent who works in the field as opposed to one who operates at the office or headquarters. A field agent can work alone or in a group but usually has a case officer who is in charge. Field agents can be undercover ...

and was later made Don's second-in-command and promoted to supervisor. * Terry Lake (

Sabrina Lloyd Sabrina Anne Lloyd (born November 20, 1970) is an American retired film and television actress. She is known for portraying Wade Welles in the science fiction series ''Sliders'', Natalie Hurley in the ABC sitcom '' Sports Night'' and Kelly in ''Fa ...

) is a forensic psychologist and FBI agent. (season 1) * Prof.

(

) is a

theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experimen ...

and

cosmologist Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

at CalSci. Charlie's former mentor and now best friend, he also frequently consults for the FBI. * Prof.

(

) is a mathematician at CalSci and an FBI consultant. In season two, she begins dating Charlie, to whom she is engaged and married in season six. Charlie was her

thesis advisor A doctoral advisor (also dissertation director, dissertation advisor; or doctoral supervisor) is a member of a university faculty whose role is to guide graduate students who are candidates for a doctorate, helping them select coursework, as well ...

. Her name is a reference to influential autodidactic Indian mathematician

Srinivasa Ramanujan Srinivasa Ramanujan (; born Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar, ; 22 December 188726 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician. Though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis ...

. (seasons 2–6, main; 1, recurring) *

Megan Reeves Megan Reeves is a fictional character in the CBS crime drama ''Numb3rs'', played by Diane Farr. Created as a replacement for the character Terry Lake, who served in the same capacity, Megan is a profiler working with Don Eppes' team and serves as ...

(

Diane Farr Diane Farr (born September 7, 1969) is an American actress, producer, and writer. She is known for her roles as the FBI agent Megan Reeves in the CBS television series '' Numb3rs'' and the firefighter Laura Miles in '' Rescue Me''. Life and ca ...

) is an FBI behavioral specialist. She was involved romantically with Larry Fleinhardt and left the FBI to counsel troubled young women. (seasons 2–4) *

Colby Granger Colby Granger is a fictional character in the CBS crime drama ''Numb3rs'', played by Dylan Bruno. First introduced during the second season, he has become a part of the team led by FBI Special Agent Don Eppes (Rob Morrow) and is usually partnered ...

(

Dylan Bruno Dylan Bruno (born September 6, 1972) is an American actor and former model. His first major film role was a supporting part in Steven Spielberg's ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998), followed by a lead role in the horror film '' The Rage: Carrie 2'' ...

) is an FBI field agent. Once thought to have betrayed his colleagues, he is now back in their good graces and confidence. (seasons 3–6, main; 2, recurring) *

Liz Warner Liz Warner is a fictional character in the CBS crime drama ''Numb3rs'', played by Aya Sumika. A former girlfriend of FBI Special Agent Don Eppes, she has since become a part of Don's team. Evolution over the series Liz is a special agent at th ...

(

Aya Sumika Aya Sumika is a former American actress best known for her semi-recurring role (which later turned into a regular role) as FBI Agent Liz Warner in the television series ''Numb3rs''. Personal life She studied ballet at Juilliard. Sumika and hus ...

) is an FBI agent, formerly involved with Agent Eppes. (seasons 5–6, main; 3–4, recurring) * Nikki Betancourt (

Sophina Brown Sophina Brown Simmons (born September 18, 1976) is an American television actress. She starred as Raina Troy in the CBS legal drama ''Shark'' from 2006 to 2008, and later joined the cast of another CBS drama, ''Numbers'', playing Nikki Betancourt ...

) is an FBI agent with four years' experience in the

LAPD The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

and a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

. (seasons 5–6) Temporary characters on the show were often named after famous mathematicians. For example, in the episode "

In Plain Sight ''In Plain Sight'' is an American drama television series that premiered on the USA Network on June 1, 2008. The series revolves around Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack), a Deputy United States Marshal attached to the Albuquerque, New Mexico, office ...

" (season two, episode eight), one of the criminals is named

Rolle Rolle () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, Canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It was the seat of the district of Rolle (district), Rolle until 2006, when it became part of the district of Nyon District, N ...

and Charlie's father mentions a meeting with a man named Robert Peterson.

Episodes

Opening: (Voice-over by David Krumholtz) We all use math every day. To predict weather, to tell time, to handle money. Math is more than formulas and equations. It's logic; it's rationality. It's using your mind to solve the biggest mysteries we know.

Season 1 (2005)

The first season aired between January 23, 2005, and May 13, 2005, at 10:00 pm on Fridays. It started the working relationship between Los Angeles'

FBI field office The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) operates 56 field offices in major cities throughout the United States. Many of these offices are further subdivided into smaller resident agencies that have jurisdiction over a specific area. These residen ...

and Charlie Eppes. The main FBI agents are Charlie's brother, Don Eppes, and

Terry Lake Terry Lake is a former Canadian politician, at the municipal and provincial levels, and veterinarian. Lake was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and a member of the BC Liberal Party. Lake announced September 1, 2016 th ...

, as well as David Sinclair. Don and Charlie's father, Alan Eppes, provides emotional support for the pair, while Professor Larry Fleinhardt and doctoral student Amita Ramanujan provide mathematical support and insights to Charlie. Season one was a half-season, producing only 13 episodes.

played Terry Lake, an agent, in this season; she was later replaced by

, who played Megan Reeves.

Season 2 (2005–06)

The second season aired between September 23, 2005, and May 19, 2006, again at 10:00 pm on Fridays. Season two has several changes to Don's FBI team: Terry Lake is reassigned to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and two new members join Don and David Sinclair:

and

. Charlie is challenged on one of his long-standing mathematical workpieces and starts work on a new theory, cognitive emergence theory. Larry sells his home and assumes a

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

ic lifestyle while he becomes romantically involved with Megan. Amita receives an offer for an assistant professor position at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, but is plagued by doubt as her relationship with Charlie is challenged, and her career is in upheaval. Alan begins work and dating again, although he struggles with the loss of his wife and Charlie and his dream of her.

Season 3 (2006–07)

''Numb3rs'' was renewed for a third season, which began airing at 10:00 pm on Friday, September 22, 2006, and ended on May 18, 2007. Charlie and Amita intensify their relationship, as do Larry and Megan, especially after Megan's kidnapping. Amita has trouble adjusting to her new role as a CalSci professor, and Larry announces his

leave of absence The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they are ...

; he will be on the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

for six months, which greatly distresses Charlie. Charlie and his colleagues are troubled by Dr. Mildred Finch, the newly appointed chair of the CalSci Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy Division, whom they learn has begun dating Alan. Meanwhile, Don dates Agent Liz Warner and questions his

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

and

self worth Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...

, and receives counseling. Charlie sees Don's therapist, and the two understand one another more. Despite Don's concerns, Alan engages in some FBI consulting with his engineering knowledge, and Larry returns from the space station, disillusioned. The finale wraps up with a revelation that Colby was a double agent for the Chinese. Noticeable changes from previous seasons include removing the opening-credit sequence (credits are now done during the first segment of the show), the absence of Peter MacNicol's character for much of the season, and the absence of Diane Farr's character for a few episodes. Peter MacNicol appeared in the first 11 episodes before leaving for the television show '' 24'', but returned to ''Numbers'' for the 21st episode of season three (" The Art of Reckoning"). His character's absence was written into the show by becoming a payload specialist on the International Space Station. Diane Farr, pregnant for most of the season, left the show for

maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and ...

in episode 18 ("

Democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

"); her character's absence is explained as a particular assignment to the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Season 4 (2007–08)

The season premiere aired on September 28, 2007, in the same time slot as in previous seasons, 10:00 pm

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...

. Because of the writer's strike, only 12 episodes were initially produced. However, once the strike ended, CBS announced the show's return April 4, 2008, with six episodes. The season ended on May 16, 2008. As this season starts,

escapes from jail and is revealed to be a

triple agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...

. He then rejoins the team. Don and Liz break up halfway through this season after Liz has trouble with Don's trust issues. Amita's parents come to visit, which becomes a secondary theme throughout most of the season. Due to her work at the DOJ, Megan is conflicted by her work and turns to Larry. Near the end of the season, Don's girlfriend from season two, Robin Brooks, returns. Don and Robin then continue their relationship. Charlie attends FBI training camp because he has been working with Don for several years and wants to understand better what his brother does. In the season finale, Megan leaves the team to move back to Washington, DC, and Charlie goes head-to-head with Don about a case. This causes Charlie to send information to scientists in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. He is subsequently arrested and has his

security clearance A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information (state or organizational secrets) or to restricted areas, after completion of a thorough background check. The term "security clearance" is ...

revoked to no longer help Don on cases. At the end of the episode, Don drives away to another case, and Charlie admits that giving up FBI work will be more challenging than he expected. Several characters from previous seasons did not appear in season four, most notably

Mildred Finch This article contains character information for the television show ''NUMB3RS''. The focus of the show is the relationship between brothers Don and Charlie Eppes. Don is an FBI agent, and Charlie is a mathematics professor who consults with Don' ...

and Ian Edgerton.

Season 5 (2008–09)

The fifth season premiered on October 3, 2008, and the season finale aired on May 15, 2009. The season premiere was moved back one week to accommodate the 2008 presidential debates. Season five opens three weeks after "

When Worlds Collide ''When Worlds Collide'' is a 1933 science fiction novel co-written by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie; they also co-authored the sequel ''After Worlds Collide'' (1934). It was first published as a six-part monthly serial (September 1932 through Fe ...

" (season four's finale), with the government dropping the charges against Charlie. Charlie gets his

back after Don and he fight FBI Security Officer Carl McGowan. Don begins to explore

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

. The team adds new agent Nikki Betancourt, who arrives shortly after Megan Reeves' departure. Robin is offered a promotion but turns it down. Buck Winters (from the episodes "Spree" and " Two Daughters") breaks out of prison and comes after Don. Alan suddenly finds himself coaching CalSci's basketball team. David becomes Don's primary relief supervisor.

DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adv ...

tries to recruit Charlie, but he turns down their offer. Toward the end of the season, Don is stabbed, and Charlie blames himself for it. The aftermath of Don's stabbing causes Charlie to focus more on his FBI consultation work. Amita is kidnapped, and the team races to find her. After she is rescued, Charlie proposes to Amita. Her response is left undisclosed. "Disturbed" marked the 100th episode of ''Numbers''.

Season 6 (2009–10)

The sixth and final season premiered Friday, September 25, 2009, at 10:00 pm ET and the season finale aired on March 12, 2010, 3 days before Hirsch's 75th birthday. The season starts with the

engagement An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

of Charlie and Amita. Soon after, Larry turns down an opportunity to meet with mathematicians at

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...

, in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, and drops his course load for the following semester. This leads Charlie to realize Larry is once again leaving and leaving all of his work to Charlie. Don learns that his former mentor is crooked, causing Don angst to shoot his mentor. Charlie and Don realize that Alan has lost a substantial amount of money in his

401(k) In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodical employee contributions come directly out of their ...

. After some delay, Larry leaves Los Angeles to find a vacant piece of land for sale within driving distance of the city. Alan decides to return to work and finds a job as a software technical consultant. David asks Don for advice about career paths within the FBI. Larry returns from the desert with a new theory about the universe's fate. Charlie and Amita begin planning their wedding and decide to join the Big Brother/Big Sister program to practice parenting skills. They get married before their move to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to teach at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Don loses his gun, recovers it after it is used in some

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...

murders, and gets engaged to Robin. He also decides to leave the team, taking an administrative position within the FBI. Before leaving, Charlie and Amita decide that the family garage should be converted to a

guest house A guest house (also guesthouse) is a kind of lodging. In some parts of the world (such as the Caribbean), guest houses are a type of inexpensive hotel-like lodging. In others, it is a private home that has been converted for the exclusive use o ...

so Alan can continue living with them. Leaving Colby, Liz, and Nikki behind, David departs for Washington, DC, to a position as an anti-corruption team leader.

Home media

CBS DVD CBS Home Entertainment (formerly CBS Video Enterprises, Inc., MGM/CBS Home Video, CBS/Fox Video and CBS Video, currently branded as CBS DVD for DVD releases and CBS Blu-ray for Blu-ray releases) is a home entertainment company owned by Paramoun ...

(distributed by

Paramount Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global. The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...

) has released all six seasons of ''Numb3rs'' on DVD in Regions 1, 2, and 4. On June 2, 2017, CBS DVD released ''Numb3rs: The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1.

Awards and nominations

and

, the show's creators, have won several awards for the show, including the

Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science The Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science is an award presented by the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP) to individuals who have become “concurrently accomplished as researchers and/or educators, and as widely recogni ...

in 2006, and the

National Science Board The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President and the Congress. The NSB also serves as an ind ...

's Public Service Award in 2007. Also, the show's

stunt coordinator A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, film or theatre director or production company for stunt casting. Their job is to arrange the casting (stunt players and stunt doubles) and performance of stunts for ...

, Jim Vickers, was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for Outstanding Stunt Coordination in 2006 for episode 14 of Season 2, "

Harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

Representation of mathematics

Several mathematicians work as

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

s for each episode. Actual mathematics are presented in the show; the equations on the chalkboards are mathematically valid, and are somewhat applicable to the situations presented in each show. This mathematical validity and applicability of the equations have been asserted by professional mathematicians. A book entitled ''The Numbers Behind NUMB3RS: Solving Crime with Mathematics'' (; published August 28, 2007), written by

Keith Devlin Keith J. Devlin (born 16 March 1947) is a British mathematician and popular science writer. Since 1987 he has lived in the United States. He has dual British-American citizenship.

and Dr. Gary Lorden, a consultant to the show along with Dr. Orara, a physics consultant, explain some of the mathematical techniques that have been used both in actual FBI cases and in other law-enforcement departments. Since the premiere season, the blog edited by Prof. Mark Bridger (Northeastern University) has commented on the mathematics behind each episode of the show.

Wolfram Research Wolfram Research, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational company that creates computational technology. Wolfram's flagship product is the technical computing program Wolfram Mathematica, first released on June 23, 1988. Other products include Wo ...

(the developers of ''

Mathematica Wolfram Mathematica is a software system with built-in libraries for several areas of technical computing that allow machine learning, statistics, symbolic computation, data manipulation, network analysis, time series analysis, NLP, optimizat ...

'') is the chief math consultant, reviewing scripts and providing background mathematics for the show. Starting with season four, their website in collaboration with CBS is entitled "The math behind ''NUMB3RS''".

Alice Silverberg Alice Silverberg (born 1958) is professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine. She was faculty at the Ohio State University from 1984 through 2004. She has given over 300 lectures at universities around the ...

, a mathematician consultant to the show, expressed concern with its use of mathematics, asserting that the math is inserted after the initial script and written to provide plausible-sounding

jargon Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The conte ...

, rather than having consultants involved at all stages of story development. The same part-time consultant offered criticism of the show's portrayal of female mathematicians and expressed concern over the appropriateness of the relationship between Charlie Eppes and his graduate student Amita Ramanujan.

Production

The idea for ''Numbers'' was generated in the late 1990s when Nick Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, the show's creators, attended a lecture given by

Bill Nye William Sanford Nye (born November 27, 1955), popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American mechanical engineer, science communicator, and television presenter. He is best known as the host of the science television show ''Bill ...

, a popular science educator. The premise of the show is similar to that of author Colin Bruce's reimaginings of the Sherlock Holmes character, and to the "

Mathnet ''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''. Premise ''Mathnet'' is a pastiche of '' Dragnet'', in which t ...

" segment on the children's television show ''

Square One Square One may refer to: Film and TV * '' Square One: Michael Jackson'', a 2019 investigative documentary about the first allegations of child sexual abuse brought by the Chandler family *''Square One Television'', a children's television series ...

''.

Gabriel Macht Gabriel Swann Macht (born January 22, 1972) is an American actor and film producer, known for portraying Harvey Specter in the USA Network series '' Suits'' (2011–2019) and the title character in the 2008 superhero film ''The Spirit''. Earl ...

was originally cast to portray the character of Don Eppes. Also, the original concept for the show had the events take place at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

; this was later changed to the fictional California Institute of Science, commonly called CalSci. Scenes which take place at CalSci are filmed at

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

(Caltech) and the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. One of the most frequent campus locations at Caltech is the vicinity of Millikan Library, including the bridge over Millikan Pond, the Trustees room, and the arcades of nearby buildings. At USC, locations include Doheny Library and the Town and Gown dining room. Exteriors for the FBI offices are on the distinctive bridge at

Los Angeles Center Studios Los Angeles Center Studios, located in the Westlake District of Los Angeles, California, is a multipurpose facility in the former Unocal Center building (opened as Union Oil Center in April 1958) next to the 110 Freeway. Architect William Perei ...

. Another common location is the Craftsman home of the Eppes family. The house shown in the first season is real; it is owned by David Raposa and Edward Trosper, although a

replica A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...

set was used from the second season onwards.

Title of the show

The show uses the number three in its title instead of the letter "e", in which is found in

Leet Leet (or "1337"), also known as eleet or leetspeak, is a system of modified spellings used primarily on the Internet. It often uses character replacements in ways that play on the similarity of their glyphs via reflection or other resemblance. ...

speak. In the interviews with Tom Jicha of the ''

South Florida Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

'' and with Alan Pergament of ''

The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...

'', Heuton mentioned that the use of the number three in the title derives from

leet Leet (or "1337"), also known as eleet or leetspeak, is a system of modified spellings used primarily on the Internet. It often uses character replacements in ways that play on the similarity of their glyphs via reflection or other resemblance. ...

, a form of computer jargon that replaces letters with numbers. Dr. Gary Lorden, a

mathematics professor who served as the show's mathematics consultant, told

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's Ira Flatow that it was created on a normal computer keyboard. Lorden also mentioned that the use of the number three in the title can serve as a restriction in Internet searches about the series. Both entertainment reporters and psychologists noticed the title's spelling. Some reporters, such as Joanne Ostrow of the ''

Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

'', the staff members of ''

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People ...

'', the editors of

The Futon Critic ''The Futon Critic'' is a website that provides articles and information regarding prime time programming on broadcast and cable networks in the United States. The site publishes reviews of prime time programming and interviews of people in the ...

, the staff of the

Scripps Howard News Service The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...

, and Mike Hughes of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' acknowledged the presence of the number three in the title. Lynette Rice of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' asked Krumholtz about the three in the title; his response was, "Isn't that annoying? I think it should be the mathematical symbol for

sigma Sigma (; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; grc-gre, σίγμα) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used as ...

, which looks like an E. I've been fighting that for weeks." (The

(Σ) stands for

summation In mathematics, summation is the addition of a sequence of any kind of numbers, called ''addends'' or ''summands''; the result is their ''sum'' or ''total''. Beside numbers, other types of values can be summed as well: functions, vectors, mat ...

.) Others used varying adjectives to describe the title. The TV site Zap2it.com called it "their typographical silliness, not ours". Brad Aspey of '' The Muskegon Chronicle'', stated, "No, that wasn't an ugly typo you just read - "NUMB3RS" (pronounced numbers) is the idiosyncratic title of filmmakers Ridley and Tony Scott's astute and crafty psychological drama which shows that even math can make for edge-of-your-seat entertainment." Ellen Gray of ''

The Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Dail ...

'', said, "Some of you may have noticed that in promoting "Numb3rs," which premieres Sunday before moving to its regular 10 p.m. Friday slot, CBS has chosen to put a 3 in place of the "e" in the title....I won't be going along with this particular affectation, which slows down my typing and seems to be the graphic equivalent of the reversed "R" in Toys R Us. So there." Still others had a more positive view of the title. When NPR's Flatow asked both Lorden and Dr. Keith Devlin, NPR's mathematics reporter, about the title, both men denied creating the title; Devlin believed that executive producer Tony Scott originated the title. Lorden stated that he initially thought that the title was "kind of hokey", but later saw it as "brilliant" and a "catchy logo". Jonathan Storm of ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', in his review of the series stated, "You'd think CBS's new ''Numbers'', which premieres at 10 tonight after the Patriots-Steelers football game, is just another one of those shows with numskull titles trying to draw attention to themselves. But the '3' substituting for the 'e' is actually based on a real thing".... He later said that the show was "written by people familiar with the Dead Cow Cult". David Brooks of '' The Telegraph (Nashua, NH)'' devoted the majority of his entire review to the use of leet in the series title. In addition, three psychologists, Manuel Perea, Jon Andoni Duñabeitia, and Manuel Carreiras mentioned the television series in their 2008 article for the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

's '' Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance''.

American television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of ''Numb3rs'' on CBS. ''Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May

sweeps Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

.'' *Note: The pilot episode aired on Sunday before moving to its regular night on Friday.

International broadcasting

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was or ...

: Calle 13 :

NET 5 Net5 is a Dutch free-to-cable commercial TV channel and is part of Talpa TV, formerly a part of SBS Broadcasting B.V. and now owned by Talpa Network. Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are SBS6, Veronica, and SBS9. It is aimed at ...

: 13th Street :

Universal Channel Universal TV, formerly Universal Channel, is an international pay television network specializing in movies and television series in the thriller, drama, comedy, horror, crime and investigation genres, owned by NBCUniversal International Netwo ...

, M6, 6ter, RTL TVL :

AXN AXN is a pay television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television, which was first launched in September 1997 in Asia. Local versions have since been launched in several parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Funded th ...

Fox Crime Fox Crime (stylized as FOXCRIME) is a television network, launched by the Fox Networks Group, which airs across several countries of Europe, Africa and Asia such as Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Its basic programming include numero ...

Hallmark Channel The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies and ...

Universal TV Universal TV, formerly Universal Channel, is an international pay television network specializing in movies and television series in the thriller, drama, comedy, horror, crime and investigation genres, owned by NBCUniversal International Netwo ...

Rai 4 Rai 4 (pronounced ''Rai Quattro'') is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. Launched on 14 July 2008 with the film ''Elephant'', Rai 4 targets youths with ...

Viasat3 Viasat 3 is a Hungarian TV channel. It began broadcasting on October 23, 2000. Viasat 3 aired Hungary's first reality show in 2001 called ''A Bár'' ( The Bar). In 2015, the Sony Pictures Television acquired the Hungarian Viasat channels from ...

References

External links

*
The Math Behind Numb3rs Website
' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Numbers 2005 American television series debuts 2010 American television series endings 2000s American college television series 2010s American college television series 2000s American crime drama television series 2010s American crime drama television series 2000s American mystery television series 2010s American mystery television series 2000s American police procedural television series 2010s American police procedural television series English-language television shows Cultural depictions of mathematicians CBS original programming Mathematics and culture Television series by Scott Free Productions Television series by CBS Studios Television shows set in Los Angeles Universities and colleges in art California Institute of Technology