''Science Court'' (retitled ''Squigglevision'' in 1998) is an

educational entertainment Educational entertainment (also referred to as edutainment) is media designed to educate through entertainment. The term was used as early as 1954 by Walt Disney. Most often it includes content intended to teach but has incidental entertainmen ...

, animation/ non-traditional court show from

Tom Snyder Productions Soup2Nuts (sometimes referred to as Soup2Nuts Studios, and formerly part of Tom Snyder Productions) was an American animation studio founded by Tom Snyder. The studio is known for its animated comedy series, its use of Squigglevision, a techniqu ...

, which was aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Disney's One Saturday Morning ABC Kids (originally titled Disney's One Saturday Morning until 2002) was an American Saturday-morning cartoon, Saturday morning block programming, children's programming block that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 13, ...

block from 1997 to 2000. The cartoon was "filmed" in

Squigglevision Squigglevision is a method of computer animation in which the outlines of shapes are made to wiggle and undulate, emulating the effect of sketchily hand-drawn animation. Tom Snyder of Tom Snyder Productions invented the technique, which his ani ...

Development

''Science Court'' utilized the limited-animation

as its style of animation. In 1998, ''Science Court'' was renamed to ''Squigglevision'' in its second to third seasons. Tom Snyder Productions has released twelve of the episodes into a series of educational CD-ROMs with accompanying workbooks and experiment kits for schools. On December 2, 2004, Snyder, founder and former CEO of Tom Snyder Productions, was inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers Hall of Fame to honor his extraordinary contribution to educational publishing.

Plot and characters

The half-hour program mixed courtroom drama, science experiments, and humor to teach fundamental concepts in elementary and middle school science such as the

water cycle The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or the hydrological cycle, is a biogeochemical cycle that describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. The mass of water on Earth remains fairly cons ...

, work, matter, gravity, flight, and energy. As each case unfolded, the characters in the trial used humor to highlight scientific misconceptions and model good scientific practice. In a typical episode, a lawsuit or criminal action would take place based around some scientific point. Humor and musical numbers were used to break down scientific concepts. The primary characters of ''Science Court'' were the trial lawyers Alison Krempel and Doug Savage. Alison Krempel, voiced by Paula Plum, was modest, intelligent and kind. Her logical and articulate arguments always lead to the explanations of the scientific points. Doug Savage, voiced by

Bill Braudis Bill Braudis is a writer, voice actor and script writing instructor from Boston, Massachusetts who has also done stand-up comedy. Career He started in stand-up in 1981, doing open mics at The Comedy Connection, in Boston and the Ding Ho, in Camb ...

, was ignorant, arrogant and unscrupulous. Both Doug and Allison called on a variety of expert witnesses to prove their case. Doug, often to his detriment, called upon child academics Dr. Julie Bean and Dr. Henry Fullerghast to testify. Their scientific testimony usually disproved Doug’s case. Professor Nick Parsons, voiced by H. Jon Benjamin served as an expert for Alison Krempel. He used science to successfully refute Doug Savage's ludicrous and ill-informed claims. Often Micaela and Tim, Miss Krempel's assistant, helped to break down scientific concepts. Comedians

Paula Poundstone Paula Poundstone (born December 29, 1959) is an American stand-up comedian, author, actor, interviewer, and commentator. Beginning in the late 1980s, she performed a series of one-hour HBO comedy specials. She provided backstage commentary durin ...

and Fred Stoller rounded out the cast playing Judge Stone and court stenographer Fred respectively. *Paula Plum as Alison Krempel *

as Doug Savage * H. Jon Benjamin as Prof. Nick Parsons *

as Judge Stone * Fred Stoller as Stenographer Fred

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (1997–98)

Season 2 (1998–99)

Season 3 (1999–2000)

Critical reception

''Science Court'' earned top television awards for

Tom Snyder Thomas James Snyder (May 12, 1936 – July 29, 2007) was an American television personality, news anchor, and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows '' Tomorrow'', on the NBC television network in the 1970s and 1980s, and ' ...

. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' thought that the TV series tried too hard to make

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

entertaining, and that it would come across as too complicated for its target audience.

References

External links

* {{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1990s 1997 American television series debuts 2000 American television series endings 1990s American animated television series 2000s American animated television series American Broadcasting Company original programming American children's animated education television series Court shows English-language television shows Television series by Soup2Nuts Television series by Disney–ABC Domestic Television Science education television series Television series created by Tom Snyder ABC Kids (TV programming block) Squigglevision