Underplayed Gems

PythagoraSwitch (2002)

PythagoraSwitch poster
Original title
ピタゴラスイッチ
Genre
children's television series
Country
Japan
Length
11 seasons, 437 episodes
Rated
NR
Rating
7.7 of 10 from 3 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This is a short Japanese children's show that mixes puppets with machine contraptions. It uses small segments to explain everyday phenomena and thinking skills. Each episode has a sing-along title and ends with a Rube Goldberg style device.

educationalplayfulwhimsicalupbeatstructuredcurioussimplerepetitive

What happens

PythagoraSwitch (ピタゴラスイッチ, Pitagora Suitchi) is a 15-minute Japanese children's puppet animated preschool educational television program that has been aired by NHK since April 9, 2002. It encourages augmenting children's "way of thinking" under the supervision of Masahiko Satō (佐藤雅彦) and Masumi Uchino (内野真澄). A five-minute format called PythagoraSwitch Mini is also available. During the beginning and ending of each episode, and between each corner (segment), there are Pythagorean Devices (ピタゴラ装置, Pitagora Sōchi). "Pythagorean device" is the equivalent Japanese colloquialism for the American "Rube Goldberg machine" and British "Heath Robinson" contraption. The main focus of the program is a puppet show, but the subject is mainly advanced by small corners. World phenomena, principles, characteristics, and the like are introduced in an entertaining way. At the end of each segment, the show's title is sung as a kind of punchline. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.