Producers, writers and presenters of TV science and health docos need maths. But did you know mathematicians are also involved in drama and comedy shows from Numb3rs to The Big Bang Theory to The Simpsons.
Mathspig wrote for an Australian comedy Show in the 80s called The Comedy Company.
What’s the connection between Maths and TV Comedy you ask? The Crazy Bit.
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The Big Bang Theory Maths
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The Big Bang Theory is a comedy based on the lives of house-mate physicists Sheldon and Leonard. But the science has to be right for the humour to work as not only do maths nerds star in the show, maths nerds watch it too.
According to Wired magazine, David Satlzberg a physics professor who teaches at UCLA is ‘working on his fifth season as the science consultant for The Big Bang Theory’
He makes sure the science on the show is right.
Here’s what a fact checker does:
‘For example, the script I’m reading right now I changed one letter. They had mentioned an ‘anti-photon’ but that doesn’t make any sense because there is no such thing. So I suggested changing it to ‘anti-proton.’
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The Simpsons Maths
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Simon Singh recently explained in The Guardian that an amazing number of Maths Geeks are writers for The Simpsons.
eg. ‘Al Jean, who worked on the first series and is now executive producer, went to Harvard University to study mathematics at the age of just 16.’
The maths geeks entertain themselves by dropping hidden maths references into the TV series.
eg. The screen displays three multiple choice options; 8,128, 8,208 and 8,191. These digits might seem arbitrary and innocuous, but in fact they represent a perfect number, a narcissistic number and a Mersenne prime.
Fortunately, Simon goes on to explain these and many more Maths references in The Simpsons in his book: The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets.
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