Cheryl Heuton & Nicolas Falacci

David Krumholtz as Charlie Eppes

Rarely is mathematics a major plot component on American television. The exception, of course, is the current hit prime time CBS television drama Numb3rs. 

"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."

So begins every episode — astonishingly — of one of the consistently highest rated programs in its time slot. Now in its fifth season, Numb3rs has helped pave the way for a whole new generation of science-based programming on American television.

This week Swoopy talks with Cheryl Heuton and Nicolas Falacci (the creators and Executive Producers of Numb3rs) about the challenges of creating a fictional TV drama chock full of real science and mathematics.

Show Notes

Date -December 16th, 2008 read by Swoopy.
Nick and Cheryl are the executive producers and creators of Numb3rs.
Some of their early inspirations came from Carl Sagan and programs like NOVA.
Numb3ers is based at fictional Cal-Sci, in reality Cal-Tech.
Gary Lorden a professor at Caltech is one of the show's math consultants.
Penn Gillette and Bill Nye have both appeared on Numb3rs.
Penn likes to call the show "Numb Three Ers".
Other skeptics on current TV that Nick and Cheryl like include Gregory House.
Both Nick and Cheryl love The Mythbusters and The Big Bang Theory.
Numb3rs has paved the way for new shows like Eleventh Hour and The Mentalist on CBS.
Wolfram Research has all of the examples used on Numbers on their website.
Numb3rs content on CBS.com is presented by Math For America.
Numb3rs appears on the CBS television network in the US on Fridays at 9pm.
The Numbers Behind Numbers: Solving Crime with Mathematics by Gary Lorden and Keith Devlin is available through Amazon.com.
Numb3rs seasons one through four are available now on DVD.
You can watch full length episodes of Numb3rs online.
Skepticality outro.