Cyberchase Father's Day with Guest Star Matthew Broderick

Matthew Broderick guest stars as Max, Cyber Dad of the Year, in a special "Father's Day" episode of Cyberchase, premiering June 19 on PBS KIDS GO!. Check local listings. (c) WNET 13.

For seven years, Cyberchase has helped kids integrate mathematics into their daily lives. It's a fantasy adventure with a team of super hero kids who travel cyberspace as they foil the evil plans of villainous Hacker from destroying the internet. To do so, they must use basic math to measure, estimate, and solve problems.

For Father's Day, Cyberchase will air a special episode featuring the voice of Matthew Broderick as Creech's father, Max. Hacker and Max went to high school together. Max managed to beat Hacker at everything he did, which has left the villain with a huge grudge.

Creech wrote a letter nominating her father, calling him the "quintessence of Daddiness." Max is named Cyber Dad of the Year and will star in the annual Tikiville Father's Day Parade, receiving a trophy at its conclusion. Hacker sees the perfect opportunity to get even. He'll replace the real-life Max with a robot likeness. Coded messages sent to the robot will make it do awful things...and the real Max will get the blame and humiliation. Ah, but the CyberSquad, Matt, Jackie, and Inez, with their trusting friend, Digit, know Hacker's up to no good. They must crack a mathematical code sent to the robot to control its actions. The kids must detect a numbers pattern to stop the robot and Hacker from ruining Father's Day for Creech, her Dad, and the residents of Tikiville.

"My son loves Cyberchase, so I was happy to lend my voice to the show,” said guest star Matthew Broderick. “The best part is that I haven't told him I did it; I'm waiting to surprise him when we watch the episode together. I'm sure he'll be more impressed by it than any other work I've done!"

“We're thrilled to have Matthew Broderick as a guest star in this special Cyberchase episode,” said Neal Shapiro, President and CEO of WNET.ORG. “Only on Cyberchase would Father's Day mix with math for a half hour of pure entertainment. As a dad, it's a series I'm proud to have in the WNET.ORG family of programs.”

WNET has also provided the tasty, simple Max's Banana Pancake Recipe as well as activities that incorporate math as a game.

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Father's Day - Ep. 705
Math Topic: Patterns in Codes
Premieres: Friday June 19, 2009

It’s the annual Father’s Day Parade in Tikiville, and Creech’s father, Max (guest star Matthew Broderick), is this year’s Cyberdad of the Year. Max was once a schoolmate of Hacker’s – and continually bested Hacker in all of their endeavors. Hacker has decided it’s time to get even and this time he’s got a really clever plan… Using secret codes and a band of bad guys, he rolls into action, cleverly changing the code each step of the way to keep those “earthbrats” from catching on. Will Hacker succeed in spoiling Father’s Day and embarrassing Max? Or will our heroes figure out the pattern to his codes in time to stop him?

Following the June 19 on-air premiere, the full “Father’s Day” episode with Matthew Broderick will be available for streaming at Cyberchase Online at pbskidsgo.org/cyberchase and on the PBS KIDS GO! video player at pbskidsgo.org/video. For more Cyberchase fun, kids will also be able to print their very own Cyberchase Father's Day cards and experience other activities at Cyberchase Online.

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Cyberchase is the only children's math show on American television. The cartoon series has won various well-deserved awards. It is produced by THIRTEEN in association with Title Entertainment Inc. and WNET.ORG. Executive producers are Sandra Sheppard, THIRTEEN’s Director of Children’s and Educational Programming, and Frances Nankin. Ellen Doherty is senior series producer. Nationally, it is seen on local PBS stations as part of the PBS KIDS GO! programming block. Check local listings for broadcast times where you live.