Exploring The Myth of the Lost Carmen Sandiego

[DoorNumberFour]

In my spare time for the past few weeks, and with the assistance of many people involved with the show's production, editing, and subsequent archival, I've been researching the existence of Auld Lang Gone, the long-rumored lost episode of WITWICS. I'm happy to now be able to share the story of my endeavor.

Part 1: "Gone" But Not Forgotten
Part 2: The Loot, The Warrant
Part 3: "Hope That Answers Your Question"

I'm happy to answer any and all questions as well. Hope you enjoy!

[JasonA1]

Quite a journey! This is the sort of investigating and critical thinking that's sorely lacking in a lot of places. I hope this gives many people who read this board a lesson in digging just a little further to see if something's true. For instance, I find Mental Floss to be a very fun aggregator, but hardly a primary source. Everything they say is worth a second look before a reader should go about relying on it.

Thanks again!

-Jason

[dazztardly]

You did a thorough job well done busting this game show myth. Awesome work, man!

-Dan

[Steve Gavazzi]

Gonna toss out something that seems more obvious now that we've reached a conclusion:

"Episode 66" and "Season 2, episode 1"...kinda mean the same thing.

Someone probably tacked "Season 2" onto the former somewhere along the line because...well, who knows why, really?  With as goofy as this whole thing turns out to have gotten, it's just as plausible that it came from the fanfiction side of things as it is that it was a misinterpretation or a typo.

Regardless, you did a good job here, Christian.  The right conclusion not being the one you wanted to reach doesn't make the fact that you reached it any less of an achievement.

[bulldog_06]

Great job, Christian. It's a shame that the episode never existed but what a journey you took us on for this. Don't worry Christian, I was once that guy in your column who loved game shows and got no love from it. Now, I don't even care who loves me or not because of it. GAME SHOWS ARE COOL!

[DoorNumberFour]

The WGBH archive now accepts my research as fact. Do it, Rockapella!

[PYLdude]

It’s too bad this journey is just catalogued in a blog entry.

I bet it would make a cool documentary short.

[Steve Gavazzi]

The WGBH archive now accepts my research as fact. Do it, Rockapella!

Dude.  That is cool.

[knagl]

This was well-written and a very interesting read.  Thank you for documenting your research mission.  I'm sorry that the ending to the story wasn't quite what any of us were hoping.

[tpirfan28]

WGBH tweet, too.

Could someone (Buzzr?) pick this up as their E/I programming?

[DoItRockapella]

First and foremost, Christian - excellent work.

Could someone (Buzzr?) pick this up as their E/I programming?

I'm far from an industry insider, but this seems to me to be extremely unlikely. Even if we're willing to accept that huge chunks of each episode would have to be cut to make room for commercials, much of the geographic information is now out of date.

I think the better question is, would producing a new Carmen Sandiego game show be a feasible idea? My username should make clear that I would love to see one happen, but I'm thirty-one years old. I honestly have a hard time imagining a 21st century kid seeing this as anything other than a weird 90s relic.

[TLEberle]

This was well-written and a very interesting read.  Thank you for documenting your research mission.  I'm sorry that the ending to the story wasn't quite what any of us were hoping.

Just my own, but I'm glad to close this chapter in our history. The idea that there was this lost episode where a bunch of random stuff happens including possibly the most gruesome injury on a game show since that one kid was impaled on the set of Runaround* was always a little too cute and it's hard to prove a negative.

I am very grateful to Christian for all of his work and will stand him a drink if we're ever in the same room, and JasonA1 is correct--if Only Connect requires two sources and neither can be Wikipedia perhaps we can all be a little more rigorous. For a while I advocated for the idea of citing our sources for whatever that was worth.

[Loogaroo]

I can't help but draw a parallel between a lost episode of WitWiCS that everyone swore existed during the mid-'90s and the video game urban legends that were circulating the internet at around the same time. Nobody could provide any proof but everyone was convinced it was true. "Auld Lang Gone" is essentially the game show equivalent of "Reviving General Leo".

The early internet was a magical place indeed.

[Steve Gavazzi]

"Auld Lang Gone" is essentially the game show equivalent of "Reviving General Leo".

I still remember searching for this back in the '90s.

[BrandonFG]

I finally had a chance to sit down and read through this.

First of all, Christian, you are an excellent storyteller, and I agree this would have made a great documentary. Even if the results were not ideal, it was a gripping read.