Carmen Rock Steal-O

1st Episode of Season 1 Nick Jr.

Gumshoe Contestants

 * Trent Richardson
 * Johann Mishindu
 * Koyanta Rishangata

Summary
Cobra Commander is in Saudi Arabia

Round 1
Each gumshoe was given 50 "ACME Crime Bucks" (the show's official currency) to begin the round. Various comedy sketches were performed, each providing clues to a geographical location of the day's crook. After the clues were provided, a map with three possible locations, all within proximity to one another, were shown to the players. Each gumshoe simultaneously selected their answer and then revealed that answer to Greg. Each correct answer earned a gumshoe 10 Crime Bucks. The typical course of the round would be as follows:
 * Lightning Round – After three sketches were performed (two in the final season, and sometimes in the second season), the game moved to the "Lightning Round" which began with a deliberately cheesy lightning effect. Greg read three questions about the last location visited and provided three possible answers for each. The first gumshoe to buzz in with the right answer earned five crime bucks. If they were wrong, the other gumshoes would be offered to answer. If no gumshoes buzzed in within five seconds (indicated by a single-note buzzer), or buzzed in but nobody got the right answer, Greg would reveal the correct answer himself.

In case of a tie for second place, Greg read clues related to a famous person or place (typically a U.S. state). Gumshoes could buzz in as often as they wanted; the first gumshoe to buzz in with the correct answer received an additional five crime bucks and moved on to Round 2. Generally speaking, the last clue would contain the answer. For example: "This state's capital, Oklahoma City, is one of only two whose name contains the name of the state." If the round ended in a three-way tie, then Greg would read two tiebreaker questions and only two would be tied and move on to the next round.
 * Chief's Office Sketch – After the Lightning Round, Greg was always called into the Chief's office for a special briefing or conversation or lunch. This was used as a comedy break, an opportunity for a bizarre interaction between the Chief and Greg. Sometimes, the Chief didn't call Greg in her office. Instead, Greg would choose to just go in her office. To end the break the Chief would almost always (less often in the later seasons) say exasperatedly, "Greg, go away." In the later seasons she'd say "Greg, get back on the case." In the first and second seasons, the sketches were used to promote the grand prize to whoever caught Carmen Sandiego in the final round. In the third season and beyond, the sketches were used to promote the contest for the home viewers. In those episodes, Greg would promote the grand prize to the gumshoes upon his arrival to the studio and greeting the gumshoes one-by-one. He would follow up by saying, "And that isn't bad." However, in some episodes, there was no office sketch. But in most of these instances, the Chief quickly promoted the grand prize and announced the Phone Tap. In the third and fourth seasons, Greg announced the Phone Tap and the contest was described during the closing credits. These sketches were always pre-recorded, and often re-used. If a sketch continued as Greg left the office and returned to the live shoot, the sequence had to be re-created live each time the sketch was used.
 * Greg Lee's Training Exercise – In the final season, a new mini-game was added, and was played after the Chief's conversation with Greg. This replaced one clue. Greg met the gumshoes in the alley, and they would come across a few trash cans. Most of the time, Greg's can contained a gag (mostly from earlier in the episode). One example: As Greg tried to lift the lid, Barry Carl's voice would intone, "WARNING! This bag is full, and can only be activated by saying 'Swordfish.'" On several occasions, Greg's can would contain a video camera - the screen would cut to that camera while Greg explained the rules. Once that was done, Greg took out a card with a flag of a country. The gumshoes then raced to grab a similar card out of their own cans, ending by putting the lid on the can. After that, each gumshoe would get a clue (e.g., language, capital, government, etc.) about the country in question. Greg would give three choices for the country, and the gumshoes would then offer their answers in turn, starting with the first one to get their clue card and lid their can. The first gumshoe to guess the right country earned 10 ACME Crime Bucks, and the ACME Bug Net Alert next to Greg would signal Greg and the gumshoes to go to the Phone Tap.
 * Phone Tap Sequence – After the break, the gumshoes watched an animated phone conversation (aka "phone tap") between Carmen and the day's crook, courtesy of ACME Bug Net. In this sequence, Carmen would tell the crook where to go, and, typically, become exasperated by the crook's stupidity. The gumshoes were than asked where the crook went. In the first through third seasons, Greg would formally introduce the phone tap to the gumshoes, but sometimes in the third and most of the fourth season, as the Chief's office sketches continued outside the office, Greg would usually just say "Phone tap." to cue the video.
 * Several other clues were presented and questions answered. Two or three more skits and questions took place before the next break.
 * The Chase – Starting with the second season, there was a new series of five questions known as "The Chase" beginning with a funny chase scene performed by Rockapella and occasionally with the Chief or on rare occasions Greg participating if either one of them was attacked/robbed by a Rockapella member. While the Lightning Round asked questions related to the last visited country, The Chase provided clues about countries within proximity to the location last visited, indicating that the gumshoes were close on the trail. Each question had three locations as choices and the first gumshoe to buzz in with the right answer received five crime bucks. As with the Lightning Round, there was no penalty assessed for an incorrect response, though unlike the Lightning Round, only one player could buzz in and answer (although in some early second season episodes, more than one player could buzz in and answer). An incorrect response resulted in Greg giving the right answer.
 * inal Clue – After a few more clues or The Chase, Greg showed the gumshoes one more map (in this case before the skit was performed). The gumshoes were asked to make a wager of zero, 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 ACME Crime Bucks on their ability to provide a correct answer. The final skit was performed and gumshoes made their guesses. Anyone with a right answer had their wager added to his or her score, and anyone with a wrong answer had their wager subtracted from his or her score. The top two gumshoes at this point moved on to the day's crook's Jailtime Challenge (Round 2), while the third-place gumshoe was eliminated.

Round 2: Jailtime Challenge
The two remaining gumshoes "traveled" to their final destination from Round 1, where The Chief described various landmarks in that country, city or region, called a "Photo Recon". Often, these descriptions were silly; the writers always used this sequence as an opportunity to poke fun at the destination. For example, the camera zoomed in on graffiti on a small landmark and the Chief openly scolded the people who had spray painted their initials on a marker. Fifteen names of the local landmarks were placed on a board. Hidden behind three of the landmarks were the loot that was stolen at the beginning of the show, the warrant to arrest the crook, and the crook him/herself. Hidden behind the remaining landmarks were a pair of shoe prints (sometimes one or three), which meant that nothing was there.

The gumshoe in the lead after Round 1 played first. If the two gumshoes were tied, a coin toss determined who would start (early in the first season, the gumshoe to Greg's left went first in the case of a tie). If a gumshoe found any of the three key items, he or she could select again. A gumshoe's turn ended if he/she did one of 3 things: Gumshoes alternated turns until one found the loot, the warrant and the crook in that order in a single turn (as the loot is the evidence needed to get a warrant and the warrant is needed to arrest the crook). When a gumshoe found all three items in the correct order, s/he won the game and was given the right to "put the crook in jail" by pulling on a hanging chain before proceeding to the final round to catch Carmen Sandiego. The other Gumshoe was eliminated.
 * Find a box with shoe prints
 * Took too much time (10-second limit) picking a location (which happened very few times)
 * Find the loot, the warrant, and the crook in the wrong order in a single turn (which happened on at least four occasions)

On the one occasion in the show's history that one gumshoe Ali Haider won the Jailtime Challenge on the first try, he not only won the game, but also earned the chance to win a $100 savings bond. The bond was hidden behind one of the remaining 12 landmarks, and Ali was given 5 chances to find it, although he was unsuccessful in doing so. Because winning the Jailtime Challenge on the first try only happened once, no one won the savings bond.

Trent Richardson Pull the A Chains

Bonus Round
Trent wants to find Carmen in Africa

Places

 * Gambia
 * Malawi
 * Guinea-Bissau