Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 2, 1993 TAG: 9310020384
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-15 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT MOORE THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Her agent had just the thing, Thigpen recalled.
"She said, `It's only six weeks, and you're not doing anything and PBS is doing a children's show.'
"And I said, `No.'
"She said, `Let me finish . . . It's a children's game show,' and I said, `No.' Literally, I said, `No!
She said, `Let me finish.' "
After several more stops and starts, Thigpen finally agreed to go for the audition, if only to see how the producers were going to turn a computer game into a television show with live people.
Quite successfully, it turned out. Now entering its third season on PBS, "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" (at 5 p.m. weekdays on WBRA-Channel 15) has garnered Emmy and Peabody Awards for its daily half-hour dose of geography lessons for 6- to 13-year-old "detectives-in-training."
Thigpen plays the part of The Chief, who with host Greg Lee, a cappella group Rockapella and celebrity clue-givers helps direct the three contestants on each show as they track down Carmen and her thieves by answering questions about geography. The winner on each show gets the opportunity to win a trip anywhere in North America.
This season includes taped guest appearances by Jay Leno, Jane Pauley, Katie Couric, Marsha Warfield, Vanessa Williams and American Gladiators Zap and Turbo.
"To be truthful, when you hear "Carmen" combines Thigpen's love of acting and teaching, a profession she pursued briefly 22 years ago in Illinois before taking up acting. `kids' game show,' you think of kids going down slides and throwing pies. There's no reason for me to do that," said Thigpen, who has earned a Tony nomination for "Tintypes," an L.A. Drama Critics Award as Best Actress for "Fences" and an Obie for "Boesman and Lena."
However, "Carmen" combines Thigpen's love of acting and teaching, a profession she pursued briefly 22 years ago in Illinois before taking up acting.
"Teaching is acting," she said. "It's presenting material in a way that is exciting enough for them to want to find out about it. That's what real teaching is. It's not giving facts and information. It's making the students excited enough about the subject that they want to find out the information."
"Carmen Sandiego" also has "a measure of wit," Thigpen explained. "It tickles them. It makes them want to know why that was funny. There's that element of dealing with the world that's missing from a lot of children's shows."
Meanwhile, the world's dealings provide the element of surprise. "The maps didn't change since World War II, until we started doing this show," Lee said.
As a result, everybody has to stay up to date.
Children and parents usually recognize Thigpen for "Carmen" - 15 percent of the audience is adults - with adults then remembering her role as the district attorney on NBC's "L.A. Law" or her part in the theatrical movie "Bob Roberts." She also will appear in the upcoming Ron Howard film, "The Paper," starring Michael Keaton, Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei and Randy Quaid.
Thigpen and Lee have a playfulness and mutual respect that help make "Carmen Sandiego" work, Thigpen playing the gruff boss and Lee the eager beaver. "She's sort of the principal and the parent, the authority figure that kids wish they could laugh at. She knows everything; she's been everywhere. You just can't stand her, so you laugh at her," Thigpen said of The Chief.
As host of ESPN's "Max Out," Lee recognizes that messing with Thigpen would be extremely dangerous sport. "At the first press conference, they said, `Greg, you need to act like you're afraid of her.' I said, `I am afraid of her. It's not acting, it's real.' "
by CNB