NUMB3RS (pronounced Numbers) is an American television show produced by brothers Ridley and Tony Scott. It follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes (Rob Morrow) and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes (David Krumholtz), who helps Don solve crimes for the FBI. Created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, the program is produced by CBS Paramount Network Television and airs on the CBS network in the U.S. It is also shown on Five US and ITV3 in the U.K, although it was also shown during a late-night slot on the main ITV Network for a brief period of time.

The show focuses equally on the relationships between Don Eppes, his brother Charlie Eppes and their father, Alan Eppes (Judd Hirsch), and on the brothers' efforts to fight crime, normally in Los Angeles. A typical episode begins with a crime, which is subsequently investigated by a team of FBI agents led by Don and mathematically described by Charlie, with the help of Larry Fleinhardt (Peter MacNicol) and Amita Ramanujan (Navi Rawat). The insights provided by Charlie's mathematics are always in some way crucial to solving the crime.

The series was the most popular show airing on Friday evenings throughout its first four seasons.^[1]Numb3rs has been renewed for a 5th season starting October 3, 2008.^[2]

Cast and characters

The show revolves around three groups of characters: the FBI, mathematicians at CalSci and the Eppes family.

• Professor Charlie Eppes, a mathematics genius who consults for the FBI and NSA. He is portrayed by David Krumholtz.
• Don Eppes, Charlie's older brother, is the lead FBI agent. He is portrayed by Rob Morrow.
• Professor Larry Fleinhardt is a theoretical physicist and cosmologist at CalSci. Charlie's former mentor and now best friend, he also consults frequently for the FBI. He is portrayed by Peter MacNicol.
• Alan Eppes is a former L.A. City planner, a widower and the father of both Charlie and Don Eppes. He is portrayed by Judd Hirsch.
• Amita Ramanujan is a mathematician at CalSci and FBI consultant. She is currently dating Charlie Eppes. She is portrayed by Navi Rawat.
• Megan Reeves is an FBI behavioral specialist. She is involved romantically with Larry Fleinhardt and is considering a career change to counsel troubled young women. She is portrayed by Diane Farr.
• David Sinclair is an FBI agent. He is portrayed by Alimi Ballard.
• Colby Granger is an FBI agent. Once thought to have betrayed his colleagues, he is now back in their good graces and confidence. He is portrayed by Dylan Bruno.

Temporary characters on the show are often named after famous mathematicians. For example, in episode 8 of season 2 one of the criminals is named Rolle, and Charlie's father mentions a meeting with a man named Robert Peterson.

Episodes

Charlie's work appears in the opening credits.

Season 1

The first season run of the show aired between January 23, 2005 and May 13, 2005 at 10pm on Fridays. It sees the start of the working relationship between Los Angeles' FBI department and Charlie Eppes. The main FBI agents are Charlie's brother, Don Eppes, and Terry Lake, as well as David Sinclair. Don and Charlie's father, Alan Eppes, provides emotional support for the pair, while Professor Larry Fleinhardt and doctoral student Amita Ramanujan provide mathematical support and insights to Charlie. Season 1 was a half season, producing only 13 episodes. Sabrina Lloyd played Terry Lake, an agent in this season, she was later replaced by Diane Farr, who played Megan Reeves.

Season 2

The second season run of the show aired between September 23, 2005 and May 19, 2006, again at 10pm on Fridays. Season two sees several changes to Don's FBI team: Terry Lake is reassigned to Washington and two new members join Don and David Sinclair: Megan Reeves and Colby Granger. Charlie is challenged on one of his long-standing pieces of mathematical work and also starts work on a new theory, Cognitive Emergence Theory. Larry sells his home and lives a nomadic lifestyle, while he becomes romantically involved with Megan. Amita receives an offer for an assistant professor position at Harvard University, but is plagued by doubt as her relationship with Charlie is challenged and her career is in upheaval. Alan begins work and dating again, though he struggles with the loss of his wife, and both he and Charlie have a dream of her.

Season 3

The Numb3rs cast in season 3.

As this season starts, Colby Granger escapes from jail, and is revealed to be a triple agent. He then rejoins the team. Don and Liz break up halfway through this season, after Liz has trouble with Don's trust issues. Amita's parents coming to visit is a secondary theme throughout most of the season. Because of her work at the D.O.J, Megan is conflicted with her work, and turns to Larry for help. Near the end of the season, Don's girlfriend from season 2, Robin Brooks, returns. Don and Robin then continue their relationship. Charlie goes through F.B.I training camp because he has been working with Don for several years, and wants to see what his brother does. In the season finale, Megan leaves the team to move back to D.C, and Charlie goes head to head with Don about a case. This causes Charlie to send information to scientists in Pakistan. He is subsequently arrested and has his security clearance revoked, so he can no longer help Don on cases. At the end of the episode, when Don drives away to another case, Charlie admits that giving up FBI work will be harder than he thinks.

Several characters from previous seasons did not return in season 4. These characters include Mildred Finch and Ian Edgerton.

DVD releases

Awards

Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, the show's creators, have won several awards for the show, including the Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science in 2006,^[9] and the National Science Board's Public Service Award in 2007.^[10] Also, the show's stunt coordinator, Jim Vickers, was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Stunt Coordination in 2006 for episode 14 of Season 2, "Harvest".^[11]

Representation of mathematics

For a list of mathematics used in the series, on an episode by episode basis, please see the List of Numb3rs episodes article

Several mathematicians work as consultants for each episode.^[1][12][13] Actual mathematics is presented in the show; the equations on the chalkboards are mathematically valid, and are somewhat applicable to the situations presented in each show. This mathematical validity and applicability of the equations has been asserted by professional mathematicians.^[14][15][1]

We All Use Math Every Day promotional poster

A book entitled The Numbers Behind Numb3rs: Solving Crime with Mathematics (ISBN 0452288576; published August 28, 2007) has been written by Keith Devlin and Dr. Gary Lorden, a consultant to the show, explaining some of the mathematical techniques that have been used both in actual FBI cases and in other law enforcement departments.^[17][18]

Since the premiere season, the blog^[19] edited by Prof. Mark Bridger (Northeastern University) has explained the mathematics behind each episode of the show.

Wolfram Research (the maker of Mathematica) is the chief math consultant, reviewing scripts and providing background mathematics for the show. Starting with season four, their website in collaboration with CBS is entitled "The math behind NUMB3RS".^[20]

Concerns from mathematicians

At least one mathematician consultant to the show has expressed concern with its use of math, which is inserted after the script is written, to provide plausible sounding jargon, rather than having consultants involved at all stages of the story development.^[21]

Other criticisms include the show's portrayal of female mathematicians and inappropriate aspects of the relationship between Charlie Eppes and his graduate student Amita Ramanujan.^[21]

Production

The idea of Numb3rs was generated in the late 1990s when Nick Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, the show's creators, attended a lecture given by Bill Nye, a popular science educator.^[22] The premise of the show is similar to that of Mathnet.

Gabriel Macht was originally cast to portray the character of Don Eppes. Also, the original concept for the show had the events take place at Massachusetts Institute of Technology;^[23] this was later changed to the fictional California Institute of Science, commonly called CalSci. Scenes which take place at CalSci are filmed at California Institute of Technology (Caltech)^[23] and the University of Southern California. One of the most frequent campus locations at Caltech is the vicinity of Millikan Library, including the bridge over Millikan Pond, the Trustees room, and the arcades of nearby buildings. At USC, locations include Doheny Library and the Town and Gown dining room.

Another common location is the Craftsman home of the Eppes family. The house shown in the first season is real; it is owned by David Raposa and Edward Trosper,^[24] though a replica set was used from the second season onwards.^[25]

US television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Numb3rs on CBS.^[26]

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

References

• ''NUMB3RS'' full episodes
• ''The Math Behind Numb3rs Website''

Footnotes

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