Reg E. Cathey, Larry Cedar go from ‘Square One’ to HBO glory
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- January
- 21
Before math and I started seeing other people in high school, we had a symbiotic relationship thanks in large part to PBS’ defunct “Square One TV.”
The bulk of the math-themed edutainment series comprised of sketch comedy and music videos to teach kids about everything from square numbers to tessellations. It aired weekday afternoons in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
Like “Saturday Night Live,” the original cast consisted of seven versatile crazies, including Cynthia Darlow, Cristobal Franco, Arthur Howard, Luisa Leschin and Beverly Mickins. After the show ended in 1992, one of my favorite games was finding the cast members of the show in other series. I don’t remember seeing Franco, Howard, Leschin or Mickins again, but I did once pick out Darlow as a real estate agent on an episode of “The Sopranos.”
So of course I get a big kick out of seeing two other “Square One” cast members, Reg E. Cathey and Larry Cedar, thrive on what might be the two best series in HBO history: “The Wire” and “Deadwood,” respectively. Not only because they’re extremely gifted actors, but also because there’s something fantastic about watching former stars of a kids’ show spew expletives and discuss very adult topics.
Playing Norman—a top advisor to Mayor Thomas Corcetti—on “The Wire,” Cathey has made the most appearances in feature films among “Square One” alums, including “S.W.A.T.”, “Head of State,” “Pootie Tang,” “American Psycho,” “Se7en” “Tank Girl,” “Airheads” (my choice for all-time worst movie with the best cast), “Clear and Present Danger,” “The Mask,” “What About Bob?” and “Born on the Fourth of July.” Yes, he’s a serious actor, but I can’t help but remember him singing a country-western song about the multiplicative properties of the No. 9 every time I see him in other works. “Nine, nine, nine/Fantastic number nine/It’s perfectly consistent/And it works out every time…”
Cedar rejuvenated his career as an opium-dealing sidekick to nefarious Tolliver on the incomparable “Deadwood.” Back in his “Square One” days, Cedar was probably the favorite to break big in the biz: he could sing, act, be funny and carry an otherwise-dead skit. But after a bit part as an announcer in the awful 1992 film “The Babe,” he worked predominantly in voice-overs before HBO snagged him for what could be the greatest ensemble cast ever assembled. The only downside: Leon was killed off in Season 3.
Want to see “Norman” and “Leon” in more family-friendly, cheesy musical numbers? Check ‘em out here:
Larry Cedar sings about “Tessellations,” Beach Boys-style. (Oooh, tessellations!)
After Reg E. Cathey offers a voice-over disclaimer, he provides a haunting back-up vocal for frontman Cedar on the “Safety Dance”-inspired new wave track, “Angle Dance.” (Have some geometric fun!)
Cedar, again, sings lead while Cathey sings the doo-wop baseline on “The Mathematics of Love.” (Yo, Cassius!)
Note: Apologies to those of you who’ve already read similar musings in one of my personal blogs, Varsity Basketweaving. But with “The Wire” thriving in its final season, I’d have been remiss not to restructure those thoughts here for a larger audience.
(Photos courtesy of HBO.)
This entry was posted
on Monday, January 21st, 2008 at 8:19 pm by Chris Serico.
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I still sing Tesselations in the shower sometimes… “Whose got time for good vibrations, got to use your imaginations, ooh, bop bop ooh…”