Map Men
Map Men | |
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![]() Logo | |
Genre | Geography |
Created by | Jay Foreman & Mark Cooper-Jones |
Written by | Jay Foreman & Mark Cooper-Jones |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 4 |
No. of episodes | 29[1] |
Original release | |
Network | YouTube |
Release | 4 May 2016 present[1] | –
Map Men is a edutainment mini-series[2][3] currently in its fourth season, which is created, written, and presented by Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones.[2][3][4] A mix of comedy and geography,[4] its videos regularly attract 1-5 million views on YouTube.[1][2][3]
Premise
[edit]The series is created, written, and presented by Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones.[2][3][4] Mark Cooper-Jones is a former geography teacher,[3][4] and the pair met at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where both were performing that year.[4][when?]
The series started in 2016,[4] and is currently in its fourth season. The episodes are a mix of comedy and geography,[4] with each episode answering a short geographical question, often involving maps.[4] The style has been compared to Horrible Histories[2][3] and the pair cite their inspiration as Monty Python.[4] The videos feature deadpan, split-second visual gags, and comic sketches.[3][5]
The pair have claimed the show's success to be due to the growing redundancy of maps as an everyday item, leaving them to be "geeky".[4] They also cite the mix of comedy and geography as the unique element behind the series, leading to its success compared to other more education-based alternatives.[5] In 2021, the series was nominated under the "learning and education" category for the 11th Streamy Awards, losing to Veritasium.[6]
Episodes
[edit]Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Average viewership (in millions) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | ||||
1 | 6 | May 4, 2016 | August 7, 2016 | 3.67 | |
2 | 5 | April 15, 2019 | September 2, 2019 | 3.86 | |
3 | 11 | November 16, 2020 | September 13, 2021 | 3.69 | |
4 | 7 | July 10, 2023 | Ongoing | TBD |
Season 1
[edit]No. overall | No. in series | Title [1] | Directed by [1] | Written by [1] | Original air date [1] | Viewers (millions) [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Bir Tawil – the land that nobody wants" | Paul Kendler | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 4 May 2016 | 4 |
2 | 2 | "Mappa Mundi – the worst world map?" | Paul Kendler | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 25 May 2016 | 2.7 |
3 | 3 | "Where is the north/south divide?" | Paul Kendler | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 10 June 2016 | 4.9 |
4 | 4 | "India/Bangladesh - The world's worst border" | Paul Kendler | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 8 July 2016 | 4.6 |
5 | 5 | "Berlin Wall – Maps With Gaps[a]" | Paul Kendler | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 4 August 2016 | 3.2 |
6 | 6 | "Who Owns the South China Sea?" | Paul Kendler | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 7 August 2016 | 2.6 |
Season 2
[edit]No. overall | No. in series | Title [1] | Directed by [1] | Written by [1] | Original air date [1] | Viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 7 | "The world's oldest border?" | Paul Kendler | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 15 April 2019 | 3.8 |
2 | 8 | "Can you spot a map trap?[b]" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 14 May 2019 | 3.2 |
3 | 9 | "Why every world map is wrong" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 20 June 2019 | 4.1 |
4 | 10 | "How did triangles shrink France?" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 7 August 2019 | 3.6 |
5 | 11 | "The world's silliest time zones" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 2 September 2019 | 4.6 |
Season 3
[edit]No. overall | No. in series | Title [1] | Directed by [1] | Written by [1] | Original air date [1] | Viewers (millions) [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 12 | "The map that saved the most lives" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 15 November 2020 | 2.1 |
2 | 13 | "Why are British place names so hard to pronounce?" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 14 December 2020 | 5.3 |
3 | 14 | "Why does Russia have the best maps of Britain?" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 11 January 2021 | 3.4 |
4 | 15 | "What will the world look like in 250 million years?" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 15 February 2021 | 3.5 |
5 | 16 | "Who Owns Antarctica?" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 15 March 2021 | 2.7 |
6 | 17 | "The mystery of the squarest country" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 12 April 2021 | 4 |
7 | 18 | "Where is America?" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 26 April 2021 | 2.7 |
8 | 19 | "How do you start a new country?" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 31 May 2021 | 3.1 |
9 | 20 | "How many continents are there?" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 28 June 2021 | 3.3 |
10 | 21 | "How to read a map with a clock[c]" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 15 November 2020 | 2.3 |
11 | 22 | "English counties explained" | Unknown | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 13 September 2021 | 4.7 |
Season 4
[edit]No. overall | No. in series | Title [1] | Directed by [1] | Written by [1] | Original air date [1] | Viewers (millions) [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 23 | "Why is North up?" | Jade Nagi | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 10 July 2023 | 2.5 |
2 | 24 | "Why British cities make no sense" | Jade Nagi | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 28 August 2023 | 2.8 |
3 | 25 | "Internet Vs Ocean: the essential wires we never think about" | Jade Nagi | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 29 September 2023 | 2 |
4 | 26 | "You'll never guess the most popular internet country code" | Jade Nagi | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 6 December 2023 | 1.8 |
5 | 27 | "The Phantom Island of Google Maps" | Jade Nagi | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 24 April 2024 | 1.6 |
6 | 28 | "There are NOT 195 countries" | Jade Nagi | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 23 June 2024 | 1.6 |
7 | 29 | "How bad maps win elections - Gerrymandering explained" | Jade Nagi | Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones | 31 August 2024 | TBD |
Awards and nominations
[edit]Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | 11th Streamy Awards | Learning and Education | Nominated | [6] |
See also
[edit]Footnotes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "MAP MEN - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
- ^ a b c d e Khomami, Nadia (31 October 2023). "Britons go map-crazy, with geographical games and books becoming bestsellers". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Keogh, Glen (6 April 2024). "'Horrible Geography' jokers the Map Men chart out a path to fame". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 1 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Burton, Katie (22 November 2023). "Map Men: where comedy meets geography". Geographical. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ a b Fitch, Chris (9 August 2016). "Map Men: teaching geography through comedy". Geographical Magazine. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b "11th Annual Streamy Nominees". The Streamy Awards. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
Category:2020s comedy television series]]