As we conclude 20221, so too do we conclude *Multiplication Rock! Congratulations! You now know how to multiply numbers! You're getting an A+ from the hot twelve-toed teacher and you're ready to advance to 2nd grade: Grammar! But first: What's the best number? Let's do some math!
Every song will get a summary score by combining each rating factor; with Yikes points counting in the negative. We'll get Shel and June's each favorite songs and also our combined rankings. Plus: The average rating across the season in each category.
The Best Multiplication Rock Song
June and I can each give a song a maximum of five points in each category; meaning the most a song can get in each category is ten points. Yikes Points count against a song, as negative numbers. That means the most we can each give a song is twenty points. The perfect song, which we both give five points in every category but zero in Yikes would get a total score of forty points. The worst possible song would get negative one points which means it got only one point in each positive category, but five Yikes Points.2
While good music and animation might excite us in our written reviews, the educational quality of each song carries equal weight so even songs that are a delight to watch might score low if they do a bad job teaching us math, or contain major errors. Furthermore, we must remember that even the best songs will be taking major hits if they contain racism or other things which induce Yikes Points. The Yikes Factor in this way is designed to prevent us from somehow declaring Mr. Lee's Confederate Jamboree as the best song—no matter how much the bass line slaps.
Ranked By Shel Score
Tied for #1: Ready or Not, Here I Come and Figure Eight — 19 points
#2: Naughty Number Nine — 17 points.
#3: Lucky Seven Sampson — 16 points.
Tied for #4: Three is a Magic Number and I Got Six — 14 points.
#5: Little Twelvetoes — 13 points.
#6: Elementary, My Dear — 11 points.
#7: The Good Eleven — 10 points.
#8: The Four-Legged Zoo — 8 points.
#9: My Hero, Zero — 5 points.
Ranked by June Score
#1: Ready or Not, Here I Come — 20 points.
Tied for #2: Naughty Number Nine and Little Twelvetoes — 18 points.
Tied for #3: I Got Six, Lucky Seven Sampson, Figure Eight — 16 points.
#4: Three is a Magic Number — 15 points.
#5: Elementary, My Dear — 10 points.
#6: The Four-Legged Zoo — 9 points.
#7: The Good Eleven — 7 points.
#8: My Hero, Zero — 5 points.
Combined Totals
#1: Ready or Not, Here I Come — 38 points.
Tied for #2: Figure Eight and Naughty Number Nine — 35 points.
#3: Lucky Seven Sampson — 32 points.
#4: Little Twelvetoes — 31 points.
#5: I Got Six — 30 points.
#6: Three is a Magic Number — 29 points.
#7: Elementary, My Dear — 21 points.
Tied for #8: The Good Eleven and The Four-Legged Zoo — 17 points.
#9: My Hero, Zero — 10 points.
Multiplication Rock! Overall Averages
Multiplication Rock! scored the following averages:
Music: 6.63
Animation: 7.18
Pedagogy: 6.36
Accuracy: 8.81
Yikes: -2.18
Overall: 26.81
Given that we're grading these as we go, I imagine that even though later seasons will certainly score higher in animation, that maybe they won't score quite as dramatically higher than one would expect if we weren't watching and reviewing these in chronological order. This season is definitely going to have a strong advantage in the accuracy points over later seasons, but can that keep it afloat as the budget gets larger?
An interesting thing to note is that the average score from both me and June is 13. Even though we had different opinions, neither of us was particular more harsh or generous with the points than the other.
As we get to later seasons, I will be comparing seasons' overall scores with each other. I'd say "we'll find the best song" but the maximum score is 40 so if anything scores a 40 we don't need a spreadsheet to determine it's the best of the best.
An important thing to note about chronology
Multiplication Rock! was released altogether as one season, so we get a nice and simple round-up. This was not true of later seasons. When we get to Grammar Rock! there will be three episodes that are scattered across other seasons. At the end of season 2 I'll write a tentative round-up to see where Grammar is in the races, but it will get a second compressive round-up post between Computer Rock! and Money Rock! after we've reviewed all the episodes about Grammar.
Likewise, America Rock! has three episodes released during other seasons. One was released during season 4 and two were released in 2002 as DVD box set bonus features. So America Rock! will get a tentative round-up at the end of season 3, and a comprehensive round-up right before we get to Earth Rock!
We'll be taking a one week break before we get started on the new season. Happy new year!
Next Up: I took a train took a train to another race...
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That's 6 times 337! 337 times 6.
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You'll notice that the minimum positive point value is one, but the minimum negative point value is our hero zero. This is because if the minimum positive point value was 0 then that would actually be a scale of 1 to 6, effectively, providing no good middle option. However, for negative points, it feels wrong to subtract a point from every single song that isn't racist? Like that's weird. Plus, then the maximum score would be 39 which isn't a round number. The Yikes Factor works different, just accept it.
