Click-click-clicking though the TV channels the other day, I couldn’t help but notice the abundance of characters who either hide or flaunt their addictions.
For starters, there’s sex-obsessed Hank Moody on Californication, and Vicodin-popping Gregory House and Jackie Peyton on House and Nurse Jackie, respectively. Not to mention chocolate-loving Brenda Johnson on The Closer, a woman after my own heart.
And the trend was echoed at a recent TV Guide Canada editorial meeting, when our Manual Transmission columnist, Nick Jones, proposed an entire article on the subject. (Watch for that column Aug. 17.)
So my interest was piqued when I saw that CBC Newsworld was re-airing Cubers, its one-hour documentary on the world of Rubik's Cube enthusiasts for The Lens, next Tuesday.
Invented by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik in 1974, the infuriating, three-dimensional puzzle became a pop culture touchstone in the ‘80s before fizzling out like Cabbage Patch Kids, Jelly shoes and the decade’s other artefacts.
But the guys in this documentary are still solving the multi-coloured blocks with impressive fervour, and we follow Canada’s Matt Walter, Israel’s Dror Vomberg and France’s Jean Pons – among others – as they prepare for the 25th World’s Rubik Cube Championship in Florida.
There’s a mind-boggling selection of events to compete in: speed-solving the standard 3x3 cube (three squares across and down), 4x4 cube, 5x5 cube, blindfolded cubing, cubing with feet and one-handed cubing.
One participant shows off his Homer Simpson cube, looking particularly pleased with himself, and several others boast personalized cubes with home photos on each tiny square.
The winner takes the main 3x3 event, beating 143 people from 25 countries, with an average solve time of about 15 seconds.
Also in the doc, we meet the cubers’ families and realize that for them, cubing is not only a borderline-addiction (some cube up to four hours per day) but it’s also a form of therapy, social activity, validation and competition.
Originally aired in November 2008, Cubers was directed by Richard LeBlanc and produced by Walter Forsyth for Red Cube Productions in Halifax.
It’s almost enough to inspire me to dig my faded, yet-unsolved Rubik’s Cube out of hibernation and give it another go. On second thought, maybe I should start with a 2x2.
Cubers airs Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, on CBC Newsworld.
melissa@tvguide.ca
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