Math Country is an instructional television

Instructional television

Instructional television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. Educational television programs on instructional television may be less than one half hour long to help their integration into the classroom setting...

 program produced by Kentucky Educational Television

Kentucky Educational Television

Kentucky Educational Television, also known as KET: The Kentucky Network, is Kentucky's non-commercial educational public television state network...

, in the late 1970s.

The show taught elementary math concepts and featured actor Ray Walston

Ray Walston

Ray Walston was an American stage, television and film actor best known as the title character on the 1960s situation comedy My Favorite Martian. In addition, he is also remembered for his roles as Luther Billis in South Pacific , Mr. Applegate in Damn Yankees , J.J...

 as a ghost named Lionel Hardway who inhabits the family farm, now lived in and ran by his descendants, helping them with various math problems, and sometimes getting involved in side stories involving the living members of the Hardway family.

Episodes were roughly 15 minutes in length (design for use during limited classroom time) and were broadcast on educational

Educational television

Educational television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that is often associated with cable television in the United States as Public, educational, and government access ...

 and public television channels during the school year.

Each broadcast was usually followed by a short called "Math Country Plus", which usually dealt with how a girl in school figured out how to solve problems on her own, using her own creativity and intellect, played by two actors who interacted with the girl on a fantasy set to represent the inside of the girl's head.