King of the Nerds
| King of the Nerds | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Competition |
| Presented by | Robert Carradine Curtis Armstrong |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Ben Silverman Craig Armstrong Curtis Armstrong Jimmy Fox Rick Ringbakk Robert Carradine |
| Running time | 42 minutes (excluding commercials) |
| Production companies | 5x5 Media Electus |
| Original release | |
| Network | TBS |
| Release | January 17, 2013 – present |
King of the Nerds is an American reality competition series that airs on TBS. It is hosted by Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong, both actors from the Revenge of the Nerds films. The series premiered on January 17, 2013 at 10/9 CST.[1]
Premise
The series follows eleven contestants as they complete various tasks in order to win the grand prize of $100,000 and to be "crowned the greatest nerd" of them all,[2] worthy to sit on "the Throne of Games" (a pun on The Game of Thrones).
The show uses a progressive elimination of the contestants. Following the first week, the contestants were separated into two teams chosen via schoolyard pick. The teams compete in a Nerd War, an event that requires them to work together to prepare for the main demonstration. Judges select which team is the better team; members on this team are safe from elimination. On the losing team, two players are selected for a Nerd Off; one is selected by a secret vote on the losing team, and the other from a similar vote from the winning team. The two selected players are told what the concept is behind the nerd-off, giving them a few hours to prepare by talking to anyone else still remaining in the game. At the event, the losing player is eliminated from the game.
Production
After finding ratings success with its syndicated reruns, The Big Bang Theory, TBS ordered eight episodes of King of the Nerds in March 2012, its first unscripted competition series in seven years.[3] Guest judges will include George Takei, Kevin Smith and cosplay artist Yaya Han.[4][5]
Cast
| Name | Location | Age | Specialty (on-screen title) | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celeste Anderson[1][6] | Orillia, Ontario[1] | 22[1] | Professional gamer[1] | TBA |
| Danielle Mackey[1][7] | Rome, New York[1] | 23[1] | Gamer[8] and gaming vlogger[1][9] | TBA |
| Genevieve Pearson[1][10] | Studio City, California[1] | 27[1] | Young adult fantasy writer[1] | TBA |
| Ivan Van Norman[1][9] | Torrance, California[1] | 27[1] | Role-playing game designer[1] | TBA |
| Joshua Ovenshire[1][9] | Los Angeles, California[1] | 24[1] | Producer/host of geek-themed web show[1] | TBA |
| Moogega Cooper[1][9] | Pasadena, California[1] | 26[1] | NASA Planetary Protection Engineer[1] | TBA |
| Virgil Griffith[9] | Pasadena, California[1] | 29[1] | Master hacker[1] | TBA |
| Alana Smith-Brown[1][11] | Corning, New York[1] | 26[1] | Comic book fan and live-action role player[1] | 8th |
| Brandon Moore[1][12] | Somerville, Massachusetts | 24[1] | Neuroscience Ph.D student[1] | 9th |
| Jon Paprocki[1][13] | Atlanta, Georgia[1] | 22[1] | Mathematician and physics buff[1] | 10th |
| Hendrik Lenferink[14] | Somerville, Massachusetts[1] | 26[1] | MIT geophysics student | 11th |
Contestant progress
| Contestant | Episode | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||
| Celeste | IN | IN | WIN | IN | ||||||||
| Danielle | WIN | WIN | RISK | WIN | ||||||||
| Genevieve | IN | IN | WIN | RISK | ||||||||
| Ivan | WIN | WIN | IN | WIN | ||||||||
| Joshua | WIN | WIN | IN | WIN | ||||||||
| Moogega | WIN | WIN | IN | WIN | ||||||||
| Virgil | IN | IN | WIN | IN | ||||||||
| Alana | IN1 | RISK | WIN | OUT | ||||||||
| Brandon | WIN | WIN | OUT | |||||||||
| Jon | RISK | OUT | ||||||||||
| Hendrik | OUT | |||||||||||
^Note 1 : As the only contestant to not be picked for a team during the Nerd War, Alana received individual immunity and could not be sent into the Nerd-Off.
- (WINNER) The contestant won the competition and was crowned "King of the Nerds".
- (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was a runner-up for the competition.
- (WIN) The contestant won the Nerd War and was safe from elimination.
- (IN) The contestant lost the Nerd War, but was not selected to compete in the Nerd-Off.
- (RISK) The contestant won the Nerd-Off and escaped elimination.
- (OUT) The contestant lost the Nerd-Off and was eliminated from the competition.
- The contestant was a member of Team Blextrophy.
- The contestant was a member of Team Servants of the Forsaken Orb.
Episodes
Typical King of the Nerds episodes consist of two challenges. The Nerd War is a team competition, often decided by a judge, with the entire team granted immunity from being sent home. The Nerd-Off is a head-to-head elimination challenge between two members of the losing Nerd War team, with each team voting in one competitor.
Episode 1: "Welcome to Nerdvana"
The eleven contestants are greeted by hosts Robert "Bobby" Carradine and Curtis Armstrong as they arrive at their new home, Nerdvana.
- Nerd War: To begin the competition, Bobby and Curtis draw names from a hat to decide the two team captains: Genevieve and Ivan. The contestants divide themselves into two teams of five, dodgeball-style. In the end, Genevieve, Celeste, Hendrik, Jon, and Virgil formed the Blue Team, while Ivan, Moogega, Joshua, Brandon, and Danielle composed the Orange Team. Alana, as the last remaining nerd, earns immunity and is given the power to declare the winning team. She declares the Orange Team as the winner, and earns a place on the Blue Team.
- Nerd-Off: As both teams deliberate on who to vote into the Nerd-Off, Hendrik, desiring a challenge, volunteers himself. Hendrick and Jon compete in a giant game of chess. The pieces are moved by a Pom Pom Kitty cosplayer (Mindy Robinson), and captured pieces were destroyed by a bare-chested swordsman (Louis Ferrigno, Jr.). Each player is allowed three hours to prepare and can choose another contestant to act as their advisor during the game. Hendrick chooses Alana, while Jon appoints Virgil. Jon's middle school chess experience and computer practice came in handy, and he wins when Alana fails to keep Hendrik from falling into his trap, despite her background in chess, and Hendrik is checkmated.
Episode 2: "Imaginary Realms"
Signs of rising tension in the Blue Team began to emerge, particularly against Alana for picking the Orange Team as the winner of the previous Nerd War and causing Hendrik to lose the Nerd-Off.
- Nerd War: The ten remaining nerds compete in a cosplay competition. Each team creates an imaginary world with its own mythology, and each player creates an original character from that world. The themes and characters are randomly selected for each team: the Orange Team is assigned to play villains from a fantasy setting, while the Blue Team is chosen to play heroes from a science fiction setting. Virgil goes to the communal "RadioShack lab" and removes most of the important equipment, hoping to deprive the Orange Team of materials. After Brandon refers to this as a "dick-ish move", Virgil confronts Brandon. Virgil is eventually dragged away from the Orange Team's war room by Genevieve to continue work on their costumes. Alana later lashes out at Virgil due to her frustration with his continuous absences and his lack of focus on their own project. The teams perform in front of a panel of judges, composed of actor and author George Takei, costume designer and professional cosplayer Yaya Han, and actor Adam Busch. The judges grade each team on their costumes, mythologies, and personal performances, and decides which team would be the winner of the challenge. The Blue and Orange teams are officially renamed to Blextrophy and the Servants of the Forsaken Orb, respectively. The lack of a cohesive theme or storyline in Blextrophy translates into their performance, leading to an easy victory for the Servants.
- Reward: The winners trained with a world-renowned swordsmistress and were given a Little Caesars pizza lunch.
- Nerd-Off: Alana conspires to send Virgil into the Nerd-Off. While the rest of her team is also irritated by Virgil's behavior, his skills in math, science, and technology are seen as a major asset moving forward in the competition. Thus, Alana is chosen by her own team to participate. The Servants, once again, view Jon as a threat and unanimously vote for him to compete. At the Nerd-Off, the two contestants are tested on their knowledge of imaginary realms with a game of dice. A series of four questions are asked. The contestant earns one roll of an oversized die for each correct answer. The players roll the die down a hill in an attempt to knock down a group of targets consisting of cardboard cut-outs, garden gnomes, and mannequins. For each enchanted creature that is knocked down, the player earns a certain number of points. Knights and gnomes are worth 100 points, wizards are worth 500 points, and the black knight is worth 1,000 points. Jon maintains a heavy lead in the first couple of rounds. However, Alana comes from behind and topples over the black knight, giving her a small edge over Jon in the end. Alana is spared from elimination, and Jon is sent home.
Episode 3: "Games without Frontiers"
- Nerd War: Each team is given two tablet-controlled quadcopters. One team member attempts to fly their quadcopter through an obstacle course, collecting as many points as possible within a three-minute time period. Meanwhile, a member from the opposing team tries to shoot it down with Nerf guns. A team earns 10 points for passing through the large gates, 100 points for the small gates, 500 points for the "chomper gate," and 500 points for the "fire gate." However, if the quadcopter is shot down, the team loses 500 points. The team with the most points in the end is declared the winner. As Team Servants of the Forsaken Orb had more members, one had to sit out. Team Blextrophy chose Celeste and Vergil to fly the quadcopters and Alana and Genevieve act as the shooters, while the Servants chose Danielle and Moogega to fly and Joshua and Brandon to shoot, while Ivan elected himself to sit out. Having won the last two Nerd Wars, the Servants entered the competition with great confidence, with Brandon dressed like Toad from Super Mario Bros. and Ivan in a bizarre get-up that involved a rubber chicken beak, a pair of pixie wings, and a panda themed hooded scarf, calling himself "Chicken Panda." Danielle was first to fly. While she managed to avoid Alana's shooting and score 1,200 point for her team, she would crash and eventually damage her copter, and be unable to gain any more altitude until time ran out. Celeste was next, and managed to score 1,700 points, but was shot down twice by Joshua, whittling her score to 700. Moogega managed to score 1,100 points and avoided Genevieve's fire, but most of her time was wasted on one pass through the chomper gate, which she just couldn't align correctly. Vergil, who had trouble getting used to the copter during practice, continued to struggle with it, as his round consisted of him hovering only a few inches from the ground without gaining any altitude for over a minute. However, Vergil calmed himself and managed to score 1,820 points at the literal last minute without any interference from Brandon's fire, securing the win for Team Blextrophy, 2,520 to 2,300.
- Nerd-Off: While Team Blextrophy celebrated, the Servants were left with the bitter decision of who to send to the Nerd-Off. Joshua decided that logically, it would best benefit his team if Danielle were sent home. When he confronted her with his decision, she became very emotional. Joshua, in an attempt to calm her, told her that he would vote for himself in the Nerd-Off. Danielle, saying she was originally trying to sway Joshua to vote for Ivan, privately shares this with Brandon, which baffles him. Joshua would later tell this to Ivan and Moogega, but said he would stick to voting for Danielle. When it was time to vote, Team Blextrophy voted Brandon into the Nerd-Off, choosing to eliminate, in Vergil's words, "the soul" of the Servants. The Servants votes tallied to Danielle receiving three votes and Joshua receiving two. Danielle immediately deducts that she was lied to and Joshua went against his word. In a private conversation, the remaining Servants decided it was best for Danielle to lose the Nerd-Off so they wouldn't have to deal with the fallout between Joshua and Danielle. For the Nerd-Off itself, Danielle and Brandon each took control of a remote-controlled golf cart to race through an obstacle course, trying to be the first to push an exercise ball of into a goal. The first to score twice wins. Brandon was unable to effectively pilot his golf kart, and failed to score a single goal, handing an easy victory to Danielle.
Episode 4: "Supernerds"
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Season Premiere | Season Finale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | January 17, 2013 | March 7, 2013 | |
Season 1 (2013)
| # | Title | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Welcome to the Nerdvana" | January 17, 2013 | 1.99[15] |
| 2 | "Imaginary Realms" | January 24, 2013 | 1.65[16] |
| 3 | "Games without Frontiers" | January 31, 2013 | 1.56[17] |
| 4 | "Supernerds" | February 7, 2013 | TBA |
| 5 | "High IQ's"[18] | February 14, 2013 | TBA |
| 6 | "Nerdy Dancing"[18] | February 21, 2013 | TBA |
| 7 | "Enginerds"[18] | February 28, 2013 | TBA |
| 8 | "The King Is Crowned"[18] | March 7, 2013 | TBA |
International syndication
It was announced on January 14, 2013, that the Canadian network, Slice, has acquired the series from Electus International. The series premiered on January 23, 2013.[19]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao "TBS Sets Jan. 17 Premiere and Announces Contestants for New Unscripted Competition Series 'King of the Nerds'". The Futon Critic. November 8, 2012. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
- ^ Rose, Lacey (March 15, 2012). "TBS Orders Reality Show 'King of the Nerds' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
- ^ " King of the Nerds - Nerd-o-Rama-Nerd Pop Culture Challenge - Game". TBS. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
- ^ Matheson, Whitney (January 17, 2013). "On TV tonight: 'King of the Nerds'". USA Today.
- ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb. (January 23, 2013). "King of the Nerds First Look: 'Cos You Need to See 'Booger' Play a Geisha". TVLine. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- ^ Hank, Melissa (2013-01-23). "TV Wednesday: King of the Nerds". Postmedia News. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
- ^ Murphy, Rachel (2013-01-09). "Rome native cast on new TBS show 'King of the Nerds'". Rome Observer. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
- ^ "King of the Nerds, Danielle, Bio". TBS. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Rae, Jessica (2012-12-15). "King of the Nerds (TBS) Cast – We dissect this geeky group and pick our favs!". Small Screen Scoop. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
- ^ Petrich, Marisa (2013-01-17). "Stadium grad to compete on "King of the Nerds" tonight". Tacoma News. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
- ^ Kingsley, Jennifer (2013-01-16). "Neighbors: Nerdiness can be worth $100K to Corning woman". Press & Sun-Bulletin. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
- ^ Ammenheuser, Maura (2013-01-18). "Vandy student vies for 'King of the Nerds' on TBS". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
- ^ Ho, Rodney (2013-01-17). "TBS debuts "King of the Nerds" January 17". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
- ^ Burnham, Emily (2012-12-11). "Native Mainer to compete for title of "King of the Nerds" on TBS". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
- ^ "Thursday's Cable Ratings: USA's "Suits," TNT's Lakers/Heat Top Viewers, Demos". The Futon Critic. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
- ^ "Thursday's Cable Ratings: "Suits," "Buckwild" Top Viewer, Demo Charts". The Futon Critic. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
- ^ "Thursday's Cable Ratings: "Suits," "Buckwild" Once Again Top Charts". The Futon Critic. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
- ^ a b c d "King of the Nerds: Episode Guide". Retrieved January 6, 2013.
- ^ Etan Vlessing. "Canada's Slice Acquires TBS Reality Show 'King of the Nerds'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 20, 2013.