King of the Nerds

                  I don’t know why, but I love the show King of the Nerds.  It is something I look forward to every week.  In fact, I have eagerly awaited the second season for an entire year.  When the first season ended, I hoped there would be a second one on air very soon.  Some reality competition shows have two seasons a year and I really wanted King of the Nerds to be one of those shows.  Unfortunately it wasn’t and I had to wait, but it was worth it.  

                When talking about the basic structure, King of the Nerds is not that different from other reality competition shows.  The contestants are split up into teams and each week the teams face a new challenge.  After the challenge, two members of the losing team are selected for possible elimination.  They must compete against each other to determine who will stay and who will go home.  Eventually the teams break up and everyone remaining competes as an individual.  Whoever is the last one standing is the winner.

                This is where the similarities end.  First off, the competitors are not just trying to win money.  They are also attempting to earn the title of King of the Nerds and sit upon the Throne of Games.  The contestants are not athletes, adventurers, or thrill seekers, at least not in the traditional sense.  Instead the competitors are scientists, fantasy writers, and gamers.  The challenges are mostly mental although some do have a physical component.  Last week’s episode involved maneuvering through a maze of lasers with a math problem to solve at the end.

                Every challenge is introduced by the hosts of the show, Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong of Revenge of the Nerds fame.  For the team challenge Mr. Carradine and Mr. Armstrong let the contestants know most of the details ahead of time so the team can prepare.  With the elimination challenge, Mr. Carradine and Mr. Armstrong only hint at what might be coming up.  It is up to the contestants to study as much as they can because they can never be quite sure what is coming their way.           

                The challenges are my favorite part of the show.  I love to see what the contestants are going to have to do.  If there are trivia questions, I play along with them to see how much I know.  Sometimes I do really well.  Other times I do not.  But in either case, I have fun.

                I also really like Mr. Carradine and Mr. Armstrong as the hosts.  They look like they are having such a great time.  During the challenges they make funny comments about what is going on.  Sometimes they dress up in costumes.  When a contestant is eliminated, they send him or her off in a very unique way.  I truly enjoy watching Mr. Carradine and Mr. Armstrong on TV and I can only imagine it must be even more of a thrill being with them in person. 

                Something I don’t like about this show, and I’ll say this with probably every reality competition show, is the drama and mind games.  It’s just not my thing.  I like learning about the contestants.  Each has their own specialty and no two contestants are exactly alike.  Who these people are is what is interesting to me.  I don’t need drama and mind games.  Fortunately, unlike other shows, the drama and mind games are only a small part of King of the Nerds.  Most of the show is about the challenges and what the contestants know and don’t know.  Sometimes the drama and mind games filter through during the preparations and challenges, but it does not overtake the show.      

                Unfortunately there are not many episodes left of the second season. I will be very sad to see it go. At the moment I do not know if a third season is in the works, but I certainly hope it is. I also hope I don’t have to wait an entire year to see it. Having two seasons a year of King of the Nerds would not be a problem for me at all.