When I saw the first teaser for the TBS reality show "King of the Nerds" I was a little excited. Here, at last, was a reality show that would have an edge of intelligence, include challenges I would be able to fairly judge, contestants I could identify with and subject matter I could geek out on. I was so looking forward to it that I set my DVR up to series record so that I would never miss a moment, and then I watched the first episode.
So let's start now with the cast of characters of this show:
9 specialized nerds that fit the stereotypes: 3 Science/Math nerds, Girl Gamers (an Asian descent and a bubble gum pink hair), A real life Sheldon Cooper with slightly less self-enthusiasm, 2 Female comic book fanatics(a novelist and an annoying girl), A "superhacker"
and two actual relate-able and likable Ivan, a game developer and Moogega (Moo-ja-gay) a Planetary Protection Engineer who went to college when she was 16.
Oh, and the hosts: Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong, both from Revenge of the Nerds. So far, the only thing the show got right.
I was expecting a more well-rounded case, with less specialized nerds and more what I would call, successful/ everyday nerds that were relate-able and not so annoying. Really, knowing reality TV, I should have known better. But hey, I'm optimistic sometimes.
The first challenge, was every loser-nerd-not-so-popular kids worst moments in high school: Time to choose the teams.
Oh wait, there are 11 contestants. That means SOMEBODY ISN'T GETTING PICKED. There definitely won't be a twist there, right? And it certainly won't escape the notice of 11 really smart nerds, right? Wrong. Of course there was a twist, and of course, everybody was surprised. My faith in these people is now pretty much completely gone. Predictably, the so far most annoying and least qualified contestant, Alana(one of the comic book fanatics), was not chosen. She was then asked to choose which team was the strongest, she chose orange, so they placed her on Blue. Yeah, she hasn't been set up to fail.
So, the climax, who is going home? Well, each team chooses someone to go into the"Nerd War", which was a giant , outdoor game of chess. The pieces were moved around by a harajuku girl in a slutty lolita outfit, which would be awesome except that the camera only followed her and we had NO IDEA what was actually going on in the all-important game of chess. That is until, Alana gave some really bad advice to Hendrik(the real-life sheldon cooper who has never played chess apparently) and he lost. Not exactly sure how he lost, since we never got to see the board, but there you go.
So all-in-all, it doesn't really matter how awesome the hosts are, how nerdy the challenges are, or how many amazing guest judges this show throws at us. It is, first and foremost, "Reality TV", produced not for its feigned target audience of nerds, but instead for its actual audience of shut-in tv addicts that don't really care at all about the content.
3 stars of 10. A generous mark for such a disappointing debut
Monday, January 28, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
On Me
To get started I am going to go through the "hot spot" debate and give you my opinion on them. I figure I can get this out of the way and save us all a little time. To be clear, this is not a post to invite debate, I will delete any attacking comments, and I hope you will read on even if you don't agree with me. After all this is my opinion, I'm not going to try to change yours, so please, respect mine.
#1: Gay Marriage
-I have no problem whatsoever with gay marriage. If two men want to get married, then I wish them all the best, same for two women, and same for a man and a women. I believe this despite the fact that I am a Christian. I do not believe that my religious beliefs should in any way hinder the happiness of others. Religion should not dictate law, and law makers should not force their religious beliefs (or those of their backers on anyone).
#2: Abortion
- Abortion is murder. It may be my body, but it is not my life, and barring an extreme medical condition, I do not condone abortion. If you don't want to be a mom, set up an adoption, take your baby to a safe haven, but nothing, not even rape or incest, gives you the right to take a life.
#3: Gun Control
- All the guns that should be banned, have been banned for decades. Making it harder for law-abiding citizens to have access to self protection is ignorant. Criminals are going to have guns, whether we want them to or not. Even if there was a mandated freeze in production, someone would still make them, and there will always be other weapons. The solution then is not more "control" but better education. Children/Adults/Teens should be taught how precious human life, their own and other peoples. They should also be taught proper gun etiquette.
#4: The Everybody wins mentality (for lack of a better term)
-Losing is important. It builds character and teaches good life lessons. Not every person is good at something (even if they really want to be) and learning to work hard for a goal is one of the things that losing helps to teach us. It scares me to death to think of spending my retirement years in a country whose leaders are overindulged people, who get prizes for showing up and never really faced a punishment.
#5: Political Correctness
-This is joke. Political correctness is the result of overly sensitive people, basically whining a lot and being offensive to absolutely EVERYONE in the name of not offending anyone. Ridiculous.
#6: Religion
-I am a Christian. You may not be. That's cool. If you have a question that you want to ask me privately about my beliefs, awesome. If not, also awesome. I do not give any backing or credence to extremist groups (like Westboro Babtist) and while I will talk about my beliefs in my blog posts, I will never try to ram them down your throat.
#7: Politics
-Our political system is broken. Both parties have failed miserably and I really don't see why we need parties anyway, why not just have people, who study and understand the laws and the constitution, who want to lead us into a better future? Does it really matter if there are partly affiliations? I don't think so. I think it just causes more division.
#8: The Economy
-There is no acceptable excuse or reason for our country to be in this much debt. Period. Bailing out the corporations was a mistake (as evidenced by our current craptastic economy) Bailing out the people would have gotten us farther, but raising the debt ceiling is not the answer. Cut spending where is should and can be cut, in the salary and perks department. Give the states their control back, make taxes fair across the board (percentages not classes) If you make more money than me, you should pay more taxes than I do, but not a higher percent. Get it?
#9: Education
-Teachers do not get paid enough. Special Education teachers and their support staff, are saints, they do not do it for the money. I promise. There is no money in it. Schools should be in session all-year round. It would promote a more fluid sense of learning, help to keep information fresh in everyone's mind and instill a better work ethic in our youth. See This Article
#10: Military
- Our military is stretched too far, paid too little, and too often abused. Out troops should be pulled from all non-essential out-posts and brought home to provide in country protection.
#11: Illegal Immigration
- Our country has an established route to become a legitimate citizen. I understand why they come here, but coming here and living illegally hurts everyone. Grant citizenship to children born here, but that does not mean that their parents are automatic citizens (this is true everywhere btw). Impose a more competent border patrol, give current illegal aliens a grace period (say one year) to apply for citizenship, and deal with it appropriately. Show mercy, but be firm.
Ok, well, I think that is enough for one post. Quite possibly it is more than enough, but I really wanted to get this out of the way. I do hope you will read my next entry, which will be a review of some sort, and keep coming back for more. Again, I will not be debating any of my opinions on this blog. I just don't want to have to restate myself over and over again in the future. Thank-you so much for reading, and feel free to comment! I look forward to hearing from you all and writing for you again. Good-Night, and much joy to you all.
#1: Gay Marriage
-I have no problem whatsoever with gay marriage. If two men want to get married, then I wish them all the best, same for two women, and same for a man and a women. I believe this despite the fact that I am a Christian. I do not believe that my religious beliefs should in any way hinder the happiness of others. Religion should not dictate law, and law makers should not force their religious beliefs (or those of their backers on anyone).
#2: Abortion
- Abortion is murder. It may be my body, but it is not my life, and barring an extreme medical condition, I do not condone abortion. If you don't want to be a mom, set up an adoption, take your baby to a safe haven, but nothing, not even rape or incest, gives you the right to take a life.
#3: Gun Control
- All the guns that should be banned, have been banned for decades. Making it harder for law-abiding citizens to have access to self protection is ignorant. Criminals are going to have guns, whether we want them to or not. Even if there was a mandated freeze in production, someone would still make them, and there will always be other weapons. The solution then is not more "control" but better education. Children/Adults/Teens should be taught how precious human life, their own and other peoples. They should also be taught proper gun etiquette.
#4: The Everybody wins mentality (for lack of a better term)
-Losing is important. It builds character and teaches good life lessons. Not every person is good at something (even if they really want to be) and learning to work hard for a goal is one of the things that losing helps to teach us. It scares me to death to think of spending my retirement years in a country whose leaders are overindulged people, who get prizes for showing up and never really faced a punishment.
#5: Political Correctness
-This is joke. Political correctness is the result of overly sensitive people, basically whining a lot and being offensive to absolutely EVERYONE in the name of not offending anyone. Ridiculous.
#6: Religion
-I am a Christian. You may not be. That's cool. If you have a question that you want to ask me privately about my beliefs, awesome. If not, also awesome. I do not give any backing or credence to extremist groups (like Westboro Babtist) and while I will talk about my beliefs in my blog posts, I will never try to ram them down your throat.
#7: Politics
-Our political system is broken. Both parties have failed miserably and I really don't see why we need parties anyway, why not just have people, who study and understand the laws and the constitution, who want to lead us into a better future? Does it really matter if there are partly affiliations? I don't think so. I think it just causes more division.
#8: The Economy
-There is no acceptable excuse or reason for our country to be in this much debt. Period. Bailing out the corporations was a mistake (as evidenced by our current craptastic economy) Bailing out the people would have gotten us farther, but raising the debt ceiling is not the answer. Cut spending where is should and can be cut, in the salary and perks department. Give the states their control back, make taxes fair across the board (percentages not classes) If you make more money than me, you should pay more taxes than I do, but not a higher percent. Get it?
#9: Education
-Teachers do not get paid enough. Special Education teachers and their support staff, are saints, they do not do it for the money. I promise. There is no money in it. Schools should be in session all-year round. It would promote a more fluid sense of learning, help to keep information fresh in everyone's mind and instill a better work ethic in our youth. See This Article
#10: Military
- Our military is stretched too far, paid too little, and too often abused. Out troops should be pulled from all non-essential out-posts and brought home to provide in country protection.
#11: Illegal Immigration
- Our country has an established route to become a legitimate citizen. I understand why they come here, but coming here and living illegally hurts everyone. Grant citizenship to children born here, but that does not mean that their parents are automatic citizens (this is true everywhere btw). Impose a more competent border patrol, give current illegal aliens a grace period (say one year) to apply for citizenship, and deal with it appropriately. Show mercy, but be firm.
Ok, well, I think that is enough for one post. Quite possibly it is more than enough, but I really wanted to get this out of the way. I do hope you will read my next entry, which will be a review of some sort, and keep coming back for more. Again, I will not be debating any of my opinions on this blog. I just don't want to have to restate myself over and over again in the future. Thank-you so much for reading, and feel free to comment! I look forward to hearing from you all and writing for you again. Good-Night, and much joy to you all.
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