The reality show competition "King of the Nerds" kicked off the season by dividing its 11 contestants into two teams of five each to compete for $100,000 and the title of "King of the Nerds." Genevieve, a self-proclaimed Batman fanatic and fantasy author, was named Blue team captain, opposed by Ivan Van Norman's Orange team, a role-playing game designer representing the gaming community at large. The other contestants were given two hours to convince each team captain that they were indispensable to ensure that they were selected for one of the teams.
The house where the contestants will be staying is chock-full of geeky fun, ranging from dragon heads to a life-sized statue of Batman, from a blinged-out imitation Game of Thrones throne to a Radio Shack room, whatever that is.
One of the standout contestants is Joshua, who cryptically describes himself as a "jack of all trades" and the lower-third identifies him as a comic and gaming nerd. Joshua also mentions he has a zombie plan. Given that Ivan is a developer behind the Outbreak zombie role-playing game, the two should make for an interesting combo.
This episode seemed to focus primarily on Celeste, who described herself as a "professional gamer" in both video games and something called "fast-cubing" (presumably, Rubik's Cube solving). But all that didn't really matter, because as it turns out the selection process involved more than just picking teams: It involved picking one person, who in turn picked the next, and so on. This meant that the most critical decision the team leaders made was whom they picked first.
Genevieve picked Celeste and Ivan picked Moogega. The decision making was conducted by dumping a goblet of colored goo on each contestant aligning with the color of the team. Here's how the selection went.
- ORANGE: Ivan > Moogega > Joshua > Brandon > Danielle
- BLUE: Genevieve > Celeste > Henrik > Jon > Virgil
It's hard to believe that the adorable Danielle (AKA Panser) wasn't picked early – and unfortunately, not surprising that poor Alana wasn't picked at all. Alana made it clear that she felt unqualified in interviews – and then "King of the Nerds" threw a twist: Alana was safe from banishment and given the choice between which team would faced a "Nerd-Off." Alana was asked which team was better, and her rationale that the Orange team was more well-rounded resulted in them immune to the challenge.
That left two members of the Blue team selected for the Nerd-Off. The Blue team picked its own member to participate and the opposing team picked the second contestant. Alana was also assigned to the Blue team (the logic perhaps being that if one team is better, Alana would help balance it out with an additional member).
Hendrik (looking for a challenge) decided to nominate himself for the Nerd-Off. The Orange Team picked Jon. The challenge: chess. Hendrik chose Alana as his advisor and Jon chose Virgil.
The game took place on a large chessboard, controlled by a "stripper Harajuku cat girl" who solicited salacious comments (and gratuitous shots of her rear end) from hosts Robert Carradine (Lewis Skolnick from "Revenge of the Nerds") and Curtis Armstrong (Booger from "Revenge of the Nerds"). A buff gladiator type had the task of beheading each piece that was defeated in an explosion of rose petals.
Hendrik lost the match and went home, due in part to Alana's advice. Next week's Nerd-Off involves cosplay!
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