Looking around it’s easy to see that nerd culture has never been more popular than it is now. Nerdy is the new normal as comic books and video games have fully assimilated themselves into mainstream culture. However, one area where nerd culture has yet to fully integrate is game shows. There have been a few stabs at it, but nothing has been able to really stick yet.
We thought that we’d finally achieved something with the reality show, King of the Nerds, but The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the show was cancelled last year after only its third season. The movie make-up reality competition Face Off is still going strong but that’s hardly enough to capitalize on the massive potential audience.
It begs the question of why there hasn’t been a simple quiz show specifically for nerds? If there’s one thing nerds love, it’s being right and dropping obscure facts is a close second. A trivia show that would focus on topics like science-fiction, comic books, movies and more seems like a no-brainer. Beat the Geeks was 15 years ago, so it’s definitely time to give the format another shot.
There’s been a resurgence lately in the popularity of game shows with the $100,000 Pyramid making a comeback and programs such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? continuing to entertain fans all over the world. In fact, Millionaire is so popular that there are expert strategies being published on how to best win at the high-stakes trivia game. Foxy Casino points out that, more often than not, it’s less about how knowledgable you are as opposed to how well you’re able to play the game. And if a show was able to incorporate some of those same Millionaire’s gimmicks, like the “50/50” or “Phone a Friend,” it wouldn’t be difficult for a new program to appeal to a larger audience.
They could even just retool an existing show like Millionaire or Pyramid to do special nerd-themed episodes, like a horror-focused Halloween episode. There’s clearly a market for such a show, it’s just a matter of waiting for studios to wise up to this potential geek gold mine that’s right under their noses. We’re looking at you Syfy.
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
Nerd Comments