‘King of the Nerds’ season 2: Curtis Armstrong and Robert Carradine promise different ending
Throughout the entire first season of “King of the Nerds,” we had one reaction to it: This was great stuff. You can actually have a new, original competition series in 2014, and not have it be completely idiotic or revolve around people screaming at each other. What a revelation!
Then, the season finale rolled around. While we’re not going to get into necessarily who deserved to win or lose, having past contestants make this decision was pretty terrible, especially that they were not given any barometer to gauge why a winner should be crowned (based on challenges, personal growth, game play?). It was suddenly turning the show from a skill-based competition into a popularity contest, and that changes how you should have played the entire season, since you are not longer in control of your own fate. It also goes against really what being a nerd stands for. It’s the same feeling that we had during “Beauty and the Geek” our season, when the ladies all picked their partners, and the guy not picked went home. It was basically reinforcing the trauma that comes with being picked last at something, which many a geek is familiar with.
Luckily, the show has already made sure that such an ending has not happened again, and we can cross that off of our proposed New Year’s resolutions list. In a statement on TBS’ official site, hosts and executive producers Curtis Armstrong and Robert Carradine make it clear that they have something different in store this time:
“… Much as we would love to let the dead past bury its dead, we feel compelled to respond to our fans and, we like to think, to our future fans. The reasons for ending the show the way we did last season were highly complex and terribly technical. King Celeste has ruled with wisdom and benevolence, and her people are happy people. But, really, what were nerds doing in a popularity contest at all? Historically, nerds never win popularity contests. It’s just not in our skill-set.
“Well, you, our beloved fans, spoke. And when the dust settled, we found ourselves sitting there in the ruins of the old Nerdvana swearing we would never end the show like that again.
“So this year it’s going to be different. Really different. We cannot go into details, but the challenge we have devised to determine who will be King of the Nerds is imaginative, intricate, complex and generally brain-breaking. In other words, it is a challenge chock full of good, old-fashioned Nerd values. And you can’t ask for more than that.”
So in case you were looking for one final reason to watch the new season, there it is: It’s not going to be like watching the first season all over again. Let’s hope for some sort of insanely awesome test that will really prove once and for all that this is a competition show, and not just a recreation of the “Survivor” endgame.
Later this month prior to the show’s January 23 premiere, we’re going to have individual spotlights highlighting the contestants strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, be sure to stay tuned for more of that!