‘King of the Nerds’ season 3 spotlight: Will Jonathan Adler have the winning numbers?
We’re not quite sure that there has been a “King of the Nerds” contestant with an assemblage of more random things than Jonathan Adler. Just think about everything that the man mentions in his bio: He’s a math guy, and yet he also loves board games, a good Renaissance Faire, video games, and apparently pirate shirts. (“I don’t wanna be a pirate!” … We’re not sure that a “Seinfeld” reference really is nerdy enough for these articles, but we’re keeping it in regardless.)
While these characteristics of Jonathan’s personality feel like they were thrown into some sort of geek-culture witches’ brew, it all manages to work. Personality-wise, he’s probably one of our favorite contestants going into this season (which given our history predicting things for this show, probably does not bode well for his chances).
Name – Jonathan Adler
Age – 28
Location – Tempe, Arizona
Specialty – “Mathematician.” We’ve tried to understand Jonathan’s job for the past five minutes and still cannot figure it out. This is either the case of us burning too much midnight oil getting these online at unspeakable hours, or his job really is that impressive that it’s one of those things you can explain to someone at a party, and they just nod to not embarrass themselves.
Nerd cred – The man’s really smart. Think off-the-charts smart. He may even think in numbers so much that David Krumholtz gets jealous. There are not too many math / science types this year compared to past seasons (or it least it feels that way superficially), so he could be really valuable.
Also, shall we say we appreciate his honesty? We shall. We actually like how he admits in the video below that he was really ashamed of being a nerd when he was young, and he had a hard time dealing with bullies. This is reality; for most people Jonathan’s age, we remember those brutal days in elementary school. There are still negative depictions of nerds in society, but we feel like it has changed pretty dramatically over the past ten years or so. We were right there with him growing up, afraid to talk about our real interests like Kirby games or “Hey Arnold!” in fear of the other children yelling at us.
Weak points – When we were in middle school, a teacher once told us to think outside the box, but “inside the room.” We feel like Jonathan may be thinking outside the house, or maybe even a different part of the atmosphere. He’s a little more socially awkward than some of the other nerds, and it feels almost like he speaks his own language at times. With so many more personable contestants this time around, is he going to be able to connect? Is this an equation that even he cannot solve?
End assessment – Jonathan is precisely the sort of contestant we watch this show for, and we’re going out on a limb in saying that he is going to do very well. If nothing else, we hope that he stays long enough to take part in a fake joust in the Nerdvana halls, or teaches us how to better talk like a pirate. We can always use more lessons for National Talk Like a Pirate Day.
What’s your take on Jonathan as a contestant? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to check out some of our other spotlights! Also, be sure to sign up right away to get some other TV updates sent over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Jeremy Freeman / TBS.)