madcougar

My favorite hate watch show since Smash got canned.

Coladar1

I won't dig my hole any deeper on whatshername... especially since I originally added that as an afterthought - my sole reason for posting, the token of value that initial post of mine contained: The Steve Irwin hilarity as Colby writhes on the floor, having gone utterly ignored while I keep digging myself a pit.

That being said... the SA bit? Sorry, that one I'll defend 'til my dying breath. Ridiculous? Most certainly not.

Mind you, I'm not *literally* saying you've gotta pay some magazine -a single one, to boot- company an annual fee to "be a nerd!"

But... it is highly indicative of the mindset/notion that is nerdiness. As well, if you might not already surmise as much, I've had a running SA subscription since the age of 15 (being 31 today.)

Because, for all the lovely talk about how wide of a spectrum people fall on, or how inclusive nerdiness specifically is/should be due to it being a group so often on the outs amongst peers, the bottom line? There's seven billion of us. Even so, we all still only boil down to but a handful of personality types. This idea of a wide spectrum is utter BS. Need further proof of that? *Even* on the very worst outlying ends, the most rare & atypical of extremes? We find psychopaths, aka. serial killers. There's almost a running script, even for that one: Starting with abusing animals as a kid, working their way 'up.' However much we might dislike generalizing or lumping individuals together in this day and age, the merits of doing just that (and unfortunately, perhaps) yet remain true; coming as an inescapable consequence associated with being human.

A nerd, however, is a nerd... is a nerd! That isn't the comic book, 'momma's basement dwelling troll.' Pop culture fandom equates more to being a "geek," something taken, but of course, from sideshow/freakshows and their "geeks" - meaning to be bizarre or strange; displaying the unusual, in other words, such as being passionate about comic books as an adult (which I myself am also very much guilty of today.)

The nerd, on the other hand, is more... well rounded? - and with broader, more wide-ranging interests. Wherein a geek might be passionate about only comics, or MMORPGs, or Dungeons and Dragons, nerds are more erudite/"scholarly" sorts. However, the stereotypical nerd does often share many "geeky" related interests: Essentially, most all nerds are geeks, but not nearly as many geeks are nerds... definitely not in this modern "Big Bang Theory" world of ours, where S.D. Comic-Con has been invaded and overtaken by big business Hollywood, and as literally everyone and their mother watches television shows about freaking zombies.

If only in my book, the nerd is your Bill Gates or "pocket protector dweeb" - characterized by intense interests in math and the sciences; possessing an innate inquisitiveness about the world around them, and exactly how+why it works the way it all does. As a byproduct of these interests comes the enjoyment of those many+various 'geeky' pop culture elements: Like the rocket scientist whose passion might have arisen from worshipping all things Trek as a wee child.

And so, the comment one of the cast members made earlier this season about the Scientific American bit undeniably rung true with me in this regard. It's very much a hallmark characteristic of this one particular personality type, as well as something with a near universal application in this area. In other words, if someone isn't the "Scientific American type," then I'm not so sure I'd qualify that person as a "nerd" - at the very least, not by my own definition and understanding of such a beast.

Long story short, me personally? True enough, as with near abouts anyone and/or anything, our own personal experiences dramatically impact our views, beliefs and understandings. With that being said, using myself as an example with all of this here, as well the beginnings of my interests in all of this so very long ago? What "turned me on" to the "Scientific American world" took place at age 9 - two different things, actually: First, I argued with my third grade teacher out the wazoo - they called me a liar when I said that Pluto, the once (and in my book, still) ninth planet never swapped with Neptune in distance from the Sun, becoming the 8th closest planet to the sun for a handful of years every couple centuries.

Secondly, age 10 - 1994. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. July of that year, it was realized this massive comet would literally impact Jupiter. I was fascinated and intrigued by that, devouring every bit of information and news I could find in a 1994/early Internet world.

My point here? Even as a young child, those areas held immense appeal. Furthermore, just the same, as literally every single other classmate was engrossed with fast cars, dinosaurs or Sports Illustrated, here was myself - taking NOAA/NWS weather classes with adults, being the youngest NWS certified "Weather Watcher" at the time in the entire country, buying and reading college meteorology textbooks at age 9, and arguing with teachers about Pluto's orbit.

So for all our lovely modern ideals of inclusiveness and diverse spectrums, the fact yet remains we are indeed simple creatures, most usually able to be boiled down to various clearly defined categories that share marked similarities with others of that "same type." Truly, as much as we all might prefer believing otherwise, with those seven billion of us (and counting) not a one of us is really, genuinely unique. Just as the psychopathic Charlie Manson type's have their torturing small animals as tykes, so too nerds and our "Scientific American subscriptions." On this one thing, I'm afraid I'll never concede ridiculousness.

fumanstan

TL;DR. Summary?

Skimming what I did, I hate the idea of labeling nerds, and the idea of making that term exclusive to a certain type of person. If you want to separate a group of individuals towards the label of geek instead, then to each their own. This show isn't making that distinction if that's the bone you want to pick, so you'll just have to deal with it given we're 3 seasons in. I'll just leave it at that.

PhantomStranger

The producers likely wanted one male celebrity and one female celebrity to balance things out. If you haven't noticed, the show has bent over backwards this year to balance male and female cast members for the first time. My guess is the network wanted more female viewers.

There probably aren't a lot of "nerdy" female celebrities to pick from and that have any name recognition with the general television public. It's a thin pool they were picking from and the most obvious candidates have already been on the show. Rachelle Lefevre stars on a vaguely nerdy fantasy series, Under The Dome. I thought she was a good sport about the contest.

I wouldn't worry about it if the producers couldn't find a female celebrity from Mensa.

fumanstan

It would have been more interesting if Lily's guess on what the nerd off was going to be was wrong. Love the fake out by Booger there on what it was going to be. Colby was a decent competitor, sucks to see him go but he was certainly getting the loser's edit on this episode.

The challenge they had was pretty cool with the detective stuff.

PhantomStranger

The producers could have easily rigged that contest for Colby, I was surprised they still went with the horror challenge knowing her strength was horror. Colby the Jeopardy champion almost certainly wasn't going to lose most kinds of challenges against the others.

I was rooting for him to win, oh well.

Bill Needle

The other nerds did raise a good point: A Jeopardy Tournament of Champions winner in the mix? Nerd or not, it seems a bit outside the scope of the show. Why not throw Elon Musk in there against them as well.

Paff

This was the first time I knew every question in one of their multiple choice quizzes. Wait, except for the Zombieland one. Never saw that movie.

Didn't care for yet another in-episode Little Caesar's commercial. They got me on the first one; I went out and got LC's pizza the next night, and I suddenly remembered how absolutely shitty their pizza is.

Thrush

No one to blame but yourself for that one. I had it a few times as a kid and remember thinking that the cold, soggy bread topped with a cheese like substance that they tried to pass off as pizza in the school cafeteria tasted better.

fumanstan

I like Little Caesar's; their hot and ready is pretty plain, but their Deep Dish is actually pretty good

PhantomStranger

I haven't had Little Caesar's Pizza since the 1990s.

Bill Needle

I haven't had Little Caesar's since I tried it once.

lwhy?

For the first time this season, I really liked the nerd war and nerd off challenges. I was rooting for Colby to win too. I don't know who I want to win now...

Thrush

madcougar

Yeah... I'm not feeling anyone else at this point.

fumanstan

Catching up on last week... the Stratego game was neat. I've never actually played it myself. I completely expected it to be Kaitlyn and Jonathan going on, so really surprised it was Lily and Raychelle.

The alien thing was funny, if not so deliberately sexual.

windom

Uh-oh. Robert Carradine involved in a bad car crash. Doesn't sound very good:

http://www.tmz.com/2015/03/12/robert...sh-semi-truck/

Paff

There was a "Get well soon Bobby" title card at the end of tonight's episode.

Now, did the rest of the contestants intentionally make a reference at the coronation ceremony?

fumanstan

The trivia game to decide the final 2 seemed a little bit lackluster; the supporting nerds really didn't have enough to do at all in the game. It was kind of funny to see everyone get drunk and partying, given the stark contrast to other reality shows where everyone is sleeping with each either. I guess a few folks in their underwear and one lesbian kiss is enough for nerds

PhantomStranger

This season actually felt a little rushed, they could have probably added another episode or two. They smashed in that romantic bit which I don't ever remember getting brought up before and then left it hanging. I didn't mind Jonathan winning, though I was rooting for Ben. This was a far better cast than season two with more likeable people.

I did find it dubious that Connect 4 played a role in determining the winner. The person getting the first move can't lose.

mnementh

I wonder how much directing the cast gets. Some of last year's confessionals seemed downright arrogant.

I would've rather seen a coordination-based challenge instead of Connect 4. We've seen nerds construct a tower of objects and play zombie Kerplunk.

Speaking of zombies, how did Pom Pom Kitty return from the dead?

dfmaverick2

While they were doing the trivia challenge, I kept thinking how much Kaitlin looked like the the little alien atop the beast.

Was fine with either Ben or Jonathan winning but agree about connect 4

lwhy?

I was rooting for Ben. He made an impressive comeback in both challenges, but it wasn't enough. I wonder if there will be a season 4?

PhantomStranger

I have to believe some of the cutaway confessionals or glib responses are fed lines by the producers. That is how most of the reality shows do it with their cast. Some cast members end up better than others at it or are more willing to play ball getting fed lines, so you keep seeing their answers.

starseed1981

I love the concept of the show but the casting directors should be fired. This cast was better than last years by a smidgen.