Nickelodeon Starts Production on New Kids Game Show “Brain Surge”
I’m back, not ill, there’s no inauguration that I have to watch anymore, and there’s news! Pretty big news, too. Nickelodeon, the kids cable network, is beginning production of a new game show called BrainSurge. It’s their first all-new game show in a long time, isn’t it? I guess the success of My Family’s Got GUTS made them think of doing more cheap, popular programming. Not a ton is known about the show right now beyond that it begins taping in February in Hollywood, and only kids between the ages 8 and 14 are allowed in the audience. Parents and other non-young people will be put in a special room to watch the show.
They’ve been casting the show for a bit and finally realized a little bit of information. It’s a game of memory and concentration, which almost sounds a bit like the old 90s kids game show Get the Picture. Contestants from the ages 11 to 14 have a chance to win up to $3,000 in prizes if they make it on, which is pretty good for people that age. Losers get sent down the “Brain Drain” to get slimed. Once more information starts getting in we’ll let you know. If you have children and they are interested in seeing the show tape in Hollywood, click here for tickets.
So they took the idea from the May 1991 episode of “Clarissa Explains it All” titled “Brain Drain” and evolved it into a real game show.
Losers on the “show” on which the characters appeared in the ’91 sitcom went down a similar “Brain Drain” into a pool of mess.
Holy flashback, Batman.
OMG. I can't believe they did that. Though I would LOVE to be on that show!!!
OMG. I can't believe they did that. Though I would LOVE to be on that show!!!
Please let this lead to a revival of Legends…that was Nick’s best game show, end of story.
Another go at Double Dare would be nice too…
CJ, I thought the same thing about “Brain Drain,” plus the Power Surge from “Get the Picture.” Nick’s been sans game shows for a while – just as they went without live-action work in the early 2000s. I’m hoping that this starts a revival of the kids’ game show genre, even if I’m too old to participate now :) It would be great (IMHO, at least) if they could get Mike O’Malley to host this one. What’s he doing these days, anyway – living off resids from “Yes, Dear” reruns on TBS?
Also, I’ll bet that the questions on this show are tougher than Fifth Grader’s. These kids are AT LEAST eleven :)
I interned at Stone & Co., who did development and is doing production for this, and I really like the show. But that’s about all I can say.
That and I’m glad I finally know the name, when I was working there we hadn’t pinned one down yet. I’m super excited for when this will finally air :D
This is Nickelodeon’s first foray into the game show arena since Double Dare 2000. Having said, if this show hits the air and becomes a hit, I think it would (as Taylor and Neville implied) would lead to a revival of kids game shows. Me, personally, I would love to see a revival of Finders Keepers, Legends of the Hidden Temple, or even another revival of Double Dare.
The fact that it’s a Stone and Co show gives me some good vibes on this- that producer has had pretty good success at game shows in general..
Yeah CJ Horton and Neville, I knew that the “Brain Drain” thing sounded a bit familiar. But as for a new game show on Nickelodeon, thats awesome! Hopefully we can have Double Dare revived soon.
Well if they do revive Double Dare, maybe they’ll do it right this time, unlike in 2000.
Neville,
Mike O’Malley did a show which is now cancelled for NBC called My Own Worst Enemy…
The working title to this show was “Brain Survivor” which was the same name of the Japanese game show that it is based on with the same premise and name. Therefore, this is a Japanese game show converted for kids to be put on Nickelodeon.
But anyways, it’s great to see Nick get back into doing game shows with this and season 2 of “My family’s got guts” coming this year.
I frankly HATE Nickelodeon! They got rid of GaS in place of shitty teen dramas. They got rid of Rugrats and Doug for a boring talking piece of underwater cheese.
Yet I remember this being on “Clarissa Explains It All” and i have the slightest idea of how it went (I was prob 5 when I saw CEiA last) and all I remember is the slide into the gak. It reminded me of Get The Picture and a tiny bit of Double Dare (the gak). I hope they do bring back the vintage game shows like Double Dare, Get The Picture, Nick Arcade, and Legends of The Hidden Temple.
Like Taylor said, Legends was the best show ever, end of story…….. Olmec’s story. Now get in that Temple and find the missing awesomeness of Nickelodeon!
In the copmilacetd world we live in, it’s good to find simple solutions.
Frankly I would have preferred a revival of Think Fast or Finders Keepers.
The actually decent Nickelodeon shows can be found in the Shrine of the Silver Monkey…
Here’s some screencaps from that Clarissa Explains it All episode.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/CJBojangles/braindrain1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/CJBojangles/braindrain2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/CJBojangles/braindrain3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/CJBojangles/braindrain4.jpg
The game was really bogus and exaggerated for the show. No real “format” to it (and of course, it only lasted about 3 minutes, enough to fit in the end of the episode).
What happens after the kids go down the shoot? Do they just leave the show?
Ya know, even if this becomes a hit, I bet that Nick (sadly) won’t revive Legends or Double Dare or Think Fast or any of the good game shows from the past cause Nick and Viacom are stuborn and they don’t care for their fans. Legends has a cult following and Double Dare has perhaps 1 of the biggest fan bases ever, and we haven’t seen new episodes of either since 1996 and 2000. They ran them on GaS and then they got rid of all the good stuff but kept GUTS, LOTHT, Figure It Out, Nick Arcade (at 4 in the morning) Get The Picture, and Double Dare 2000. They had What Would You Do, original Double Dare (Super Sloppy, Family, and the regular Double Dare), Think Fast, Make The Grade, Wild and Crazy Kids, and a few more but I can’t remember. All those got kicked out with the Power Blocks and then they dropped GaS for………. The N *blech*. Now I see the same crap on 5 different Nick channels, and the shows I wanna watch (Rugrats is namely the only thing I watch on Nick anymore) are on MAD early in the morning. I’ve wrote to Nick and asked them to fix Nicktoons Network to put the old cartoons back on at normal time and to bring back GaS and I got nothing, and I wrote to them back in JULY! Nick doesn’t care. Simple as that!
You know, about 2 years ago, Nick actually ran some old Legends episodes at 6:30 am…I always wondered if that meant anything…
I think Televisa did a Mexican version of the show that aired on Univision in the late 90s… that ended up being a disaster as their version of the “Brain Drain” resulted in kids making agreements to shield each other from the slime in exchange for… well… allowing them to do something not appropriate on children’s television.
Notice on Double Dare that if you got messy, you were on your way to winning, not already a loser.
you are stupid
Yeah I remember that they ran Legends at 730 AM. I sadly had to goto school so I couldn’t watch
What was that Mexican show like? And what exactly do you mean by “something inappropriate on children’s television”?
Basically, the game started out with a bunch of kids forming teams, and round by round a team was eliminated and sent into what this version is calling the “brain drain”. Teams sent there stayed until the end of the episode, and slime was sprayed after each round so early round losers faced more slime.
However, when you’ve got that many kids in a tight area to be tortured with no hope of a prize left… there’s going to be fighting. Especially when they realized that the slime was coming from the edges of the chamber, so getting to the center of the chamber shielded them from slime because somebody else would be in the way. Then the complaints of inappropriate touching began, and the show was quickly canceled.
This seems unverifiable as a flop show from 10+ years ago doesn’t get much proof of existence on the internet.
Where did the concept of “parting gifts” go anyway? If you’re going to slime a kid, you should at least give them a nice toy too. That’ll at least keep them behaving properly until the end of the episode. (Losing teams on Double Dare got to keep their cash score, and zeroed-out teams were awarded a small amount based on version.)
Well i hope this show gets on the air, i would like to see something new on the first kids network. TV has gotten in general quite boring.
I can clearly remember what many people on the net call “The Golden Age of Nickelodeon” which is the 1990′s. All these shows, game shows and non which made it so fun to be kids. And i should know because i am a 90′s baby.
I miss them terribly, and Viacom doesnt even have the decency to give these shows airtime on The N during the afternoons, or to even create a channel just for classic Nick.
Do some of you notice the only time we now see somebody get slimed is at the Kids Choice Awards. THATS JUST UNACCEPTABLE!!!! I guess this is the price you pay for getting older.
I wouldn’t know, I haven’t watched the Kids Choice since like 2004.
I’d like to see Nick revive Think Fast, Finders Keepers, Make the Grade,
and Double Dare
My name is Ryan Washington and I’m actually going to be on the show. On March 16th is day ill be doing the shooting but wish me good luck.
how did u get on
Hi how did you get on the show. Please Tell me!!!!
Yea how did u get on i want to get on to.?.?.?.?.
My brother actually sold some hand chairs for the BrainSurge (Brain Survivor) game show. Not sure what they’ll be doing with them.
he did
to all the conteastents that left a comment on this!!!!!!!!! i was also a contestant (first show) but are we allowed to tell people what happened onm the show ?
yea i was a contestant but i got elliminated on the first round….but overall it was great
Nickelodeon just aint what it used to be. With such hits as iCarly and Zoey 101(teehee) brainwashing our children and making aprox. 8 "ointment" jokes an episode, will Nanananananannick nick ever return to its cartoony glory? In these dark times we must ask ourselves… what would Olmec do?
How do you get on this show? I really want to know!!!!
I just saw the commercial for the game show and it looks pretty cool. If anyone is interested in the hand chairs that are seen on the show, they can be purchased from my brother on Ebay (username Gumby96) or by going to http://www.handshapedchairs.com.