Poppin' Off- Nerdy Reality TeeVee

Being nerdy is a thing now. So like anything thats trendy, there are teevee shows about being nerdy. Some might say it even exploits being nerdy. I'm going to talk about a few shows and how I feel about them, and feel free to tell me in the comments below if you think reality nerd teevee is helpful or detrimental to the nerd culture.

*My Life As Liz (MTV)- This to me is the first reality nerd teevee show. Started in 2010, it followed Liz Lee and her Nerd Herd through her senior year in a small Texas town. By the time Season 2 was set to air, plenty of critics had come out against the show, calling it more of a sitcom or scripted reality show than actual reality (MTV prefers to call it a mockumentary at this point). I loved the show, I loved Liz Lee. I still think shes a good representation of a nerd girl and it was a nice change of pace from the regular trashy chicks MTV usually features on their "reality"  shows.

This is the Season One cast of My Life as Liz.

*King of the Nerds (TBS)- I was so excited for this show, and I don't think it disappointed. Nerdy guys and gals living in the same house, completing nerd based challenged for a chance to be the King of the Nerds. I felt that the guys that were cast for the first season fit the nerd stereotype a lot more than the girls did (with the exception for Alana. And when I wasn't hating her for being annoying, I felt sorry for her, because she didn't fit in at all). My favorites for the season were Ivan and Danielle (aka TradeChat! I post her WoW videos from time to time), and even though neither one of them won, they did get awfully close. And I think Genevieve probably should've been the winner, because she was nerdier than Celeste. BUT, it was a game, and Celeste is a pro gamer, so its really no surprise.

That's me with Ivan at WonderCon this year in Anaheim. He was such a nice guy and I was having a total fangirl freakout meeting him! 

*Heroes of Cosplay (SyFy)- Honestly, I didn't know this show existed until about two weeks ago. I mean, I heard a little about it on Instagram (its actually the reason I'm writing this), but I couldn't tell you anything about it. I was writing a paper on gender confusion and needed some background noise. I saw that the SyFy channel was marathoning the show, so I clicked over to it. Big mistake. I was sucked in right away, and it took forever for me to get my paper done. I've heard a lot of cosplayers complain about the show though, saying its too Project Runway and portrays the world of cosplay as cutthroat and mean. Well, I love Project Runway, maybe that's why I got sucked in? Lol, really though. I didn't catch that vibe. And as far as the cattiness, or drama that was shown, well......that's reality teevee for you. But, I am also not a cosplayer, so I don't know anything about costume construction or contests or anything about that world. And if I had a hobby that I loved and a show was made about it, but I thought it misrepresented it, I'd be pretty pissed too.

*Fangasm (SyFy)- Oh Fangasm, the new kid on the block. I didn't get to watch the show the night it premiered, I had to wait a few days (thank goodness for DVRs). I heard that this show is what nerd reality teevee is supposed to be, and its the second reason why I'm writing this. But......I didn't see the difference between this show and say, King of the Nerds. Here, they are seven interns, working to make Stan Lee's Comikaze a success. Okay. But they are still living in the same apartment, and are still completing nerdy objectives. To me, its like a nerdy version of Real World (awkward hot tubs moments and all). Doesn't mean I hate it though. In fact, I really loved how Molly was so disappointed when they went to the Geek Pride Day event, and saw all the skanky girls dressed as superheroes and actually said something about it exploiting geek culture. Its fake geek girls like them that give the rest of us a bad name, and kudos to Molly for pointing it out. I think there will be a lot of fun to come out of the series, and hopefully there will be a season two so I can audition :) Who wouldn't want to intern for Stan freaking Lee?!!?!

The cast of Fangasm.