BrainSurge facts for kids
Quick facts for kids BrainSurge |
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| Genre | Children's game show |
| Created by | Scott A. Stone Clay Newbill |
| Directed by | Steve Grant |
| Presented by | Jeff Sutphen |
| Narrated by | Erin Fitzgerald John Cramer |
| Composer(s) | David Michael Frank |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 120 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Scott A. Stone Clay Newbill David A. Hurwitz Aaron Solomon (co-executive producer) Noah Bonnett (co-executive producer; seasons 2–3) |
| Producer(s) | Janice Minsburg |
| Production location(s) | Hollywood Center Studios Hollywood, California |
| Camera setup | Videotape; Multi-camera |
| Running time | approx. 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Stone & Company Entertainment 310 Entertainment Nickelodeon Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | Nickelodeon (2009–2011) Nick at Nite (2011-2014) Nicktoons (2014) |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Original release | September 28, 2009 – May 9, 2014 |
BrainSurge was an exciting American children's game show that aired on Nickelodeon. The show was hosted by the energetic Jeff Sutphen. It first started taping in February 2009 and premiered on September 28, 2009.
The idea for BrainSurge came from a Japanese game show called Brain Survivor. Scott A. Stone and Clay Newbill created the U.S. version. Scott A. Stone is also known for creating other popular kids' game shows like Legends of the Hidden Temple.
Nickelodeon announced on February 18, 2010, that BrainSurge would return for a second season. This season had 40 new episodes and kept the same game rules. The second season began on June 21, 2010.
A third season, called Family BrainSurge, started on July 18, 2011, on Nick at Nite. In this version, families played together in teams of two. The show ran until November 17, 2011, when it was canceled. The very last episodes aired on Nicktoons from April 28 to May 9, 2014.
BrainSurge was filmed at Hollywood Center Studios in Hollywood, California. The show was even adapted for audiences in Latin America and Brazil, called Veloz Mente. In 2012, BrainSurge was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show.
Contents
How the Game Works
BrainSurge's challenges were designed to test how well contestants could remember things and understand information. It was all about using your brain!
Level One: Brain Tease
The game started with visual puzzles. Contestants or teams had to solve these puzzles. In the first season, there were 6 puzzles, each worth different points (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 100 points). Players used keypads to enter their answers within 10 seconds.
The four players or teams with the highest scores moved on to the next round. The two players or one team with the lowest scores were eliminated. They received a prize and, in the first two seasons, a bucket of slime! If there was a tie, the player who answered fastest won. Eliminated players went down the "Brain Drain," a fun slide shaped like a human ear.
Level Two: Brain Fart
In this round, the host, Jeff, read a story from a book. The four remaining players or teams then answered questions about the story. To answer, they sat down on a special chair.
If a player answered correctly, a "ding" sound was heard. If they answered incorrectly or too slowly, the chair made a "farting" noise! Then, the player was pulled backward through a paper tooth curtain and eliminated. This continued until only two players or teams were left.
In Family BrainSurge, teams got one "Brain Fart" lifeline. This let two other family members, called the "Brain Trust," help with an answer.
Knockout Round
The two remaining players or teams faced the Knockout Round. They had 10 seconds to memorize a grid of 16 numbers. This grid contained 8 pairs of images from the story they just heard.
Players took turns trying to match pairs of images. If a player made a mistake, the game went into sudden death. The player who made the last correct match won the round. The losing player's chair did the "farting" action, and they were eliminated. All eliminated players from this round and Level Two went down the Brain Drain.
Level Three: Brain Trip (The Final Stage)
This was the final round! The winning player or team had 90 seconds to trace three paths on different grids. The first path was 6 squares on a 4x4 grid. The second was 8 squares on a 5x5 grid. The third was 10 squares on a 6x6 grid.
Players had to step on special pads in the middle of each square to activate it. If they made a mistake, the grid turned red, a buzzer sounded, and they had to go back to the start. The clock kept running even when they were viewing the pattern again after a mistake.
Players could win three prizes, one for completing each path. The grand prize was often a trip! If a player ran out of time, they still kept the prizes they had won but went down the Brain Drain. If they completed all paths before time ran out, they got slimed in true Nickelodeon style!
Special Episodes
BrainSurge had some fun special episodes!
Girls vs. Boys
During one week in season two, the audience was split into boys and girls. Male contestants wore green, and female contestants wore purple. If a boy won, male audience members got a green BrainSurge T-shirt. If a girl won, female audience members got a purple T-shirt.
Celebrity Episodes
Each season featured episodes with celebrity players, often Nickelodeon stars. These stars played to win prizes and the chance for a lucky audience member to get slimed! If a celebrity lost the final round, they went down the Brain Drain.
On Family BrainSurge celebrity episodes, stars played with their families. They won prizes for their "Brain Trusts" (fans in the audience) and donations for their favorite charities.
Co-Host Week
One week in season two featured Jeff Sutphen hosting with a celebrity co-host. The puzzles and stories in these episodes often related to the co-host's fame. If the player lost the final round, the co-host would go down the Brain Drain with them. If the player won, the co-host would get slimed too!
Some of the co-hosts included:
Family Week
During the last week of season two, pairs of related players competed. This included siblings, twins, and parent-child teams. Even though they were related, they usually played individually. However, in one parent-child episode, the child did the 4x4 and 6x6 grids in the final round, while the parent did the 5x5 grid.
See also
In Spanish: BrainSurge para niños
