Move over Mary Berry, writes Russ Swan.
One of the defining features of our age is the changing way we consume our entertainment. If the hype is to be believed, linear broadcasting is already dead, and everybody now watches and listens exclusively to streams.
The numbers tell a slightly different story. The decline in consumers of so-called linear broadcasting is real but rather slow, while the exodus of advertisers is rather more precipitous – no doubt due to the fact that the ads industry is youth obsessed.
One of the tricks the broadcasters have come up with in the struggle for eyeballs and ad spend is the elimination show, where a number of wannabes compete week by week to beat the opposition and eventually be crowned overall champion of whatever it is they, er, wanna be.
The trend really kicked off with a wellknown baking challenge, and has been adopted for sewing, pottery, painting, silversmithing, make-up etc. You name it, there has been a weekly knock out show about it.
Except science. I have never seen or heard of a science-based elimination challenge, and that’s an oversight that really ought to be corrected. Given half a chance, I’d pitch this to any TV executive unfortunate enough to be caught in an elevator with me:
Each week on Eureka! Search for a Superscientist, our brainiac hopefuls are put through a variety of challenges to assess theiranalytical, practical and problem-solving skills, all while providing entertainment and enlightenment to the general viewing public.
I have never seen or heard of a science-based elimination challenge, and that’s an oversight that really ought to be corrected
Challenges will range from the basic to the extreme, always with a twist. Who can perform titration blindfold, or pipetting with their non-dominant hand? Teamwork challenges will assess leadership potential, and science communication tasks will show that nerds can actually be engaging.
Contestants will also be faced with unfamiliar instruments and processes – who can successfully use a Leeuwenhoek microscope, or a Second World War-era oscilloscope? Who can understand a partially redacted protocol and remember to check the MSDS? Who can scan a data set and identify probable rogue outliers? Who can figure out why the analysis isn’t working (did you check the fi lters? calibration? date validity of samples?).
Each week will be themed towards a sector of science, including biosciences, environmental, forensics, nanotechnology, DNA and genetics, high power lasers physics, astronomy, microscopy, climatology, and so on. Each will provide an opportunity for a short film which might, we hope, stimulate general interest. Lord knows, there is precious little of that these days.
It will be filmed in the studio lab and on field trips – a simulated crime scene for some on-the-spot CSI, a busy commercial lab where quick turnaround is vital, and a top university lab for a look at some next-generation science. There will be visits to major projects and locations such as Diamond Light Source and CERN. Finalists will be required to deliver a presentation to a public audience on a recent cutting-edge discovery.
It’s a sure-fire hit, don’t you think? Ratings gold and filling a void in current schedules.
So, the next time you’re feeling a bit bored at the bench, consider yourself in training to be the next great elimination show star. That golden lab coat could be yours!
