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Host
J Boogie (Pilot)
Jeff Sutphen
Announcers
Erin Fitzgerald (2009-2011)
John Cramer (2011)
Broadcast
Brainsurge-pilot logo
Pilot: August 2007
Brainsurge S1
Brainsurge S2
Family brainsurge
Nickelodeon: 9/28/2009 - 11/17/2011
(reruns aired until 8/31/2012)
Nicktoons: 4/28/2014 - 5/9/2014
(reruns aired until 8/1/2014)
Packagers
310 Productions
Stone & Company Entertainment
Nickelodeon Productions

BrainSurge (later known as Family BrainSurge) was a show based on a Tokyo Broadcasting System (or TBS) game show called Brain Survivor with challenges that are designed to test the memory and comprehension skills of its contestants/families.

Gameplay[]

Premise[]

Six contestants were challenged of their minds & their comprehension skills. The game was divided into three levels of play.

Level 1[]

In Level One, the six contestants were shown five (originally six) visual puzzles and had 10 seconds to answer each one by locking in an answer with their keypads. Each correct answer earned each player points. The first five questions increased in value by 10 points, for they were worth 10, 20, 30, (40 in earlier episodes) & 50 points respectively. The fifth/sixth & final puzzle was worth 100 points. All for a grand total of up to 210 (originally 250) points. The four contestants with the highest scores will move on to Level 2, while the other two contestants with the lowest scores are going down the Brain Drain from Level One. The ties were broken by the average of how fast the four contestants answered.

Level 2[]

In Level Two, the four remaining contestants listened to a story read by host Sutphen from his Big Book of Truth, otherwise known as "Jeff's Big Book of Super Fantastic True Chronicles of Truth That Are Absolutely True". When the story was finished, the four remaining contestants were asked questions about the story. When the contestant gave a response, the contestant must then sit in a "hand" chair with a whoopee cushion on it. The correct answer gives the contestant stay in the game, if the contestant gets the question wrong (or if the contestant fails to answer), the eliminated contestant sit and hold on in a hand chair and slid out from the back through the paper (curtains in Season 2 or later) of Jeff's mouth. This then continued until two contestants are eliminated. As soon as the two contestants were left standing, the level shifts into a game called "Knockout Round".

Knockout Round[]

In the Knockout Round, the two contestants were shown eight matching pairs of pictures from the story for 10 seconds. Then the pictures were recovered up by numbers 1-16. Each contestant takes turns pick two numbers that contain two pictures that match each other, if the contestant does not make a match, the round was shifted to sudden death where either contestant will have a chance to win the game by making a match.

Level 3: The Final Stage[]

In Level 3: The Final Stage, the survivor of the day's game had 90 seconds (1 min 30 sec) to memorize light patterns on three disco-like floor grids, the first grid was 4x4 which required six squares, the second one was 5x5 which needed eight and the final one was 6x6 which needed 10. On each grid, the day's winner was shown the pattern twice and then the clock started when the winning contestant stepped to the first square. On each square, the contestant must press a button in the center to confirm that the contestant stepped to the square. If the contestant made a mistake by stepping to a wrong square, the contestant must go back and start over after seeing the required pattern again. As soon as the winning contestant stepped on the last square of the required pattern, the contestant must then run over to and press a button to stop the clock. For each completed pattern/cleared floor, the winning contestant won a prize, and if the contestant finished the final pattern, the winning contestant also won a grand prize and got slimed of a lifetime.

On celebrity games, the winning celebrity contestant was trying to win prizes for a randomly selected audience member.

Brain Drain[]

The eliminated contestants slid down a slide full of foamy earwax slime called the "Brain Drain". The winning contestant fails to complete the bonus round does not get slimed of a lifetime, but is sent down the Brain Drain, but the contestant still keep the name prizes the contestant won. On the Family version, the Brain Drain had seats for the eliminated families.

Family BrainSurge[]

For the third and final season, BrainSurge became Family BrainSurge, as families competed on the show just like Double Dare (1986 version) & Nickelodeon GUTS did.

The game was played the same as before except that the number of kid contestants was reduced to five and that they are accompanied by a family member with two others sitting in the audience. Plus, there are now names for each level. Level one is called Brain Tease, level two is called Brain Fart where during the question portion, if the family in control gets stumped, they must then yell out "Brain Fart", allowing their relatives in the audience to help out, and level three, the bonus level is called Brain Trip.

Guest Co-Hosts[]

In Season 2, some celebrities were the guest co-hosts of BrainSurge for the episode with SStuphen . Here is a list of those guest co-hosts:

Roller Coaster[]

There is a ride at Nickelodeon Universe in Mall of America called "BrainSurge", the title of the same show name. The ride is based on the show. The ride is a unicoaster that rotates around while the cars are being spun rotatively.

Cancellation[]

The reason why BrainSurge was cancelled is because of Figure it Out's revival on June 11, 2012. Sutphen decided to leave BrainSurge and do Figure it Out instead. The show was cancelled in 2011 and did reruns until June 2012.

Pilot[]

During August 2007, a pilot was filmed featuring J Boogie as the host. Not much is known about the pilot, other than that it includes the Brain Drain from Season 2, three podiums as opposed to six, and there were four levels instead of three. The very first information on the pilot came to light when an episode of Jake's Happy Nostalgia Show was released with Jeff Sutphen, where Sutphen revealed information on the pilot.

Rating[]

72px-TV-G icon svg

Music[]

David Michael Frank

Inventor[]

Based on a Japanese game show format

Studio[]

Hollywood Center Studios

International Versions[]

In 2011, a Spanish version (which it’s not untitled to be an official international version of BrainSurge back in USA, but a copyright and no information after that). airing on Discovery Kids Latin America and Brazil entitled Veloz Mente (Fast Mind) hosted by Argentine Mariano Chiesa.
As mentioned above, the original Tokyo version called Brain Survivor later Brain Survivor II and Brain Survivor III hosted by Takaaki Ishibashi broadcast as a special that aired three times in 2002.

Additional Pages[]

BrainSurge Video Gallery
BrainSurge/Catchphrases
Brainsurge Characters

Links[]

Official Site (Kids)
Official Site (Family)

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