BrainSurge is an American children's game show

Game show

A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

 aired on Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon (TV channel)

Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...

 hosted by Jeff Sutphen

Jeff Sutphen

Jeffrey "Jeff" Sutphen is an American actor, producer, and game show host who works with Nickelodeon. After graduating from Marist College, Sutphen began his career in entertainment working for MTV....

. The show taped its first season in February 2009, and debuted on September 28, 2009. The show's format was adapted from the Tokyo Broadcasting System

Tokyo Broadcasting System

, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....

 game show Brain Survivor.

The network announced on February 18, 2010 that the program was renewed for a second season, that will consist of 40 episodes, and will feature the same format without any known changes. The second season, which featured the 40 original episodes plus one episode held over from season one, premiered on June 21, 2010. The third season started airing on July 18, 2011 on Nick@Nite. Season 3 is marketed as Family BrainSurge, and features five two-person family teams in each episode.

Format

BrainSurges challenges are designed to test the memory and comprehension skills of its contestants.

Level One: Brain Tease

The contestants/teams begin by playing a series of visual puzzles. There were six puzzles in season 1, worth 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 100 points each (for a maximum of 250 points); in season 2, the 40-point puzzle was dropped; in season 3 (Family BrainSurge), there are four puzzles, worth 10, 25, 50, and 100 points. Each solution is a number that the players need to enter using their keypads. The contestants/teams have 10 seconds to lock in their answers. The four highest-scoring contestants/teams advance to the next round (ties are broken by how quickly the contestants/teams entered their answers; sometimes, a tiebreaker puzzle is played instead); all eliminated contestants/teams in this and future levels are sent down the "Brain Drain", a slide formed as a human ear containing "ear wax" foam.

Level Two: Brain Fart

During the second round, the four remaining contestants/teams are told a story from a book read by the host and are asked questions in turn about the story. Contestants/teams lock in their answers by sitting down on a chair. If a contestant/team gets a question wrong, the chair makes a farting noise, and the contestant/team is pulled backwards through a paper "tooth" of a large face (made to resemble host Sutphen) and eliminated from further play. This continues until two contestants/teams remain. In Family BrainSurge, each team is allowed one "Brain Fart," which allows two other members of the family (the "Brain Trust") to offer an answer for the team; the team stays in the game or is eliminated based on that answer.

Knockout Round

In the Knockout round, the two remaining contestants/teams have ten seconds to memorize a grid of 16 numbers containing 8 pairs of images from the story. The contestants/teams then take turns matching pairs

Concentration

In chemistry, concentration is defined as the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Four types can be distinguished: mass concentration, molar concentration, number concentration, and volume concentration...

 of images from the story. Once either contestant makes a mistake, the player who makes the next match wins the game in a sudden-death match. At this point, the contestant/team that lost in this round and the 2 eliminated contestants/teams from Level 2 all go down the Brain Drain.

Level Three: Brain Trip

For the bonus round, the contestant must successfully trace out three paths on grids within 90 seconds. The first path is six squares on a 4x4 grid, the second is eight squares on a 5x5 grid, and the third is ten squares on a 6x6 grid; squares are always connected (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally). Each square has an actuator in the middle that must be stepped on to activate the square. Contestants see each path twice; the clock starts running when the contestant first activates a square. After completing a path successfully, the contestant must step on an actuator outside the board to stop the clock. Contestants are told immediately when they make a mistake; they must return to the start and view the pattern again before being allowed to continue; when viewing the pattern after a mistake, the clock continues to run. Contestants can win three prizes, one for completing each of the three paths; any prizes they win on one stage are safe no matter what happens later. Contestants who fail to complete all three boards must go down the Brain Drain, while contestants who succeed are slimed in network tradition.

Celebrity episodes

Two celebrity episodes featuring Nickelodeon actors aired on November 30, 2009. Ten more celebrity specials aired from April 18–22; 25–29, 2011. Four more aired from October 10-13, 2011. Celebrities included: Miranda Cosgrove

Miranda Cosgrove

Miranda Taylor Cosgrove is an American actress and singer-songwriter. Her career began at the age of three, where she participated in television commercials. Cosgrove's film debut was in 2003, as Summer Hathaway in School of Rock...

, Nathan Kress

Nathan Kress

Nathan Karl Kress is an American film and television actor. A professional child model and actor since the age of three, he is best known for his role as Freddie Benson on the Nickelodeon television series iCarly.-Early life:...

, Jennette McCurdy

Jennette McCurdy

Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy is an American film and television actress and country pop singer-songwriter. She is best known for her role as Sam Puckett on the Nickelodeon sitcom iCarly...

, Jerry Trainor

Jerry Trainor

Gerald William "Jerry" Trainor is an American actor, comedian and voice actor, widely known for playing Spencer Shay on iCarly. He is also known as Crazy Steve on Drake & Josh and the title character, Dudley Puppy, on T.U.F.F. Puppy...

, Noah Munck

Noah Munck

Noah Bryant Munck is an American actor and comedian. His roles include Gibby Gibson in iCarly and Bobby Sinclair, the junior lawn-mowing entrepreneur in the TruGreen commercials.-Early life:...

, Reed Alexander

Reed Alexander

Reed Alexander is an American actor best known as Nevel Papperman on iCarly.- Career :Alexander has recurring roles as the villain Nevel Papperman on Nickelodeon's iCarly....

, Keke Palmer

Keke Palmer

Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer is an American actress and singer who rose to fame for her performance in the 2006 film Akeelah and the Bee. She also starred as the title character in the Nickelodeon sitcom True Jackson, VP...

, Ashley Argota

Ashley Argota

Ashley Spencer Argota is an American actress and singer. She is best known for role as Lulu in the Nickelodeon sitcom True Jackson, VP. She currently co-stars as Kelly Peckinpaw in Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures on Nickelodeon....

, Matt Shively

Matt Shively

Matthew James "Matt" Shively, Jr. is an American actor best known for his role as Ryan Laserbeam on the Nickelodeon television series True Jackson, VP. Beginning in June 2011, he began appearing in the Nickelodeon series The Troop as Kirby.-Early life:Shively was born in Hanford, California...

, Nick Purcell

Nick Purcell

Not to be confused with Dominic Purcell.Nicholas "Nick" Purcell is an American actor best known for starring on the Nickelodeon series The Troop. He is originally from Concord, the capital city of New Hampshire...

, Gage Golightly

Gage Golightly

Gage Golightly is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Hayley Steele in the Nickelodeon series The Troop .-Career:...

, Nat Wolff

Nat Wolff

Nathaniel Marvin "Nat" Wolff is an American child actor, and singer-songwriter, composer, and keyboardist. He is the frontman of Nat & Alex Wolff...

, Alex Wolff

Alex Wolff

Alexander Draper "Alex" Wolff is an American child actor and musician, currently playing in Nat and Alex Wolff. He is best known for his role as himself on the Nickelodeon series The Naked Brothers Band, also starring his older brother, Nat Wolff; the series was created by the boys' mother, Polly...

, Kendall Schmidt

Kendall Schmidt

Kendall Francis Schmidt is an American actor and singer-songwriter; he is best known for playing Kendall Knight in Big Time Rush and has played small roles on different TV shows such as ER, Without a Trace, Phil of the Future, Ghost Whisperer, and Frasier...

, James Maslow

James Maslow

James David Maslow is an American actor, singer, and dancer. He is best known for playing the role of James Diamond on Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush and is a member of the boy music group with the same name.-Early life:...

, Carlos Pena, Jr.

Carlos Pena, Jr.

Carlos Roberto Pena, Jr. is an American actor, dancer and singer. He is best known for starring on the Nickelodeon series Big Time Rush as Carlos García.- Early life :...

, Logan Henderson

Logan Henderson

Logan Phillip Henderson is an American actor, dancer, rapper and singer-songwriter. He is best known for his starring role as Logan Mitchell on the Nickelodeon series, Big Time Rush, as well as being a member of the Big Time Rush band itself.-Early life:Henderson was born and raised in North...

, Stephen Kramer Glickman

Stephen Kramer Glickman

Stephen Kramer Glickman is a Canadian born American actor, fashion designer and stand-up comedian.-Career:Stephen Kramer Glickman is starring as a main role named "Gustavo Rocque" on the Nickelodeon television series, Big Time Rush...

, Ciara Bravo

Ciara Bravo

Ciara Quinn Bravo is an American actress, voice artist, singer, and comedienne. She is best known for her role as Katie Knight on Big Time Rush....

, Victoria Justice

Victoria Justice

Victoria Justice is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and dancer. She debuted as an actress at the age of 10 and has since appeared in several films and television series including the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 and Victorious...

, Leon Thomas III, Matt Bennett

Matt Bennett

Matthew H. "Matt" Bennett is an American actor and singer. He is best known for playing the role of Robbie Shapiro in the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious and for starring in the Will Ferrell-produced film The Virginity Hit....

, Elizabeth Gillies

Elizabeth Gillies

Elizabeth Egan "Liz" Gillies is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She is best known for her part in Broadway's 13 as Lucy, of which her Victorious co-star, Ariana Grande, was also a part...

, Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande

Ariana Joan Grande is an American actress and singer. She currently plays the role of Cat Valentine in the American sitcom Victorious.-Early life:Grande was born and raised in Boca Raton, Florida...

, Avan Jogia

Avan Jogia

Avan Tudor Jogia is a Canadian actor and singer best known for playing Beck Oliver on Victorious.-Early life:Jogia was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. His father is a Gujarati Indian originally from London, England. His mother is Canadian, with her roots originating from Wales...

, Daniella Monet

Daniella Monet

Daniella Monet is an American actress, singer, and dancer, best known for playing various TV guest roles and starring as Trina Vega, the sister of Tori Vega, in the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious...

, Lil' JJ

Lil' JJ

Lil' JJ is an American stand-up comedian, musician, dancer, and actor, best known for his role as Jordan on the Nickelodeon television series Just Jordan and doing Vital Information sketch for All That in season ten....

, Lily Collins

Lily Collins

Lily Jane Collins is a British-American actress and television personality.-Early life:Collins was born in Guildford, Surrey, England, and is the daughter of British musician Phil Collins and his second wife, American-born Jill Tavelman...

, Taylor Gray

Taylor Gray

Taylor Gray is an American actor. He currently stars as Bucket on the Nickelodeon teen sitcom, Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures, which premiered on July 1, 2011.-Personal life:...

, Dillon Lane, Jordin Sparks

Jordin Sparks

Jordin Brianna Sparks is an American pop / R&B singer-songwriter and actress. She hails from Glendale, Arizona who rose to fame as the winner of the sixth season of American Idol. Sparks won when she was 17 years old, making her the youngest winner in Idol history...

, Tom Kenny

Tom Kenny

Thomas James "Tom" Kenny is an American actor, voice actor and comedian. He is especially known for his long-running-role as SpongeBob SquarePants in the television series of the same name, as well as the live-action character Patchy the Pirate, Gary the Snail and the French narrator based on...

, Tony Hawk

Tony Hawk

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, Misty May-Treanor

Misty May-Treanor

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, Natalie Coughlin

Natalie Coughlin

Natalie Anne Coughlin is an American swimmer and eleven-time Olympic medallist.At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Coughlin became the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympics and the first woman ever to win a 100 m backstroke gold in two consecutive...

, Larry King

Larry King

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, Anthony Anderson

Anthony Anderson

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, Terry Crews

Terry Crews

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, Charles Shaughnessy

Charles Shaughnessy

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, Nolan Gould

Nolan Gould

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, Eve Torres

Eve Torres

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, The Miz, Gail Kim

Gail Kim

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and more.

These episodes allow the celebrity to play for a randomly-selected member of the audience in the bonus round. If the celebrity wins the bonus round, both the celebrity and the audience member get slimed. Otherwise, they both are sent down the Brain Drain.

Girls vs. Boys

During the first week of the second season, the audience was divided into two sections, each with a group of a different gender. In each episode, male contestants wore green and female contestants wore purple. If a male contestant won, male audience members received a green BrainSurge t-shirt. If a female contestant won, female audience members received a purple t-shirt.