The Scholar, Episode 2: Happy Pills

Last week ABC released a new reality show, The Scholar, in which 10 high school seniors compete for a full-ride scholarship to the school of their choice. That sounds compelling, right? Unfortunately, the viewing public didn’t seem to think so. The Scholar’s debut came in third in its time slot in the Nielsen rankings, behind reruns of CBS’s Two and a Half Men and NBC’s Fear Factor. Nevertheless, I found it quite enjoyable, and hopefully more people will continue to discover this little gem on Monday nights.

Looking back to last week’s episode, we were introduced to all the contestants and the format of the game. Davis and Jeremy became team captains with Davis’ team winning the first Team Challenge. The students chosen for the first showdown were Davis, Jeremy, and Melissa. In an ironic twist, Davis lost on a question about the author of Gone with the Wind, a book that he had picked up and joked about earlier in the day. The underdog Melissa won and became the first of five finalists.

A quick update: Last week I mentioned that I would write in to ABC to try to determine their reasoning concerning the answer to the “cow” puzzle seen during the Team Challenge. Several readers also wrote to me to verify that the upside down orientation of the cow should have been legitimate. I have yet to receive a response from ABC regarding this matter. However, I will continue to keep you posted if I receive a reply. Now, on to the show.

So, it’s 8/7 Central, and I turn on my television to find… weather updates? That’s right, there are storms moving through northwest Oklahoma tonight. They promise to get to regularly scheduled programming soon, but in the meantime I’m missing the beginning of The Scholar. So I can’t tell you what happens in the first minute or two of the show, but I can tell you that storms will be moving into areas of Pittsburgh and MacIntosh counties within the hour. Also, we are under a tornado watch in our viewing area until 11:00 (for those of you who live outside of tornado alley, that’s not really as scary as it may sound).

Our meteorologist wraps things up, and the station cuts into a scene of Jeremy explaining that he’s not rich enough to pay for an Ivy League college but not poor enough to get free money thrown at him. We continue uninterrupted from here, so if I missed anything vital in the first minute or two, please let me know.

Max explains that if he wins the scholarship, he’ll make more than his dad makes in one year. Scot chimes in that it’s more than his dad makes in three years. Assuming Max and Scot are truly familiar with how much money their fathers make and assuming my math is correct, Max’s dad makes anywhere from $160,000 to $240,000 a year. Scot’s dad makes between $60,000 and $80,000 a year. If that’s “economically challenged,” then I’m Doris Roberts! More on this later.

We’re now given some background on Scot. His mom says that he’s very independent. He was home-schooled and taught himself algebra. His dad claims that at 13 years old, he began focusing on schoolwork. Citing Scot’s strong work ethic, we learn that Scot made a 1580 on his SATs. That’s pretty impressive considering 1600 is a perfect score. Scot also practices Tae Kwan Do and performs a few nice kicks for the camera.

Last week we saw background sequences for Melissa and Jeremy, both of whom ended up in that episode’s final showdown. Could this also be an early focus on one of the finalists?

It’s time for the Captain’s Quiz, and Gerald admits to being a little nervous but says that he will not let the pressure get to him. Today’s topic is – “Arts.” In interview, Scot thinks he has an advantage, since he’s studied a lot of art in his home-schooling.

Our host, Rob Nelson, displays the Captain’s Quiz blackboard which has ten works of art and ten artists to match up. For those playing along at home, the answers to five of the ten questions are slowly revealed, giving me a chance to yell out my answers and scare the cat. The five works that we see are:

• Starry Night – Vincent Van Gogh
• Jazz Icarus – Henri Matisse
• The Last Supper – Leonardo Da Vinci
• Ballet Dancers – Edgar Degas
• Boating on the Seine – Pierre Auguste Renoir

I end up 3 for 5 and feeling decent about myself. Rob announces that one person got it perfect. And with that teaser we go to commercial. My guess is that Scot had the perfect score. As we return from the commercial we find out that the person who got a perfect score was also the fastest. And the first captain is... Melissa. Wow. She’s quickly turning into the one to beat in this competition. Rob teases Scot by saying that he had the second fastest time but quickly reveals that Liz had the second most number of correct answers. Liz is the second captain.

Just as I begin to wonder what happens if Melissa wins the Team Challenge again, we learn that since she’s already in the finals she gets to choose the first person for the showdown if her team wins. Melissa is excited by this turn of events, telling us that she wants as many opportunities as possible to prove herself to the S.C. (Scholarship Committee)

Rob introduces the contestants to Lori Nelson, the adviser and coach of the USC Song and Yell teams. She will be the judge for today’s competition. Each team will be trying to get the most USC students to show up at a men’s volleyball game. They will also need to create and perform a routine for the crowd. The winning team will be the one that has both the most students show up to the game and the best performance as judged by Lori. I’m left wondering how the points for those two tasks will be divided.

Scot tells us in an interview that he doesn’t really want to cheer. He’s hoping for more “intellectual stuff.” I hate to disappoint you, Scot, but there’s a social aspect to college, and the S.C. will likely want to make sure you’re prepared for that as well.