Bloggers Vs. The Nation on CBC Test the Nation

20080117_TestTheNationBloggers.jpgFor viewers of CBC's Test the Nation show, you'll be pleased to know that blogTO's prayers have been answered for a bloggers team on an upcoming show.

This game show will pit a group of 36 bloggers against five other identifiable groups in a trivia contest with a 21st Century theme. You can follow along at home or online, as teams battle it out in the CBC studio for bragging rights.

Regular blogTO contributors Adam Schwabe, Ryan Couldrey and Graeme Stewart will join a team of bloggers who are up against other themed teams, including: Cab Drivers, Chefs, Flight Crew, Backpackers and Celebrity Look-alikes.

With Rannie Turingan of Photojunkie, and Amber MacArthur formerly of Webnation, we're sure to outsmart the competition. We've even got David Topping of Torontoist on our team.

Test the Nation debuted last March with a live, interactive IQ test show, which attracted 1.5 million viewers. Over 200,000 people took the test online.

I appeared on the second installment of the show last September, representing a group of Word Gamers on their Watch Your Language episode.

I found the taping of the show more of a test in our patience, but the hosts, Brent Bambury and Wendy Mesley, were entertaining enough to watch, so the time passed by easily enough in between several multiple-choice quizzes.

Trust the Dutch to develop such a show. Test the Nation first aired in the Netherlands in 2001. The format has since seen success around the world, attracting huge audiences in 40 countries.

Germany, France, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, New Zealand, the U.K., Turkey, Israel and Romania have all broadcast their versions of Test the Nation, with a launch in the Middle East and Russia scheduled.

So what do you think? Are bloggers smarter than backpackers, celebrity look-alikes, flight crews, cab drivers and chefs? I wouldn't underestimate the competition.

An abundance of Toronto's cabbies hold doctorate degrees from other countries. I don't know about the faux celebrities, but flight crews and backpackers are usually well traveled. And chefs tend to have multitasking and leadership skills too. It's anybody's game, really.

Tune in to Test The Nation: Trivia on Sunday, January 20th at 8 p.m. on CBC Television and play along. And if that's not enough for you, further upcoming themes will feature themes such as sports and Canadiana.

Photo: CBC.

Reader Reviews and Comments

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yayy! congratulations guys! adam, ryan and graeme :)

Posted by: Tabish Bhimani at January 17, 2008 5:28 PM

Wow, congrats! I wish I'd seen the call for this...

Posted by: Japhet at January 17, 2008 7:21 PM

Do us proud! :)

Posted by: Jerrold at January 17, 2008 8:17 PM

Oh, and advanced polling has the bloggers winning by a hair.

Posted by: Jerrold at January 17, 2008 8:36 PM

Advanced polling also had Obama winning the NH primary by 13%. That didn't turn out the way they expected...

Who's giving me good odds on the celebrity look-alikes? I've got a $20 I'm willing to throw down if the numbers are right.

Posted by: Sameer Vasta at January 17, 2008 8:40 PM

I'll give you 2 to 1 that the bloggers beat the faux-celebs :)

Posted by: Jerrold at January 17, 2008 8:42 PM

Cabbies with doctorates do not necessarily have a lot of TRIVIAL knowledge. They just know a lot about ONE subject. I think the backpackers might be more of a threat in terms of random trivia.

Posted by: Eva at January 17, 2008 10:02 PM

Quit giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, we're gonna fucking DESTROY them all.

Posted by: Ryan C at January 17, 2008 10:59 PM

It's not just me repping Torontoist??don't forget about Karen Whaley (at center in that photo above), Patrick Metzger, and Christopher Bird from Torontoist, too! Should be lots of fun, I can't wait.

Posted by: David Topping at January 17, 2008 11:05 PM

(And apologies for those double question marks: I typed an em dash but the comment system converted it.)

Posted by: David Topping at January 17, 2008 11:11 PM

And you forgot Adam Schwabe, Ryan Couldrey and Graeme Stewart, David, but who's counting? :)

I have a score to settle with the flight crew after the turbulence I went through earlier this eve. This is going to be a massacre.

Posted by: Adam at January 17, 2008 11:19 PM

@vasta 20 on michael jackson look alike.

Posted by: Tabish Bhimani at January 18, 2008 12:23 AM

Adam: Uh, you four guys are repping Torontoist, too? Sweet!

Posted by: David Topping at January 18, 2008 12:46 AM

Ali G and Borat in the same room? This I've gotta see!

Posted by: Roger at January 18, 2008 1:09 AM

So I met one of the cab drivers you guys are going against. Man is smart. Super smart. Tough job ahead folks, hope you're doing your homework.

Posted by: Sameer Vasta at January 18, 2008 8:00 AM

I think Adam meant you forgot to mention anyone from blogTO (and blogTO entirely, actually) on the Torontoist preview.

As for us on Torontoist? HA! Keep dreamin'.

Posted by: Ryan C at January 18, 2008 8:10 AM

"...you forgot to mention anyone from blogTO (and blogTO entirely, actually"

Intentionally, no doubt. Unfortunately that's how they roll.

Posted by: J at January 18, 2008 9:32 AM

Right on guys... I'm working on the show :) Looking forward to seeing how the bloggers perform! Don't let us down!! :)

Posted by: Katie at January 18, 2008 10:05 AM

Don't forget us BC bloggers. There's a handful of us flying over to join you on the team :-)

Posted by: Rebecca at January 19, 2008 1:11 AM

You know what would be fun? A little blogger meet-up on Sunday night after the show...

You know, because we don't get to see the BC bloggers as much as we would like. =)

Posted by: Sameer Vasta at January 19, 2008 11:49 AM

Great idea, Sameer! It'd be super cool to meet them.

Posted by: Jerrold at January 19, 2008 1:00 PM

So who's going to do the responsible thing and set something up and post all the details here? God knows I'm far from ever being responsible. =)

Posted by: Sameer Vasta at January 20, 2008 1:59 AM

Contrats, bloggers!. What a smart bunch you are! The backpackers put up a good battle but I knew you'd win.

Posted by: Roger at January 20, 2008 10:18 PM

Bloggers by a landslide! Samantha Bee top celeb! Best individual score by blogger Ryan Spence!

Posted by: Jerrold at January 20, 2008 10:43 PM

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