School's In For Summer - 
by B-Side
The school year may be wrapping up, but for ABC, this summer is all about the academics (and the fey ballroom dancing, but that's another issue). That's because tomorrow night marks the premiere episode of The Scholar, the network's latest feel-good reality offering. On the show, ten high school students move into a house on the USC campus and compete for a full-ride scholarship to the college of his or her choice, with four runners up receiving $50,000 each courtesy of Walmart. It's a noble idea, and despite having Walmart's paws in the mix, the show doesn't cater to Middle American schmaltz (paging Sears and Extreme Makeover). We were fortunate enough to grab an advanced copy of the premiere episode which was sweet and enjoyable, if not totally thrilling. Seeing a cast of reality stars who care more about their grades than their camera time is refreshing, and like Sorority Life and Fraternity Life, I have no doubts that these "characters" will become oddly transfixing by episode three or four.
The Scholar comes to us from Bunim/Murray productions, the same people who've provided countless hours of guilty pleasure entertainment from The Real World, Road Rules, and of course, The Real World/Road Rules Challenge. While most of the reality stars in the BMP stable seem to be complete and utter idiots (ahem, Tina, Veronica), The Scholar bucks the trend with its ten amiable contestants who range from scoliosis survivor to first generation Vietnamese-American to obligatory home-schooled champ. All these kids seem likable, even the supposed villain Davis whose pseudo-cockiness at least stems from some sort of intelligence (as opposed to CT from Real World: Paris).
If there's anyone who can capture the teenage vibe, it's Bunim/Murray, and they succeed again with this series; although, I'm fairly surprised The Scholar is airing on ABC instead of The N. Then again, maybe this is ABC's attempt at TGIF on Mondays -- TGIM, if you will (although, with the airing of The Ring directly after this premiere, I'm having a hard time envisioning what sort of audience they're trying to pull in).
While the central premise of the series is simple and high-concept, the actual show structure may require a 1300 SAT score to understand. Basically, at the beginning of every hour, the students take a "Captain's Quiz", which in the case of the first episode was a survey of lunar history dates and events. The two people with the most correct answers in the shortest amount of time become team captains. Teams, you say? Yes. The second part of the show is a team challenge, and after the captains have been selected via the quiz, they must pick their teams, à la kickball. The captain whose team wins the challenge gets an automatic spot in the "showdown" (I think that's what it's called) where he or she will square off against two other contestants in another quiz/game show type challenge. Those two other contestants will be chosen by a panel of admissions officers who, like erudite Donald Trumps, will grill the students for their worthiness. The winner of the showdown will earn $50,000 and then automatically secure one of five spots for the FINAL showdown that will determine who will earn the scholarship. Confused? Don't worry about it. It'll make sense once you watch it.
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