During tonight’s episode (Villanova v Toorak) I notice the Latin motto on top of the show’s logo: In hoc dei dono cerebri nostri confidano
Which translates to: In this gift of God our brain is trusted (in English).
An embarrassing lack of knowledge in many areas shown tonight; right from the first question about a tributary to a river to not having heard of Banjo Paterson.
Episode 4: August 10
The Geelong College and Newcastle’s Merewether High engage in an epic battle using the power of their combined brains, forged over years in their school’s mighty foundry of excellent academic records.
Caption this 
Not just the viewers - contestants react to Shaun Micallef’s new show.
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It was troubling that the students didn’t recognise Robert Menzies in this portrait by Ivor Hele in last night’s episode. The answers they gave included Harold Holt, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke and John Howard.
Episode 5: August 17
NSW’s Central Coast Grammar and The Lakes College from Brisbane will battle it out for their chance to compete in the series Grand Final and the title of Australia’s cleverest school.
A good maths question for viewers at home this week:
If a 30-second advertising spot on Channel 10 costs $12,000 during prime time, and there are six commercials in an ad break, and five ad breaks across an hour, what are Channel 10’s projected revenue for the third quarter this financial year across all platforms?
The show is moving to 7.30pm Thursdays as of next week (August 25), as the lead-in to the new season of Gogglebox.
It was another close result tonight with The Lakes College edging out Central Coast Grammar by 10 points.
EDIT: episode 6 next week -
Only the pure of brain will emerge victorious as the Gold Coast’s Trinity Lutheran College take on Killarney Heights High School from Sydney in a blood feud that stretches back three generations.
EDIT 2: episode 7 - September 1
We see competitive pupils from Caringbah High School and Penrith Anglican College battle it out with their brains.
This show is a painful watch, probably much more suited to afternoons or weekend mornings and would be surprised if it came back.
Shaun’s humour and jokes more often than not go over the kids heads, evident when there is little reaction and hollow laughs from the studio crew.
It just lacks any energy and the production looks cheap while the studio feels empty.
Totally agree. This show is painful
I like Shaun and always enjoy watching quiz shows but agree that it’s falling flat. It’s decent enough as a format but the execution is very poor.
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I think it had potential but I doubt it will be renewed. It needs a couple of rounds that aren’t straight questioning to bring it a bit closer to Talkin’ 'Bout Your Generation. A round where they stand up for a quiz or challenge - perhaps like TAYG or Spicks and Specks where they place things in the correct order. Plus a “sport” or activity round where there is some physical aspect - building something etc. And of course an audience would be a big improvement.
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Having no studio audience doesnt help with this sort of show. Laughter or answers from the crew is good at random times, but it does get tiresome on a regular basis.
A practical segment would help this show - like a sports segment, or a “play a musical instrument” segment or an arts segment to mix it up a little. Even a “conprehensive test” of watching a clip and answer questions based on the clip they saw (like they do from time to ime on Spicks and Specks)
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I thought they mentioned in the first episode that people associated with the students- teachers, parents, chaperones- made up the audience for the show.
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Episode 8 - September 8
Students from Melbourne’s Suzanne Cory High School go head-to-head with Newtown High School of the Performing Arts for their chance to secure a place in the series grand final.
There is one more qualifier episode on September 15, before the series grand final.
A different show with Shaun on 10 not Brain Eisteddfod would be great though .
Here are the scores of the winning team from the first eight episodes.
Barker College 439.95
Emanuel School 379.95
Toorak College 389.95
Mereweather High School 529.95
The Lakes College 399.95
Killarney Heights High School 369.95
Penrith Anglican College 399.95
Suzanne Cory High School 429.95
Mereweather High School is the first team to make the grand final as it has the highest score out of the eight winning teams so far. Barker College is currently ranked second with 439.95 points.
Next week is the 9th and final qualifying heat
Brisbane’s Cavendish Road State High face off against Our Lady of Mercy, Parramatta. Which eggheads will survive and continue on their trajectory for their chance to win the Grand Final?
Season (and possibly series) final back on the Wednesday night, i see.
And it will be up against the final of Shaun Micallef’s MAD AS HELL final at pretty much the same time on the ABC…
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Cavendish Road State High beat Our Lady of Mercy by 20 points, 439.95 to 419.95 in tonight’s episode. Cavendish had the same winning score as Barker College, so it will be interesting to see which school would face Merewether High in next Wednesday’s grand final.