YMMV / King of the Nerds

• Broken Base:
  • The show as a whole is either a fun tongue-in-cheek celebration of geek/nerd culture, or a humiliating farce meant to demean people with geeky hobbies and interests depending on who you ask.
  • There was also a schism over the manner in which the winner of season 1 was chosen — namely, through a popularity contest among the other contestants. While some viewers felt it was appropriate and had no problem with it, others felt that an individual crowned King of the Nerds should be chosen by merit rather than popularity, and were fairly vocal about their displeasure. It was to the point that the producers actually directly published a letter addressing it, which opened thus:
  Letter from the producers: People are always asking us — well, someone did the other day — "What do you guys have planned for the season finale this time? I mean, don't get us wrong. We loved the show, the nerds were great, the challenges were awesome and the two of you in particular have never looked more youthful and sophisticated. But, truth be told, we didn't care for the ending so much. I mean, after weeks of bracing, inspiring, highly intellectual — not to mention funny and heartwarming — nerd challenges, the winner wound up being decided by a POPULARITY CONTEST? What was that all about?" (We should mention that some of your comments were phrased a little differently, but you get the idea.)

  • Judging by his comments during the Season 2 finale, Chris was one of those who was unhappy with the popularity contest.
• The Scrappy:
  • Zack in Season 2. Not just among the fans but the other contestants. Even his own teammates were against him. In real life he did reconcile, and isn't as universally hated as other Reality Tv scrappies due to his intentions and the fact he had to put up with death threats during the show's run.
  • Ori and Todd to their teammates in Season 3; the former for incompetence, the latter for bullying and an outburst. Colby also had some shades of this to the other competitors, but not because of being annoying or disliked; rather, because he was just too strong a competitor.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: When Alana uses her "Powers of the Dark Side" in episode 2, the music they play sounds extremely similar to The Imperial March.