Mark Rober, former NASA engineer who made a new name for himself on YouTube, will host prank show Revenge of the Nerd on Discovery. Jimmy Kimmel is producing and the show premieres in 2020.
Rober covers pop science and DIY gadgets on YouTube, where he has close to 10 million subscribers. Revenge of the Nerd sees Rober and a team of “Avengineers” scour the planet to catch troublemakers in the act, and get revenge in the form of pranks that are captured by hidden cameras.
“The passion that comes through in the incredibly smart content Mark creates made us immediate fans of his,” said Scott Lewers, executive VP of multiplatform programming, live events and network strategy, Discovery, Science and Animal Planet. “His natural curiosity and drive is infectious – that, coupled with Jimmy’s sensibility for fun and humor, is what we’re excited to bring to our audience.”
Rober and his team will build “ingenious” devices, according to Discovery, to execute their master plans. The troublemakers include people who don’t clean up after their dogs and bicycle bandits.
“I grew up watching Discovery Channel so the thought of me having my own show is crazy for me comprehend,” said Rober. “As my YouTube channel has grown the past few years, I’ve had some BIG ideas that are too big to pull off on my own. Now, partnering with Discovery and Jimmy means it’s all fair game.”
Besides the troublemakers, the show also spotlights those who do the right thing.
Rober appeared on Discovery during Shark Week.
Revenge of the Nerd (w/t) is produced for Discovery Channel by Kimmelot. For Kimmelot, Jimmy Kimmel, Mark Rober and Scott Lonker are executive producers. ITV America’s David George and Karen Kunkel Young also serve as executive producers. For Discovery Channel, Scott Lewers and Joseph Boyle are executive producers.
