‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ is expected to bring in a huge audience so it’s not surprising that trailers for major tentpole films like ‘Star Trek into Darkness’ and ‘Man of Steel’ will be playing during the previews portion of the screening. But trailers for television shows? Apparently TBS thinks this is a good idea as they have arranged to screen a a trailer of their new reality series ‘King of the Nerds’ to ‘The Hobbit’ audiences.

‘King of the Nerds’ is TBS’ newest game show pitting 11 contestants competing in what is being described as the “ultimate nerd-off.” The contestants will face challenges that will test their “intellect, ingenuity, skills and pop-culture prowess.” Some of these challenges include a giant game of chess, superhero debates, a cosplay competition, live gaming and even a “nerd anthem contest.” The winner will be crowned ultimate “King of the Nerds” and win a cash prize of $100,000.

The series will be hosted by ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ alumni Robert Carradine (who played Lewis Slotnik) and Curtis Armstrong (who played Dudley “Booger” Dawson) and features genre icons George Takei, Kevin Smith and Smith’s collaborator Jason Mewes (who may be more recognized as Jay to Smith’s Silent Bob) as judges for the competition.

If you’re curious about the show, you can watch the actual trailer that will play in theaters below courtesy of THR:

While I’m all for the nerd culture, I’m not quite sure how to take this new series. Michael Wright, executive VP and Head of Programming at TBS, TNT and TCM, commented about the show saying, “It’s been said we’re living in the ‘Age of the Nerd,’ and if so, what better way to acknowledge that than to have a competition to crown the ‘King of the Nerds?’ ‘King of the Nerds’ is a lot of fun as it not only celebrates nerd culture but also illuminates it.”

Illuminates it? Not quite sure what kind of light they’d like to shine on the culture but it seems awfully like the producers have gone for the cliché “nerd” in this trailer, much like TLC did on their focus of the documentary ‘Geek Love,’ the nerd speed dating reality special. As Hardison often says on the show ‘Leverage,’ “It’s the age of the geek,” and I just wish they hadn’t put too much focus on the stereotypical geek. After all, contestants such as Moogega, who is a NASA engineer, and Celeste, who is a professional gamer, look nothing like you would expect after seeing the trailer.

Will I be watching the show? Yes. The question is, will you? And what do you think of a competition that will crown someone ‘King of the Nerds?’

The 8 episode series will debut on Thursday, January 17, 2013 on TBS.