Entertainment

Behold: The Return Of Your Nerdiest Crush

by Shay Mathews

Need more nerd in your life? Syfy will try its hand at the talk show genre this week when Wil Wheaton launches his new show The Wil Wheaton Project . The series will run for 12-episodes in its first season and rundown the week’s most talked about news related to genre shows and other items in science fiction. Speaking with Larry King, Wheaton compared the upcoming show to another pop culture classic. He said:

It's sort of like 'Talk Soup' for nerds. We collect all of the things that I love in genre entertainment — sci-fi, TV and movies, horror, fantasy, comic books, the weird stuff we love on the Internet — and put it all together in a half-hour show where I'm setting up clips and making jokes about the clips. We're celebrating the things that we love, and we're sort of mocking the paranormal reality shows that really need to be mocked.

On the off chance the synopsis wasn’t enough to convince you to give the show a watch, we’ve listed out a few reasons below that prove that Wheaton is awesome and worthy of your admiration. Don’t be afraid, embrace your inner nerd. Let that nerd flag fly.

He Uses His Birthday To Celebrate a Worthy Cause

Back in 2012, Wheaton declared his birthday, July 29, to be “Don’t Be A Dick Day.” It’s unclear if the move has really inspired any change amongst the afflicted, but it has made its way to a few calendars. And if that’s not enough, it turns out he was born on the same day NASA was created.

He Was a Teenage Dreamboat on Star Trek: The Next Generation

Wheaton appeared in The Next Generation series as Wesley Crusher for seven years. Crusher wasn’t always a fan favorite and was seen as an annoying know-it-all. But still, dude, he was in Star Trek.

He's Buddies with Chris Hardwick

Jack-of-all-trades Chris Hardwick is awesome and by association, so are all his friends — especially his former roommate, Wheaton. Wheaton recently appeared on Hardwick’s Comedy Central series @midnight and totally killed it.

He's Worked With Felicia Day, Our Nerdy Girl Crush

Wheaton appeared in fellow gamer Felicia Day’s web series The Guild, which centered on her life as a gamer. They recently upped the ante by collaborating on Table Top, a series that lets you watch celebs play board games. If you think that doesn’t make for entertaining clips, then you’re wrong. It’s so good that recent crowd-funding efforts to continue the show brought in more than $1.4 million.

Not Just Anyone Can Foil Sheldon Cooper

Evil Wil Wheaton has managed to best Sheldon Cooper on CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory on more than one occasion. His victories are a work of art and even Sheldon can’t understand how he is consistently defeated by the character.

He's a Child Star Who Made It

This is no easy feat as history can attest. Wheaton appeared in 1986’s Stand by Me, and made drop-in appearances on classics like Family Ties, Highway to Heaven, St. Elsewhere, and Tales From the Crypt.

He Isn't Afraid to Speak Out About What He Believes In

This may seem like a small feat, but often celebrities are encouraged to limit their opinions to widely accepted beliefs or norms. Wheaton’s willingness to confront even the smallest of issues makes him stand out. Whether it’s helping a little girl understand bullies or speaking out about net neutrality. He explained his outlook on life in a post on his website, saying:

I really try my best to be the person I want other people to be. I don’t always succeed, but when I see things like this, and hear from people who have been touched or inspired by something I said or did in a positive way, it reminds me how important it is to do everything we can to be awesome.

And in case all that wasn't enough to convince you, check out the trailer for his Syfy series:

Images: Syfy; Giphy; WilWheaton/Tumblr; NotYoda/Tumblr; Columbia Pictures; ReactionGIFs