Planet Nerd
| Company type | Television show |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television production |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Melbourne , Australia |
| Products | Television program |
Planet Nerd is a comedic variety television show aired on Channel 31 Melbourne and produced by RMITV. The program showcases Melbourne-based comedians including Dan Walmsley, Paul Verhoeven, Ben McKenzie, Simon Barber, Jason English-Rees, Andrew Doodson, Lou Pardi, and Rob Lloyd, among others. In addition to TV broadcasts, segments are available through YouTube and an official video podcast.
The series earned a nomination for Best Comedy Program at the 2008 Antenna Awards, which celebrate achievements in Australian community television. Although it did not secure the award, the nomination underscored its recognition within the industry.
On 17 September 2008, an interview with Andrew Baron, creator of Rocket Boom, was uploaded to the Planet Nerd website. The initial dozen episodes were repeatedly aired on Channel 31 until June 2009 and were also shown on Triangle TV in New Zealand during 2007.
Content
Designed for the geek audience, Planet Nerd combines elements of comedy and variety show formats. Episodes are hosted by Dan Walmsley and include a mix of documentaries, reviews, and sketch comedy. The hosting segments are creatively shot in diverse settings and often connected through a series of sketches.
Documentaries
In addition to humor, the show features original semi-serious documentary pieces that delve into geek culture. Subjects have ranged from the roleplaying and wargaming event Arcanacon, RoboGames competitions, Sony's Wonder Technology Lab, to National ICT Australia. A recurring feature titled "Geek of the Week" presents interviews with individuals sharing their nerdy interests or careers.
A notable highlight includes footage of John Carnack’s presentation at Apple’s 2007 World Wide Developers Conference posted by Planet Nerd on YouTube, which attracted over 43,000 views and became the most viewed comedic content on YouTube for 12 June 2007.
Reviews
Paul Verhoeven offers film critiques through anarchic, sketch-driven segments focusing primarily on genre movies such as Michael Bay's Transformers. Meanwhile, Rob Lloyd delivers his "One Minute DVD Review," evaluating classic titles like early Doctor Who collections, The Muppet Show, and films starring Harold Lloyd, rather than recent releases.
Response
Planet Nerd gained favorable attention, notably from The Age newspaper’s Green Guide where critic Marieke Hardy described it as "magically dorky" and "adorably earnest."
The Australian technology website Gizmodo spotlighted a promotional stunt by Planet Nerd that coincided with the iPhone launch; the stunt involved auctioning a large cardboard replica of an iPhone prop from the show's premiere episode on eBay.
John Howard YouTube response
Dan Walmsley created a Planet Nerd video reply to then-Prime Minister John Howard’s YouTube message addressing climate change policy. This response was the first video reply to Howard’s announcement and was featured in an article on news.com.au discussing challenges in distinguishing official videos from parodies. Since commenting was disabled on the original video, the Planet Nerd reply became a central platform for discussion, amassing roughly 200 text comments and close to 8,000 views.