The Einstein Factor
Genre	Game show
Starring	Peter Berner (host)
Country of origin	Australia
No. of episodes	120 (As of November 12, 2006)
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	16:9
Original run	February 8, 2004 –
Links
Official website

The Einstein Factor is an Australian television quiz show, broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The show's host is comedian and broadcaster Peter Berner. It was first broadcast in 2004 and is now, in 2007, in its fourth season. It is broadcast on Sunday nights at 6:30 pm. Image File history File links Einsteinfactor. ... This article is about the television genre. ... Peter Berner, Australian comedian. ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The Australian Broadcasting Corporation or ABC (formerly the Australian Broadcasting Commission) is Australias national non-profit public broadcaster. ... February 8 is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Quiz Show is a 1994 film which tells the true story of the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s. ... The Australian Broadcasting Corporation or ABC (formerly the Australian Broadcasting Commission) is Australias national non-profit public broadcaster. ... Peter Berner, Australian comedian. ...

The Einstein Factor was created by Australian television producer, Barry O'Brien, and is produced by Sparkz with Ian Duncan as Executive Producer.

Overview

The show's self-styled goal is to find the person who "knows everything about something and something about everything." To that end, contestants with specially nominated subjects appear each week.

The key to the program's uniqueness is the use of a Brains Trust, a panel of three "experts", usually celebrities, who compete alongside the contestants. Regular Brains Trustees have included Barry Jones, Berner's radio colleagues Tony Moclair and Matt Parkinson, comedians Tim Ferguson and Michael Veitch, musician Red Symons and scientist Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. Barry Jones, AO, is an Australian politician. ... Matt Parkinson is one of the hosts of popular Triple M breakfast program The Cage in the eastern states of Australia. ... Tim Ferguson (born Timothy Dorcen Langbene Ferguson on 16 November 1963 in Sydney, NSW) is an Australian comedian and television presenter. ... Michael Veitch is an Australian comedian best know for his appearances on the sketch comedy television shows The D-Generation, Fast Forward and Full Frontal Categories: | | ... Red Symons (born June 13, 1949 in Brighton, England) is an Australian musician, writer, and radio host, probably best known as lead guitarist with the Skyhooks and as the snide judge of Red Faces, a The Gong Show-esque segment of the long-running Hey Hey Its Saturday variety... Dr Karl Kruszelnicki is a scientist, although best known as an author and science commentator on Australian radio and television. ...

The show is also noted for Berner's offbeat manner and humorous approach to being a quizmaster. The program has proved quite popular with a wide audience, unusually so for a program broadcast on the ABC.

Show format

• The first round simply involves Berner asking up to 15 questions to each contestant on their special subjects. The round ends either when the contestant answers all 15 questions or when 90 seconds elapses, whichever comes first. The subjects are often quite specific and the questions difficult for outsiders to know. Special subjects have included Stargate SG-1, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ned Kelly, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Michael Collins and World War II aircraft. This will be followed by banter between contestant and brains trust. Each correct response earns the contestant 100 points. In the 2005 series, a "bonus question" was introduced, which the contestant can either answer correctly themselves for 100 points or place their faith in the Brains Trust to answer the question, in which case a correct answer yields 200 points.

• In round two, contestants are given nine 'subject headings' (which generally have only an indirect and allusive relation to the topic underneath - for example, a question labelled "Rock and Roll" is as likely to be about geology as to be about music. However, in the first season these categories were a lot more clearly named) and are asked to choose, in turn, one subject on which to receive a question. Each contestant makes two picks, so only six out of the nine subjects are asked. The question is then put to all contestants and the Brains Trust. The contestants are given five seconds to select their multiple choice answer, then the Brains Trust discusses the question and agree on its selection. If the Brains Trust gets the question right, all the players who also got the question right receive 50 points; if the Brains Trust are wrong, players who answered correctly receive 100 points.

• In round three, fifteen questions are put to the contestants and the brains trust. Two questions come from each of the contestants' special subjects, which are mixed in with nine other general knowledge questions. The round is a "hands on buzzers" round as seen in many quiz shows, with the brains trust sharing a buzzer. Contestants who get a question right receive 100 points - an incorrect answer means 100 points are deducted from their score. The Brains Trust receives no points for correct answers, but their intervention can deprive the contestants of points.

Stargate SG-1 (often abbreviated as SG-1) is a science fiction television program part of the Stargate franchise. ... Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American cult television series that aired from March 10, 1997 until May 20, 2003. ... Ned Kelly the day before his execution Edward Ned Kelly (c. ... This article is about the Harry Potter series of novels. ... Opening logo to the Star Wars films Star Wars is an epic science fantasy saga and fictional galaxy created by writer/producer/director George Lucas during the 1970s. ... Michael John (Mick) Collins (Irish: ; 16 October 1890 – 22 August 1922) was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance in the Irish Republic, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations, both as Chairman of the Provisional Government and Commander... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... An Airbus A380, currently the worlds largest passenger airliner An aircraft is any vehicle or craft capable of atmospheric flight. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Allegory of Music on the Opéra Garnier Music is an art form that involves organized sounds and silence. ...

Finals

The winners of each program's quiz compete at the end of the series in a series of "play-offs", the winners of which compete in a "series final". The three winners of the "series finals" compete in "The Einstein Factor Grand Final" to determine the series overall winner. Specialised subjects remain the same throughout. These are the winners of the grand finals:

• Series 1 - November 7, 2004: Diana Burleigh, special subject of Gilbert and Sullivan
• Series 2 - November 13, 2005: David Campbell, special subject of Dr. Who: 1963 - 1995
• Series 3 - November 12, 2006: Virginia Noel, special subject of Classical Greek Mythology

November 7 is the 311th day of the year (312th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 54 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sir W. S. Gilbert Sir Arthur Sullivan Librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) collaborated on a series of fourteen comic operas in Victorian England between 1871 and 1896. ... November 13 is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 48 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Doctor Who is a long-running British science fiction television programme (and 1996 television movie) produced by the BBC about the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as the Doctor, who explores time and space with his companions, solving problems and righting wrongs. ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and their own cult and ritual practices. ...

See also

• List of Australian television series
• List of Australian Broadcasting Corporation programs
• Kathleen McGarry (youngest ever contestant)

This is a list of Australian television series and television programs. ... This is a list of Australian Broadcasting Corporation television programs. ...

External links

• Official site
• The Einstein Factor at the Internet Movie Database