Being super on TV
A Red Oak native is one of a select group of contestants who are competing for a $50,000 grand prize on a new game show premiering next week.
“Superhuman,” hosted by Kal Penn, airs at 8 p.m. beginning June 12. Among the participants is Red Oak native Nick Blay, a 2004 Red Oak High School graduate who is currently attending Oklahoma State University to earn a PhD in vertebrae anatomy.
The show will center on the abilities of ordinary people using superhuman abilities in fields such as hearing, taste, touch, smell, sight, and more. Blay said his own ability is being able to identify species of frogs only by their call.
“You don’t really think about it being unique, and I guess I have a knack to be able to identify those sounds, and my ability to do that is a little bit extraordinary,” Blay said.
Two years in making
Blay met some of the producers of the show a few years ago, and that conversation led to him being selected as a contestant for the upcoming show.
“We got on the conversation about the things they liked and were passionate about. While discussing my past experiences working with frogs, they said they’d see if they could get me in something. One thing led to another, and here I am.”
The show was filmed in Hollywood, which was Blay’s first experience in the city. Blay said it was an extremely unique and pleasant experience.
“I usually stay east of the Rockies, I’m more comfortable among the trees. It was very cool. Things move incredibly fast and incredibly slow at the same time, so I just stayed flexible and went along for the ride,” said Blay.
While details on the show are being kept under wraps, pending airing, Blay said it was an experience he can’t compare to anything he’s ever done.
“Everybody with the show was super helpful the whole time. We got a lot of encouragement. You see people on TV all the time, and you wonder how did they get there, and what was it like, and having gone through it now, it’s an exe-opening experience. There’s an incredible amount of work that goes on behind the scenes, and it was super awesome to be a part of it,” commented Blay.
Eight episode of the show were filmed, and each episode has five contestants, with one winner. While the results are unknown, Blay said he was pleased with his performance.
“You have a specific skill set that built for something, and you hope you do well. I think I did okay.”
Blay said he encourages everyone to tune in to the show, as it has an original style with many interesting people.
“There’s so many people who have so many cool things that they’re capable of doing that it will blow your mind. Even we as contestants were in awe of each other, and impressed with the talent variation that was there in the people,” Blay said.